SCHOOLS 



of earth, as 5 labourers were paid n. d. or a 

 day's wages each, for digging it up, was sent to 

 him. He came in person to Winchester on 

 29 January 1447-8, when there was a great 

 gathering of those interested in Eton, the two 

 provosts and divers fellows of the two colleges 

 meeting Bekynton, Say, Uvedale, the high sheriff, 

 and other Wykehamists. He spent a month, 

 later in the same year when Parliament was held 

 there, paying frequent visits to the college, and 

 gave them a tabernacle of gold for the high altar 

 and 401. for the scholars and 5 for the fellows 

 and other things. The result was nearly fatal 

 to Eton, for he seems to have now conceived 

 the idea of rivalling and surpassing Wykeham 

 not merely as school and college founder, but 

 also as cathedral builder. 



Up to this time, as is shown by the so-called 

 'will' of Henry VI, which was not a testament 

 taking effect on death, but a declaration of uses 

 or trusts of certain lands and revenues, chiefly 

 derived from the Duchy of Lancaster, which he 

 had vested in feoffees to carry out the works of 

 his two colleges, he was merely desirous of out- 

 bidding William of Wykeham's colleges. 'I ... 

 have doo my will and myne entent to be written 

 in maner that foloweth ... I will pray and 

 charge my feffees M that unto the tyme that the 

 saide edificacions and other werkes ... be fully 

 perfourmed and accomplished in more notable 

 wise than any of my said roiaume of England, 

 they see that my same colleges . . . have . . . 

 yerely 2,000 that is to say, Eton 1,000 and 

 . . . Cambridge 1,000 . . . unto the ende of 

 the terme of xx yeres.' The will and intent then 

 sets out the dimensions. The choir (quere) of 

 the church of Eton was to be 103 ft. long and 

 32 ft. broad and 80 ft. high, and the body or nave 

 1 04 ft. long and 32 ft. broad, with an aisle on 

 each side 1 5 ft. broad. ' And so the said 

 quere is lenger then the quere of Wynchestre 

 college at Oxenford by 3 feet, brodder by 2 fete 

 and the walls heyer by 20 fete, the pennacles 

 lenger 10 fete.' He had ensured this by sending 

 in I442 40 Bekynton to New College with a 

 ' squire of the lord king to measure the hall and 

 the church.' In like manner the following year 

 he had sent the Dean of St. Paul's to New Col- 

 lege ' to see and hear divine service celebrated 

 there and report on it to the lord king ' ; and the 

 New College choir was sent to Oseney Abbey, 

 where the king stayed, to do service before him 

 there. He was determined to eclipse it in that 

 respect also. 



To make a school chapel larger than the largest 

 college chapel at Oxford then satisfied the king's 



" This spelling admirably preserves the proper 

 pronunciation of the word ' feoffees," not ' fee-of-fces ' 

 in three syllables. 



"New Coll. Bursars' Roll, 11 & 2* Hen. VI. 

 ' Pro j jentaculo dato armigero Domini Regis veniendo 

 ad mensurandum aulam et ecclesiam, 23*.' 



ambition. But his visit to Winchester later in 

 the year seems to have developed megalomania. 

 Henry now got from Oxford, as master of the 

 works, Master Roger Keys, who, as second war- 

 den of All Souls' College, had overseen the com- 

 pletion of its buildings, and kept its extant and 

 admirable accounts. On 26 January 1448-9 

 Keys was paid 41 191. f)\d. for his expenses for 

 nine days with four horses and three servants, 

 ' sent by the lord king to Salisbury and Win- 

 chester, to make certain measurements there, viz. 

 of the choirs and naves of the churches there.' 

 The result was seen in three successive plans 41 

 for completing the Eton buildings, culminating in 

 ' The Kynge's owne avyse, as touchyng certayne 

 dimensions also well of the Qwere as of the body 

 of the churche, with the yles, of his college royall 

 of oure blessed lady of Eton.' These plans in- 

 creased the length of the choir from 103 ft. to 

 1 1 8 ft., and finally to 150 ft., and the breadth 

 from 32 ft. to 35 ft. and finally 40 ft., whilst the 

 nave was enlarged from 1 04 ft. to 1 1 9 ft. and then 

 to 1 68 ft. long, with similar increases of breadth, 

 the aisles being also increased in breadth from 

 15 ft. to 2O ft. each. Thus the whole length of 

 the church was made 318 ft. instead of 207 ft., 

 and the breadth 80 ft. ' And so the said quere 

 schall be lenger than the quere of the Newe Col- 

 lege at Oxford bi 47 fete, brodder bi 8 fete and 

 the walles heyer by 20 fete And also heyer than 

 the walles of seynt Stephen's Chapel at West- 

 minstre.' In fact the design of a school chapel 

 was now enlarged into that of a first-class cathe- 

 dral. 



It is interesting to observe that there was a 

 definite plan drawn out, and the actual architect 

 was apparently found in London, as Roger Keys 

 spent three weeks there negotiating for a new 

 quarry at Hudleston in Yorkshire and ' to show 

 the king the drawing made for the finishing of 

 the building.' 4 



To carry out this stupendous design, the whole 

 of the just completed, or almost completed, chapel, 

 for the roof and stalls had both been finished, 

 even to the polishing of the latter with ' hownd 

 fissch (? dog-fish) skyn,' had to be destroyed, and 

 special directions were required to ensure that the 

 very foundations themselves should not be re- 

 moved, but only added to for the greater breadth 

 contemplated. From the year 1448 to 1450 no 

 less than 3,336 was spent on the works, or 

 about 100,000, at a moderate computation, in 

 our money. The Marquis of Suffolk, Wayne- 

 flete, and the Bishop of Salisbury contributed 

 about 700 (or 21,000) of this sum. But it 

 was evidently more than the royal coffers could 

 stand. In 1450 the impeachment of Suffolk was 



" Keys' accounts in Eton library. 



Willis and Clark, op. cit. i, 365 ; Maxwell Lyte, 

 op. cit. 



' Ad ostendendnm Domino Regi portraturam 

 factam super condusione cditiui.' 



165 



