XXVI OF SELBORNE. 2 *7 



Selborne seems to have derived much of its prosperity from 

 the near neighbourhood of the Priory. For monasteries were of 

 considerable advantage to places where they had their sites and 

 estates, by causing great resort, by procuring markets and fairs, 

 by freeing them from the cruel oppression of forest-laws, and by 

 letting their lands .at easy rates. But, as soon as the convent 

 was suppressed, the town which it had occasioned began to 

 decline, and the market was less frequented; the rough and 

 sequestered situation gave a check to resort, and the neglected 

 roads rendered it less and less accessible. 



That it had been a considerable place for size formerly 

 appears from the largeness of the church, which much exceeds 

 those of the neighbouring villages ; by the ancient extent of the 

 burying ground, which, from human bones occasionally dug up, 

 is found to have been much encroached upon ; by giving a name 

 to the hundred ; by the old foundations and ornamented stones 

 and tracery of windows that have been discovered on the 

 north-east side of the village; and by the many vestiges of 

 disused fish-ponds still to be seen around it. For ponds and 

 stews were multiplied in the times of popery, that the affluent 

 might enjoy some variety at their tables on fast days ; therefore 

 the more they abounded the better probably was the condition 

 of the inhabitants. 



