A HISTORY OF NORFOLK 



The fourteenth-century seal ' of this college is 

 oval (if -|- 1^ in.) and shows, under a canopied 

 niche crowned with crocketed pinnacles, a small 

 figure ( ? a priest), kneeling in adoration to a saint 

 standing upon a dragon and carrying in the right 

 hand a palm branch. Below is a shield of arms — 

 a bend charged with three ( ? scallop shells). 

 Legend : — 



COM SCI . lOH IS EWA 

 RUSSCHEWORTH 



EL DE 



114. THE COLLEGE OF BAILY END, 

 OR GILD OF ST. MARY, THETFORD ' 



There was at an early period in Thetford a 

 gild dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, consisting 

 of brethren and sisters with their chaplains. 

 For this gild, in the time of Edward I, Sir Gilbert 

 de Pykenham founded a special chapel, or rather 

 collegiate church. 



At first the establishment consisted of a master 

 or warden, who was to celebrate divine service, 

 an alderman, who was to receive and be 

 responsible for the profits of the house, and such 

 brothers and sisters as were duly admitted. The 

 master's stipend from the foundation until about 

 1325 was but a mark; it was then advanced, 

 with increased duties, to ^^3 6s. 8d., with a 

 chaplain at ^Ti 131. 4.d. a year ; and in the time 

 of Henry V the salary was augmented to 

 j^6 135. 4(f., whilst each of the two chaplains 

 had ^^4 13J. 4.d. Each member on admission 

 paid one or more quarters of barley, according 

 to their ability, as well as a money fee of 35. 41^. 

 The annual revenue of the house in 1337 

 was ;f 26 6s., mainly in rent from divers tene- 

 ments in Thetford ; certain rents were allotted 

 to support a perpetual lamp and other lights in 

 the chapel. The members of the gild at that time 

 numbered thirty-six. Among them were several 

 of the town clergy, including William Harding, 

 who had been master of two of the Thetford 

 hospitals. New members were admitted by the 

 vote of the majority of the gild, who had also 

 the power of expulsion, which was exercised in 

 1337 against one Edmund Caston. 



In the time of Richard II the revenues of 

 the gild were materially increased ; there were 

 two chaplains, one of whom served the chapel of 

 St. Bartholomew, in addition to the master. 



The gild certificate of 12 Richard II, when 

 there was a general inquiry into such foundations 

 throughout the country, was to the following 

 effect : That the chapel of the Nativity in the 

 market-place of Thetford was founded time 



' Ackn. of Supr. (P.R.O.), No. i04**. 



' All account rolls and other documents of the 

 college used to be in the hands of Mr. Martin the 

 historian of Thetford. From these original sources 

 his long description of the fraternity is mainly taiien. 

 Martin, Hist.of Thetford I^X"]-]!^), 203-27 ; Blomefield, 

 HUt. ofNorf. ii, 80-3. 



beyond memory for the use of a fraternity of the 

 townsmen and outsiders ; that the chapel was 

 about half a mile distant from the parish church 

 or any other churches, and was suitable for the 

 hearing of Mass by those who thronged to the 

 town on market days or days of pleas ; that the 

 fraternity sustained three chaplains, one of whom 

 celebrated daily, another on Sundays, and the 

 third the Requiem Masses ; that the anniversaries 

 and obits of each deceased brother or sister of 

 the gild were kept in free alms with all due 

 devotion and with candles burning ; and that 

 Roger de Wortham, parson of the church of 

 Tittleshall, gave by charter in 1358 to John 

 de Thetford, parson of the church of Heyham, 

 and others, of whom two survive, a messuage in 

 Thetford worth 20s. a year, for Mass in the 

 chapel for the soul of Henry Chatrys, and for 

 the support of the chaplains and the general 

 sustentation of the chapel and fraternity.' 



In 141 6, the revenues were estimated at ;^40. 

 In that year nine new members were enrolled, 

 including Margaret Campleon, afterwards prioress, 

 of the Thetford nunnery. The expenses at the 

 annual gild feast amounted to 56;. 



Henry VI in 1443 licensed William earl of 

 Suffolk and Isabel, wife of William Gallion, to 

 alienate to the mayor and commonalty of Thet- 

 ford (as trustees for the gild) a messuage and 

 garden in Thetford, 240 acres of land, 600 of 

 pasture and heath, with four foldcourses in 

 Croxton, for the purpose of procuring two 

 chaplains to perform daily service for their souls 

 and those of their heirs in the chapel of the 

 Blessed Mary in Baily End.^ 



In 1446 the mayor and commonalty obtained 

 licence for alienation in mortmain on behalf of 

 the gild of j^ 10 more per annum in mortmain, 

 and the small benefactions immediately increased. 

 The fraternity then appointed two chamberlains 

 to receive the rents, who had to pass their 

 accounts annually before the mayor. 



This college or gild of St. Mary of Baily End 

 possessed burial rights, and accordingly various 

 legacies were left to it in the fifteenth century by 

 those who desired burial in the chapel or in the 

 yard by which it was surrounded. 



Isabel Gallion, who died in 1472, made 

 notable bequests to the college, to which she 

 bequeathed her body to be buried at the entrance 

 to the quire. Besides church ornaments and 

 gifts of money Isabel also conferred upon the 

 house the advowson and the appropriation of the 

 church of Santon. This advowson was subse- 

 quently conveyed to the mayor and commonalty 

 of Thetford on condition that at every vacancy 

 they presented the master of St. Mary's, Baily 

 End, and that he received the profits of the 

 same. 



^ Certificates of Gilds, Chancer^-, No. 332 ; this 

 return has been overlooked by Martin and Blomefield. 

 ' Inq. a.q.d. 21 Hen. VI, No. 57. 



460 



