ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



worth 9 2J. The archbishop of York held 29 carucates and 7 bovates 

 altogether, worth / 2s. The abbot of Crowland held 16 carucates in Kirkby, 

 Sutton Cheney, Stapleton, and Beeby, 23 worth 3 2s. 



Three priests, Godwin, Ernbern, and Aluric, held portions of the king's 

 alms-land, worth 30^. in all. 



The total value of church property in the county was therefore only 

 ^48 2s. It will be noticed that as yet no monasteries were built here, and 

 that no grants of land had been made to abbeys in France. Hugh de Grante- 

 mesnil, the largest landholder in Leicestershire, had indeed already endowed 

 the abbey of St. Evroul with portions of the tithes in all the parishes where 

 he had any rights ; 24 but this would not come within the scope of the survey. 



That wonderful work of church building and church organization, which 

 was one of the most lasting results of the Norman Conquest, was already 

 begun at the time of the great survey. The county of Leicester was now 

 an archdeaconry, and not long after it was to be divided into rural deaneries. 25 

 There were some notable men among the early archdeacons of Leicester, 

 both in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Nothing is known of the first 

 three, whose names Ralf, Godfrey, and Walter are preserved by Henry of 

 Huntingdon, though the third is said to have been a man worthy of all 

 praise. 26 But the fourth, Robert de Chesney, was so distinguished for the 

 diligence and simplicity with which he performed all the duties of his office, ' 

 that his election to the see of Lincoln in 1 148 was hailed with joy by clergy 

 and laity 27 alike. If he did not shine as a bishop it was for lack of worldly 

 wisdom rather than piety : his lot fell in hard times for the Church. 



The founding of many monasteries in the twelfth century brought 

 changes to a large number of the parish churches. Before the middle of the 

 thirteenth century as many as eighty-two of these had been granted to abbeys 

 and priories within the county, 28 and fifty-seven to other houses of religion at 

 home or abroad. 29 It was the special work of Bishop Hugh of Wells to see 

 that the vicars appointed by the religious to the charge of their appropriate 



13 Kemble, Cod. Dip!, ccxxxiii and ccccxx. These charters, however, are more than doubtful. 



"The gifts of Hugh de Grantemesnil were confirmed by the Conqueror in 1081. See charters in 

 Nichols, Leicestershire, \ (i), App. p. 13 ; and in Dugdale, Man. 



lb See App. i to this article. 



K Henry of Huntingdon, de Contemptu Mundi (Rolls Sen), 302. 



87 Ibid. Hut. Angl. (Rolls Sen), 281. 



13 These need not be set out here, as they will be found under the different religious houses ot this 

 county. The abbey of St. Mary de Pre had the lion's share ; forty-one in all, including eight churches in 

 the town of Leicester. The nine churches appropriated to Belvoir Priory are also reckoned in this list, as it 

 was partly within the county. 



29 These were as follows : To the abbey of St. Evroul : Peatling Magna, Desford, Belgrave, Thurlaston, 

 Swithland, Glenfield, Noseley, Burton Overy, Carlton Curlieu. To the abbey of Lyre : Witherley, Higham- 

 on-the-Hill, Fenny Drayton, Sibson. To the priory of Chaucombe : Great Dalby. To Canwell : Dunton 

 Bassett, Ragdale. To Beauchief: Wymeswold. To Lenton : Foston, Broughton Astley, Wigston. To 

 Tutbury : Wymondham, Edmondthorpe, and (until the fourteenth century) Coston and Stapleford. To 

 Coventry : Scraptoft and Packington. To Bullington : Prestwo'ld. To Daventry : Gumley, Foxton, 

 Scalford. To Soleby : South Kilworth. To Lilleshull : Ashby de la Zouch, Shangton. To Crowland : 

 Beeby. To Freston : Stonesby. To Dunstable : Cadeby. To Drax : Garthorpe and Saltby. To Crokesden : 

 Tugby. To Sempringham : Thrussington. To Nuneaton : Waltham-on-the- Wolds, Ratby, and Claybrooke. 

 To Alcester : Glen Magna. To St. Agatha's : Saddington. To Caldwell : Arnesby. To Harrold : Shacker- 

 stone. To Monks Kirby : Sharnford. To Cateby : Ashby Magna. To Merevale : Orton-on-the-Hill. 

 To Polesworth : Barwell. To Norton : Castle Donington. To Peterborough : Bringhurst. To St. Peter 

 super Divam : Houghton-on-the-Hill. To Leeds : Hallaton. To Lewes : Melton Mowbray. To Stixwould : 

 Muston. To Latham : Appleby Magna. A few of these changed hands or returned to seculars later ; but 

 most of them continued appropriate as above till the Dissolution. 



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