A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



proved a further kind friend of St. Margaret's. 

 The parishioners were evidently extending their 

 church, and had begun a south aisle, in which 

 was an altar dedicated to St. Thomas of Canter- 

 bury. Unfortunately their means did not 

 suffice to complete the work in progress, so that 

 the bishop was moved to send a brief to the 

 clergy of his diocese asking them to contribute. 



Meanwhile there had been a recrudescence of 

 Scottish troubles, and in 1341, according to 

 Froissart, Durham itself was burned, but the 

 assertion is otherwise unsupported, and it has 

 been supposed to refer to Auckland or some 

 other town.'* The neighbourhood of Durham 

 was rarely quiet in these days for long together, 

 and, if the Scots receded, the ways were infested 

 with robbers who did much damage. In fact 

 the dangers of the roads must have kept the 

 pilgrims from approaching the city, so that the 

 annual fairs were probably much impoverished." 

 With the Battle of Durham in 1346, when the 

 men of Durham largely contributed to the suc- 

 cessful issue of the battle outside the city, a 

 temporary improvement began. So far as the 

 Scots were concerned, they were no further 

 trouble for a long time, but a far greater evil 

 than any of the Border invasions fell upon the 

 neighbourhood in 1349 with the advent of the 

 Black Death. It does not seem conceivable that 

 the city escaped, but numerous and pathetic as 

 are the details of the ravages in the bishopric at 

 large no very clear tradition has survived of 

 mortality in Durham itself. It may be argued 

 from a request for money to repair the cathedral 

 in 1359 that the abbey was much impoverished^ 

 by the Scottish wars, and perhaps references to 

 mortgages show that the times of pressure had 

 obliged some owners to raise money, while 

 money-lending in Durham appears to have been 

 profitable.'^ Bishop Hatfield, however, was 

 able to find workmen in 1350 when he entered 

 into a bond"" with a certain John of Northaller- 

 ton to rebuild the roof of the castle hall. 



The Cursitor records, which exist from the 

 time of Bury onwards, contain a good many 

 references of some interest as to the conveyance 

 of property in those parts of the city belonging 

 to the bishop. We find the lease of a messuage 

 and garden on 'the place of Durham,'** of 

 ' a place or plot in Owengate,' of ' a place of 

 land . . . under the moat of the Castle of 

 Durham,' of ' one close called Spetelplace 

 formerly occupied by men who were lepers, and 

 now lying waste without occupation of any 



** Arch. Ael. xiv, 362. 



" Cal. Pat. 1 343-S, p. 67 ; Dep. Keeper'' s Rep. 

 xxxi, 100. 



'8 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ix, App. i, 191. 

 '' Dep. Keeper's Rep. ixxi, 153. 

 «oibid. 113. 

 *i Ibid, xxxii, App. i, 300. 



lepers,'""'- of 'a piece of land of the waste of 

 the lord outside the north gate of Durham to 

 the south of the said gate between the postern 

 there and a certain round tower situated in the 

 wall of the castle behind the tenement of the 

 Master of Kepier Hospital.'*' Thus we have 

 proof that in the 14th century houses abutted 

 on the Palace Green, that there were plots of 

 land leased out below the keep, that the name of 

 Owengate is at least as old as the century in 

 question, though probably much older. The 

 reference to the old Spitalplace shows that there 

 were other hospitals than Kepier and Sherburn 

 in the neighbourhood. 



Another lease mentions Jebet Knoll," and this 

 is, no doubt,the little eminence in fuU view of the 

 city on the north-west which is still called Gibbet 

 Knoll. Another speaks of the Tolbooth in 

 Durham, and conveys a shop under it.*' Many 

 other references to the Tolbooth, which was re- 

 erected by Tunstall in the i6th century, show 

 that it must have been a building of some size 

 standing in the market-place and with shops 

 leased out below it. Again in 1398 ' William 

 Warde took from the lord a place of the waste of 

 the lord under the walls of the Castle of Durham 

 on the east, viz., in length from Kingsgate to the 

 Quarry where John Lowyn digs stones, and in 

 width from the wall of the aforesaid Castle to 

 the water of Wear to hold and enclose in sever- 

 alty.'** Other parts of the city named in these 

 rolls of the 14th century are Clayport, Saddler- 

 gate, Feshewerrawe or Fleshewergate, Alverton- 

 gate, North and South Bailey. All these names 

 survive to-day, with very little change. 



If we had more evidence for the period before 

 Bury and Hatfield, we should probably get proof 

 of many changes and improvements in mediaeval 

 Durham, and of quickening trade. The first 

 reference, that has been noted, to the inclosing 

 and paving of the city, other than the mention of 

 murage above, is in 1379, when Bishop Hatfield 

 made a grant of tolls for the purpose of inclosing 

 and paving,*' but no light is thrown on the 

 details of what was done. In the previous 

 year the commonalty of the bishopric made a 

 clamosa querela to the bishop, representing to 

 him that the butchers, fishmongers, inn-keepers, 

 and vintners were asking prices higher than 

 those allowed by recent statute. A special 

 commission was issued to the judges to hear the 

 complaint, and to put an end to such offences.** 

 The grievance does not refer to Durham alone, 

 of course, yet the Durham tradesmen probably 

 bore their share. 



** Dur. Rec. cl. 3, no. 13, fol. 454 (Skirlaw's 17th 

 year). *' Ibid. fol. 465. 



*■• Ibid. fol. 257 d. (Skirlaw's lothyear). 

 *' Ibid. 6* Ibid. fol. 479. 



*' Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. i, 275. 

 ** Lapsley, op. cit. 1 36. 



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