ve 
ae Ow Oe Se ce 
OEE 
THE GREAT BRIDGE OF BURTON-ON-TRENT. 12 
‘*devocon and almes dedys of weldysposed Cryston people, wythoute 
‘‘the contynuance whereof the said brygge ys lyke utterly to be decayed 
“and forlett. And for asmych as William Haryson, now proctor, 
“lymytted to be of the same, of his goode and diligent mynd hath 
‘full well endevored himselffe to the helpyng and makyng of the seyde 
‘‘brigge in dyverse places of the same, whiche were and yett be in grett 
“ joperdye to hys greytt and importable charges withoute the helpe and 
‘‘almes dedys of weldisposed xpen peple to him be showed in that 
“‘behalffe. We therefore, the said abbott, priours, Lorde Hastyngs, 
“‘knyghts, esquyers, with all other above specyffyed, in the way of 
“charyte, exorte, move and requere all goode and xpen peple which thys 
‘our present wrytyng shall here or se, help and gyff your charytable 
‘‘almes to the seid proctor or hys depute this bring. Whereby ye may 
‘deserve the grett reward of Almighty God, to the helth and comfort 
‘fof your owne soules, and our fullhertyethankys. In wytnesse whereof 
‘‘we the said abbott, priours, Lorde Hastyngys, knygbtys, esquyers, 
“and all above named, to this our present writing seyverally have 
“‘sette our seyles the xxiii-th day of the monyth of May in the xx-th 
“vear of the reyne of our Soverayne Lorde, Kyng Henry VIII.” 
Molyneux says, “There is something difficult of explanation in 
this anomalous association of the Abbots and convent with the old 
Burton bridge. That this ‘comen passage to and fro many counteys’ 
was of great importance, not only to the Abbey, but to the country 
generally, there is no question ; but, notwithstanding this, it was a 
neglected property belonging to no one in particular, nearly always 
in trouble, and mainly dependent for its existence upon that most 
precarious of all sources of revenue, ‘the devocon and almes dedys of 
97) 
weldysposed cryston peple. 
I see no difficulty in the matter myself. I look upon it in this 
light. The Bridge was there before the Abbey. Wulfric Spott 
refounds the Abbey, the King imposes the upkeep of the bridge upon 
it. The Abbot and Convent appoint Proctors, and hand over to them 
the revenue arising from bequests to the bridge, and the various tolls 
sanctioned by the grants from the King. As years pass, the repairs 
became heavier and heavier, and far exceeded the sources of revenue. 
Molyneux further says, ‘“ [t continued a costly tax upon the estate 
till its final surrender to the Midland Railway Co, in 1859,” IE it 
