ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



Nicholas, canon of Salisbury, in 1222, wherein was assigned to Robert de 

 Dorchester, chaplain, perpetual vicar, all obventions of the altar and ceme- 

 tery of the church, all small tithes, and the sum of 24^. id. to be annually 

 paid by the tenants of the said church ; to the canon and to his successors 

 were assigned all sheaves of whatever kind of grain and wherever sown. The 

 vicar was bound to serve the church personally and at his own expense, 

 and to bear all charges incumbent on the vicarage."' The endowment of the 

 vicarage of Alton Pancras was fixed in 1227,"' the ordination of the vicarage 

 of Whitchurch, the church of which was appropriated to the chapters of 

 Salisbury and Wells, in 1240 ; the vicar of the latter was charged to find a 

 chaplain and clerk to serve the dependent chapels of Stanton and Chideock 

 and another chaplain and clerk for the chapel of Marshwood, and the ordina- 

 tion included the appointment of a chaplain to celebrate daily in the church 

 for the benefactors and faithful departed of both cathedral chapters, and the 

 assignment of a certain portion of tithes for his maintenance.^-" The chapter 

 of Salisbury in 1242 confirmed the endowment of the vicarage of Bere 

 Regis by Robert de Lexinton, canon of Salisbury, who by deed notified that 

 he had granted to John de Dorchester, chaplain, the whole altarage of the 

 church of Bere Regis and the chapel of Winterborne Regis with tithes of 

 wool and lambs, and all small tithes and oblations, together with a messuage 

 and two acres of land in the town of Bere Regis, which William the vicar 

 had held in the name of a perpetual vicarage, reserving to himself and his 

 successors all tithes of corn, hay and mills, with all the oblations of ' Win- 

 debyre ' on the feast of the Nativity of the B.V.M. and the sum of 6 marks 

 to be annually received in equal portions at the four terms.^^^ In 1255 

 the vicarage of the church of Powerstock with the ordination of its endow- 

 ment was granted by the cathedral of Salisbury to Roger de Mere, chaplain, 

 who as vicar was charged with all expenses incumbent on the dean and 

 chapter for the said church and its chapels in keeping the roof of the 

 chancel in repair, and in providing books, vestments, and other neces- 

 saries for divine service, as well as with the annual payment of a mark 

 to the abbot and convent of Cerne for the chapel of Milton in virtue of 

 a former composition between the abbey and the chapter of Salisbury. ^"^ 

 It will be noted that as a rule these early examples of ordination of 

 vicarages relate to churches in the possession of the cathedral church of 

 the diocese, but they may be accepted as fairly typical of the work then 

 going forward in regulating and systematizing parochial endowments 

 generally. 



The work of two centuries seems fitly crowned by that compila- 

 tion of church property known as the taxation of Pope Nicholas IV 

 which marks the close of the thirteenth century, and from it may be 

 gathered a fairly comprehensive picture of the ecclesiastical organization 

 of the county as it was then complete. Within the archdeaconry of Dorset, 

 divided into the five deaneries of Shaftesbury, Pimperne, Whitchurch, 

 Dorchester, and Bridport,^^^ are recorded the names of 171 churches exclusive 



"» Reg. of St. Osmund (Rolls Ser.), i, 322. '" Ibid, ii, 33. 



"" Sarum Chart, and Doc. (Rolls Ser.), 261-6. "' Ibid. 277. "" Ibid. 324. 



'^' Though rural deans are frequently mentioned in the ecclesiastical councils of the twelfth century 

 (Wilkins, Concil. \, 388, 502, 505), the date when the territorial limits of the deaneries were fixed is 

 uncertain. 



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