A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



In 1362-3 the sacrist paid 'to the succentors, the master of the infirmary, the students at 

 Oxford, and the bishop of the Almonry ^^i 6;.' Other Sacrists' Rolls show that the Oxford, i.e. 

 Durham Hall students, received £1, so that 6;. was paid to the infirmary master and to the boy 

 bishop of the Almonry ; which same sum was in 1367-8 paid by the Almoner ' as a pension by the 

 students and master of the infirmary and the bishop of the Almonry.' The boy bishop reigned, on 

 St. Nicholas and Innocents' Day, here no doubt as everywhere else where there was a school or 

 choristers. The accounts of the officers of the monastery show payments of sums varying from 

 IS. bd. to 3J. ()d. to the boy bishop (episcopo puerili) or the Almonry bishop (episcopo Elemosinario) from 

 1350 downwards. 



The Almonry was simply a charity school, and it was started apparently to provide choristers 

 for the Lady Chapel (and perhaps the choir, though it is by no means certain that they ever sang 

 in the choir in the ordinary way) as part of a general movement of the monasteries, at all events the 

 cathedral monasteries, to rival the secular cathedral and collegiate churches by the attractions of a 

 musical service, with the clear trebles of boys instead of the horrid altos of men. To enable the 

 choristers to be efficient they were bound to learn grammar as well as song, and so the Almonry 

 Grammar Schools came into existence. It is not, however, till 1372-3 that the ' master of the 

 boys ' is definitely called schoolmaster. In that year the Almoner paid £1 igj. ^d. 'to the school- 

 master of the Almonry (magister scole elemosinarie) for his salary, together with a gown (roba) bought 

 for him.' 



In 1447-8, and subsequent years, 8 pennyworth of bread and beer was found for the boys ' for 

 scattering, tossing, and winning hay ' (dispergentibus, levantibus et lucrantibus fenum), while in 1456-7 

 IS. ^d. was paid for beer ' for the scholars and others labouring at getting stones.' Though fed on 

 broken meats they were provided with table cloths ; ' two cloths (mappis) for the tables of the boys 

 of the Almonry,' costing in 1 406-7, 2s. 8d., and a big school table was bought for them in 1436-7 

 for lOJ. They were given meat, too, at the great feasts, Js. being paid in 1 41 8-9 ' for meat 

 (carnibus) bought for the Almonry boys at Advent.' When there was a vacancy in the mastership 

 in 141 6-7 a schoolmaster was imported from Darlington by the Almoner to teach them (magistro 

 scolarum^ venienti de Darlington informanti pueros pro tempore, 1 4.1.), and in I 500, when the scliool- 

 master ran away 'through fear of the plague ' (propter metum pestis) — two of the sisters in the infir- 

 mary died of it — somebody else was paid is. 8d. by the Almoner to administer the Sacraments to 

 W. Suall and his wife. 



The stipend of the master seems to have been raised later. To John Gamer, in 1439-40 

 (magistro scolarum grammaticalium) was paid ^^2 1 31. ^.d. for three terms, making his stipend probably 

 £2 for the year, with an allowance for gown and hood, since in 1500 a Sir George Trcwhyte, 

 master of the Grammar School (scole grammaticalis) (after 1 450 there seems to have been a reversion 

 to the use of the singular instead of the plural for a single school), the one who ran away from the 

 plague, received £2 stipend, lOJ. for his gown (toga) and I id. for fur for it ; and the same amount 

 was paiil in 1522. In 1526-7 he also received 6s. 8d. from the master of the infirmary, but this 

 was probably for some special service. 



We learn the names of a few of the masters, besides the two above mentioned, from the 

 Sanctuary Book,2 as on several occasions the master witnessed the entries of those admitted to 

 sanctuary. Thus on 26 July, 1477, *'^^ admission of Christopher Brown was witnessed by 

 Edward Bell, notary public, and Joiin M)'nsforth, priest, schoolmaster of tiic abbey of Durham 

 (magistro scolarum abbathie Dunelmensis). On 24 August, 1493, Robert Grcneof South Shields was 

 admitted before Sir Robert Milner, schoolmaster (magistro scole grammaticalis) of the abbey of 

 Durham, while on 27 December, 1 510, Sir Cuthbert Marshall, described in the same way, and 

 Tiiomas Hawghton, literate, were witnesses to two similar admissions. On 19 August, 151 5) t'le 

 admission of Thomas Muchenson of Haydon Bridge (Hailan Brigs), husbandman, and his son w.as, 

 by perhaps more than a coincidence of name, witnessed by Sir John Huchcnson, Grammar School 

 master of the abbey and rector of the church in the South Bailey. John Huchcnson, without any 

 description attached, appears again as a witness on 25 August, 1521. Sir Robert Hartburnc was, as 

 has been seen, the last master. 



We may presume, but there is no evidence, that the secular scholars or sizars at Durham 

 College at Oxford, who waited on the monks were, so far as the four to be chosen from Durham 

 were concerned, taken from these Almonry boys. 



With the abbey, the almonry, being a part of it, and the almonry school perished. So far as 

 they were choristers, tiie boys' places were filled by the ten choristers ; while so far as they were 

 scholars, their places were taken by the eighteen king's scholars of the new foundation. 



' This entry, by the w.iy, confirms the inference that tlicrc was a Grammar School attached to the 

 collcgi.itc church of Darlington. 



' Satifluarium Dunclmcnic (Surtccs See, No. 3). 



