RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



tion has been found of the name of any warden 

 of this house, nor even of any friar save one, 

 John Rokeby, who was living in 1492, and who 

 must have been a typical 'jolly friar,' as he 

 weighed twenty-four stone, a fact that was con- 

 sidered sufficiently noteworthy to obtain an entry 

 on the Borough Roll.' 



The house was suppressed in the autumn of 

 1538 by Richard Ingworth, and possession was 

 given to Mr. Millesent, a servant of Cromwell's.^ 

 Cromwell obtained a grant of it in the following 

 year and transferred it to his nephew. Sir Richard 

 Williams. 



65. THE CARMELITE FRIARS OF 

 YARMOUTH 



The house of White Friars of Yarmouth was 

 founded in 1276 in the north part of the town, 

 Edward I being regarded as their founder. It 

 was dedicated to St. Mary. 



In 1276, an inquisition ad quod damnum was 

 held at Yarmouth, touching the petition of the 

 Carmelite Friars for licence to inhabit a void 

 place in Great Yarmouth called * Le Denne ' ; 

 containing 500 ft. by 400 ft., and there to build 

 a church for themselves.' 



On 26 June 1 291, Oliver Wych obtained 

 licence to alienate in mortmain a messuage to 

 the Carmelites of Yarmouth.* 



Whilst the dread of the Black Death hung 

 over the land, bequests to friars were common 

 throughout England. William Hutte, in 1349, 

 gave to the Carmelite Friars of Yarmouth two 

 coverlets and a silver cup with a pelican ; and to 

 John de Yarmouth, his nephew, a friar of the 

 order, a feather bed and other furniture. In the 

 same year, Simon atte Crosse left them 20/. for 

 masses for his soul ; and Agnes his wife 6j. 8^. 



Licence was given in 1378, on payment of 

 20J., to the Carmelites of Great Yarmouth to 

 enclose a lane adjoining their dwelling on the 

 south side for the enlargement of their house, 

 provided they made another lane as good for 

 passers-by.' 



The following burials in this church occur in 

 a MS. at the College of Arms : — 1309, Nicholas 

 Castle, Esquire, also Elizabeth his wife ; 1330, 

 Dame Maude, wife of Sir Thomas Huntingdon ; 

 1382, Sir John de Monte Acuto.* 



On I April 1509, the church and convent 

 were burnt down.' 



John Tylney, who was prior of this house 

 from about 1430 to 1455, vvas of much repu- 



' Palmer, Hist, of Yarmouth, i, 421. 



- L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (2), 436, 508. 



' Pat. 4 Edw. I, m. 26. 



' Ibid. 19 Edw. I, m. 10. 



■' Palmer, Hist, of Yarmouth, i, 426. 



" F. G. Interments. 



'" Palmer, Hist, of Yarmouth, l, 426. 



tation as professor of divinity at Cambridge, and 

 wrote various treatises.* 



This house was suppressed by Richard 

 Ingworth towards the close of 1538.' It was 

 granted in 1544 to Thomas Denton and Robert 

 Nottingham.'" 



66. THE AUSTIN FRIARS OF YAR- 

 MOUTH 



Although the house of these Austin Friars was 

 across the water in Suffolk, in the parish of Gorles- 

 ton, as it stood in Little Yarmouth or Southtown, 

 mention had better be made of it in this place 

 as well as under the religious houses of Suffolk. 

 In several wills, bequests were made to the four 

 orders of friars of Yarmouth ; but Gorleston was 

 not formally joined to the borough until 1688. 



This friary was founded towards the end of 

 the reign of Edward I, by William Woderove 

 and Margaret his wife." On 28 June 1 131, 

 Roger Woderove, son of the founder, obtained 

 licence to grant to the prior and Augustine friars 

 of Little Yarmouth a plot of land adjacent to 

 their dwelling," and in 1338 a further enlarge- 

 ment of their house was made on a plot of land 

 240 ft. by 70 ft., the gift of William Man, of 

 Blundeston." 



In the large and handsome church many dis- 

 tinguished persons were buried. Weever names 

 the founder and his wife ; Richard earl of Clare ; 

 Roger FitzOsbert and Katharine his wife ; Sir 

 Henry Bacon, 1335, and many of his family; 

 Joan, countess of Gloucester ; Dame Alice 

 Lunston, 1341 ; Dame Eleanor, wife of Sir 

 Thomas Gerbrigge, 1353 ; Dame Joan Caxton 

 1364 ; William de Ufford, earl of Suffolk, 1382 ; 

 Michael de la Pole, earl of Suffolk ; Sir Thomas 

 Hengrove ; Dame Sibyl Mortimer, 1385 ; Sir 

 John Laune, and Mary his wife ; Alexander 

 Falstolfe ; William March, esq., 141 2, and 

 John Pulham, 1481.'* 



Lambarde, writing of this house, which he 

 mistakenly terms an abbey, says : ' Here was of 

 late years a librarie of most rare and precious 

 workes, gathered together by the Industrie of 

 one John Brome , a monk of the same house, 

 which died in the reign of King Henry the 

 Sixte.' '* John Brome was prior of the house 

 and died in 1449. His collection of books was 

 famous and said to include several of which 

 there were no other copies in England ; he was 

 himself the author of chronicles and sermons.'* 



' Stevens, Contin. ofMon. 



' L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (2), 436. 



■» Ibid, xix (I), 373. 



" Weever, Funeral Monuments, 863. 



" Pat. 4 Edw. II, pt. ii, m. 3. 



" Ibid. 12 Edw. Ill, pt. iii, m. 15. 



" Weever, Funeral Monuments, 863. 



" Lambarde, Topog. Diet. (1730), 136. 



" Stevens, Contin. ofMon. ii, 176. 



437 



