A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



angles, while above the arch is a wall arcade with 

 cinquefoiled arches. The record of the building of 

 this addition to the gateway gives a note of the great 

 depth to which the foundations were taken, but in 

 spite of the care of the builders their work has settled 

 badly, and this may be due to the existence of an 

 ancient boundary ditch. After finishing his work on 

 the gate, Godfrey of Crowland went on to build 

 chambers adjoining it ' towards the church.' Of 

 these nothing can now be said. Of the buildings on the 

 south and west of the great court little can be said. 

 The great brewhouse, near which Benedict began his 

 ' magnificent work ' — finished, perhaps, by Robert of 

 Lindsey, as ' the great house over the bakery and 

 brewhouse ' may be the same as that described in 

 1629 as 'a great building heretofore called the 

 ' Abbot's Brewhouse within the courtyard on the 

 south.' In the south-east angle of the court was the 

 Water Gate or Fengate, otherwise known as the Bul- 

 gate, apparently at the head of the Buldiche, a narrow 

 waterway running northward from the river, and still 

 existing as the Bell Dyke. 



Another gate, the ' Redde Gates ' mentioned in 

 1541, was near this point, and the remains of a gate 

 on the south boundary of the palace grounds may be 

 part of it. The pittancer's office was close by, but 

 has left no traces. 



The open space between the gateway and the west 

 front of the church formed the outer court of the 

 monastery, and was called the Great Gallery or 

 Galilee Court. The buildings on its south side have 

 been noticed, and on the north nothing of prcsup- 

 pression date exists, except the deanery gateway at 

 the north-east corner, and the chapel of St. Thomas 

 of Canterbury at the north-west, near the entrance 

 gateway. Of the chapel the chancel only remains, of 

 three bays with three-light net-tracery windows on 

 north and south, and a five-light window of like design 

 on the east. It belongs to c. 1340, and takes the 

 place of a chapel finished by Abbot Benedict,' a 

 chamfered string course from which has been re-used 

 below the east window of the later buildings. The 

 nave of this chapel was destroyed in 1402, its materials 

 being granted to the townsfolk of Peterborough for 

 use in the building of their parish church. 



The deanery gateway is the work of Abbot Kirton, 

 and his rebus occurs on it. It has a wide archway, 

 flanked by a smaller one for foot passengers, and over 

 these a line of carved panels, containing the arms of 

 St. Oswald, St. Edmund, and St. Edward, with the 

 Trinity shield, the portcullis and the feathers of the 

 Prince of Wales. In the spandrels of the large arch 

 are the arms with cross-keys and crosslets, and crossed 

 swords and crosslets, now used by the see and chap- 

 ter respectively, but it is not clear how they were 

 assigned anciently. At its east angle is a second arch- 

 way opening to the graveyard north of the church, 

 and from this point a wall formerly ran to the north 

 angle of the west front of the church, forming the 

 western boundary of the cemetery. 



The deanery was the prior's house at the time of 

 the suppression, and this part of the precincts was 

 known as the prior's side, as distinct from the abbot's 

 side, south-west of the church.' 



The nucleus of the deanery is a 13th-century hall, 



^ To which a hospital was attached. 



2 The Prior's chapel was however near the hostry in the 

 14th century, and at first his lodging was in all probability in 

 the same part of the monastery. 



but the whole building has undergone so much 

 alteration and repair that nothing can be said of its 

 early arrangements. 



East of it is Tout Hill, the mound raised by Abbot 

 Thorold, 1069-98, as a defence against his own 

 monks, and dismantled by Martin de Bee. It bears 

 no traces of masonrj*, and probably never had anything 

 beyond wooden defences. The area of the precinct 

 east of the cemetery is occupied by the house and 

 garden called the Vineyard, now occupied by 

 Miss Argles, the position being closely parallel to that 

 of the vineyard at St. Alban's. The house contains 

 no masonry of ancient date. The vineyard was 

 planted by Martin de Bee. 



The line of the precinct wall is shown on the block 

 plan on p. 448. Much of it is probably as old as the 

 14th century at any rate, and there are remains of 

 gateways to the south of the infirmary buildings and 

 at the point where the wall turns southward on the 

 south boundary of the palace grounds. The latter 

 point may be the site of the ' Red Gates ' mentioned 

 in 1 541. A shed or wharf for the housing of 

 boats was built ' at Bolehithe gate,' by Godfrey of 

 Crowland, in 1 301. A wall between the Derby 

 yard and the herbarium was built by Abbot Godfrey 

 in 1307. 



LONGTHORPE (Thorpe until l6th century). 

 Longthorpe, which was not an integral part of the 

 ' vill of Burgh ' like the other hamlets, is now a 

 separate ecclesiastical parish, though part of the civil 

 parish of Peterborough Without. Most of the popu- 

 lation are eng.iged in dairy farming. There are 

 490^ acres of arable land, 5 94 J of pasture, and 77 of 

 wood. The village is situated about a mile west 

 of Peterborough ; it is small and built irregularly of 

 grey stone, which gives it a picturesque appearance. 

 Thorpe Hall, a fine 17th-century house in a sm.all 

 park, is occupied by Colonel C. I. Strong. It lies 

 between the village and Peterborough, and near the 

 church on the south side of the road is Longthorpe 

 Tower, the manor-house of the new manor of Long- 

 thorpe.' The old manor-house near the western 

 boundary of the park is now a farmhouse. Close 

 beside it is a holy well where according to tradition 

 a hermit once lived. 



Longthorpe Tower is a very interesting and un- 

 common example of a small house of the late 13th 

 century. Originally it consisted in all probability of 

 a hall and tower, the former occupying the space now 

 covered by the entrance and parlour, but the only 

 ornamental feature left of this apartment is the two- 

 light window over the front door. There is another 

 two-light window (now built up) at the further end, 

 but it dates from the early l6th century. The wing 

 to the west is of 1 7th-century date, and at one time 

 extended still further westward. The rooms to the 

 south of the tower are comparatively modern. The 

 kitchens of the original building have disappeared and 

 cannot be located ; they may possibly havj been con- 

 structed of wood. The tower is the most interesting 

 part of the building, both in regard to its arrange- 

 ment and its state of preservation. It resembles on a 

 small scale one of the peel towers of the north of 

 England which, however, generally had five floors, 

 whereas this only has three. Of these the two 

 lower are vaulted, while the uppermost is covered 

 with a comparatively modern roof. The room on the 



' Close R. 1650, pt. XX, No. 24. 



456 



