OF SELBORNE 313 



" sar. pcessu temporis quocunq ; casu contingente usi non fuerint 

 " nlominus postea eadm libtate uti possit. Et pdcus prior quesitus 

 "p. justic. quo waranto clamat omn. terr. et ten. sua in Selebume, 

 " Norton, Basynges, Basyngestoke, & Nattele, que prior domus pdte 

 " huit & tenuit X mo . die April anno regni dni Hen. reg. pavi dni 

 "reg. nue XVIII. imppm esse quieta de vasto et regardo, et visu 

 " forestarior. et viridarior. regardator. et omnium ministrorum 

 "foreste," &c. &c. Chapter-house, Westminster. 



LETTER XXVI. 



THOUGH the evidences and documents of the Priory and parish of 

 Selborne are now at an end, yet, as the author has still several 

 things to say respecting the present state of that convent and it's 

 Grange, and other matters, he does not see how he can acquit 

 himself of the subject without trespassing again on the patience 

 of the reader by adding one supplementary letter. 



No sooner did the Priory (perhaps much out of repair at the 

 time) become an appendage to the college, but it must at once 

 have tended to swift decay. Magdalen College wanted now only 

 two chambers for the chantry priest and his assistant ; and there- 

 fore had no occasion for the hall, dormitory, and other spacious 

 apartments belonging to so large a foundation. The roofs neg- 

 lected, would soon become the possession of daws and owls ; and, 

 being rotted and decayed by the weather, would fall in upon the 

 floors ; so that all parts must have hastened to speedy dilapidation 

 and a scene of broken ruins. Three full centuries have now 

 passed since the dissolution ; a series of years that would craze 

 the stoutest edifices. But, besides the slow hand of time, many 

 circumstances have contributed to level this venerable structure 

 with the ground ; of which nothing now remains but one piece 

 of a wall of about ten feet long, and as many feet high, which 

 probably was part of an out-house. As early as the latter end of 

 the reign of Hen. VII. we find that a farm-house and two barns 

 were built to the south of the Priory, and undoubtedly out of it's 

 materials. Avarice again has much contributed to the overthrow 

 of this stately pile, as long as the tenants could make money of 

 it's stones or timbers. Wantonness, no doubt, has had a share in 

 the demolition ; for boys love to destroy what men venerate and 

 admire. A remarkable instance of this propensity the writer can 



