RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



The pointed oval seal of the college, taken 

 from a cast at the British Museum,' represents 

 the Annunciation in three canopied niches ; on 

 the right the Virgin with nimbus standing on a 

 plinth, lifting up her right hand ; in the centre 

 a lily flower growing out of a tall pot having a 

 scroll entwined in the foliage and inscribed 

 AVE MA. ; on the left the Archangel Gabriel 

 with nimbus, wings outspread, kneeling on a 

 plinth. One of the fragments of a seal attached 

 to a Sloane charter 2 gives a part wanting in the 

 cast, showing above the canopy a shield of the 

 royal arms of Henry IV. In base a similar 

 shield of arms with label of three points Edward 

 Plantagenet, second duke of York, co-founder 

 141 1. 



The legend, which is defaced, runs : sigillu 



COMMUNE COLLEGIJ b[eATE] MARIE « OIM SCOR 

 DE F03RINGHEY. 



43. THE COLLEGE OF HIGHAM 

 FERRERS 



Henry Chicheley, archbishop of Canterbury, 

 who was born at Higham Ferrers, founded here a 

 college for eight secular canons or chaplains, 

 eight clerks, and six choristers, in the year 1422. 

 One of the eight chaplains was to be master and 

 responsible for the rule and governance of the 

 college, one of the chaplains or clerks should be 

 grammar-master, and another quire-master. It 

 was dedicated in honour of the Blessed Virgin, 

 St. Thomas of Canterbury, and St. Edward the 

 Confessor. Divine service was to be celebrated 

 daily for the good estate of the king, Henry V., 

 and of the queen, Katherine, and of the arch- 

 bishop, during their lifetime, and for their souls 

 after death ; and also for the souls of the king's 

 father and mother, the parents and benefactors 

 of the archbishop, and for all the faithful departed. 

 The king granted 3 acres of land at Higham 

 Ferrers, parcel of the duchy of Lancaster, in free 

 alms for the erection of the church and chapel 

 of the college, and for all the necessary buildings. 

 At the same time Henry V. granted to the arch- 

 bishop, and to William Chicheley, archdeacon of 

 Canterbury, the suppressed alien priory and 

 manor of West Mersea, Essex, as an endow- 

 ment of the college. This priory had been a 

 cell of the abbey of St. Ouen, Rouen, and had 

 been granted by licence of Henry IV. to John 

 Doreward and Isabel his wife for their lives ; 

 consequently the college did not come into 

 possession until after the death of Isabel, which 

 occurred in 1426.* 



' B. M. Ixix. 74. ' xxxiii. 72. 



s The pancarta of 7 November, 1427, confirms the 

 above grants, also letters patent of Henry VI. licensing 

 the archbishop to grant the castle and manor of 

 Higham to the college, with confirmation of the 

 bishop, and of the dean and chapter of Lincoln. 

 Pat. 6 Hen. VI. pt. 2, m. 21-24. 



The preamble to the archbishop's formal 

 declaration and ordination in the parish church 

 of Higham Ferrers, 28 August, 1425, is of 

 much interest. It recites the desire the arch- 

 bishop had long felt to found a college in the 

 place where he was baptized, and the sanction he 

 had obtained from both pope and king. He 

 appealed also for the sanction of the inhabitants 

 and those connected with the church, stating 

 that he had invited the dean and chapter of the 

 new collegiate church of St. Mary, Leicester, 

 the rectors of the parish church of Higham 

 Ferrers, and also and especially the vicar and 

 parishioners, to be present, that they might give 

 their consent or otherwise to the foundation. 

 The declaration, under seal of John Bolde, 

 notary public, appended to the archbishop's 

 letters, states that the dean of St. Mary, Leices- 

 ter, attended in person, that the chapter were 

 represented by two proctors, and that the vicar 

 and parishioners in large numbers were also 

 present. After the formal proposition for the 

 foundation of the college and its objects had 

 been duly set forth, and the letters of the pope 

 and king read, those present were asked to 

 express dissent or consent for their interests in 

 common or severally. No one appeared to gain- 

 say the proposition, and those present having 

 consented with acclamation, the archbishop 

 decreed that the foundation should proceed, 

 and, by virtue of apostolic authority committed 

 to him, as well as by his authority as ordinary 

 in the voidance of the see of Lincoln, declared 

 the college duly established, saving the rights of 

 the parish church of Higham Ferrers, and 

 appointed John Small, priest, as first master or 

 warden, declaring the office perpetual and com- 

 patible with the perpetual vicarage of the parish 

 church. The archbishop reserved to himself 

 and his heirs the right of introducing chaplains, 

 clerks, and choristers up to the appointed number, 

 and endowed the master and college with the 

 grounds of the college and all buildings built or 

 to be built thereon, together with the alien 

 priory of Mersea. Finally he placed a curse 

 on those who should attack the foundation, and 

 blessed those who should defend it.'* 



On 26 July, 1427, Henry VI. granted a 

 licence to the college to acquire in mortmain 

 lands and rents to the value of 40 marks a year ; 

 that the king, his heirs and progenitors, and 

 particularly Henry V., might be specially men- 

 tioned in their prayers,' and in 1434 and 1435 

 the endowments of the college were augmented 

 by the gift of the manor of Chesterton with 



* Ibid. Stow MS. 931 is a chartularj- of this 

 college containing fifteen charters, and ranging from 

 1422, the year of the foundation, to 1437. These 

 are followed (f 76b) by an ordinance of Bishop 

 Gynwell concerning the portion to be assigned to the 

 vicar of Higham Ferrers by the dean and chapter of 

 the collegiate church of Leicester. 



6 Ibid. 4 Hen. VI. pt. 2, m. 9. 



77 23 



