A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



defining the relationship of the district chapel to the parish church. 

 When Patric, son of Thomas de Workingto^n, founded the chapel of 

 Thornthwaite about the year 1240, the abbot aVnd convent of Fountains, 

 rectors of the parish of Crosthwaite, in which tlr v e new chapel was built, 

 made a stipulation that all the chaplains should g* r ive obedience to the 

 mother church and relinquish all claim to tithes, gre/it and small, and to 

 all oblations and obventions, due and accustomed. 1 Tvhough the rights 

 of the parish church were always jealously safeguarded, ii* did not prevent 

 the occurrence of parochial troubles. When Thomas, rector of Dean, 

 induced the inhabitants of Clifton to bury their dead in h ; is churchyard, 

 the rector of Workington, in whose parish the chapelry was situated, 

 appealed in 1219 and forced the rector of Dean to disi continue the 

 practice. 2 J 



In course of time chapels attained to a position of independence, 

 but it was frequently a long process. For various causes, a^ the need 

 was felt, parochial rights were granted by the ecclesiastical authorities. 

 The right of burial in the chapel yard was a crucial stage in the' develop- 

 ment, and the concession was considered of such high moment tfriat every 

 precaution was taken to maintain the supremacy of the mother Vchurch. 

 The chaplain on his appointment was obliged to swear subjectionV to the 

 rector, by whose will he was always removable ; the inhabitants emtered 

 into an agreement to continue their contribution to the repairs oSf the 

 mother church as well as to keep the chapel and all its belongingrs at 

 their own charges. In all cases the consecration of the chapel yard was 

 a necessary feature of the transaction ; in some cases the dedication i of 

 the chapel is mentioned. In 1534 the right of burial was granted ito 

 the chapel of Ennerdale by reason of its distance from St. Bees and tine 

 great inconvenience occasioned at funerals by the badness of the roads. 3 

 About the same time a similar privilege had been given to the chapel 

 of Loweswater on the petition of Henry, earl of Northumberland, the 

 good friend of the church in that neighbourhood. In a deed of extra- 

 ordinary length 4 the relative position of chapel and mother church w/as 

 set out with a minuteness which showed what a firm grip the moniks 

 kept over their subordinate churches. It was given with its endowment 

 of two oxgangs of land to St. Bees by Randulf de Lindesay and Hectreda 

 his wife soon after the foundation of the priory. 5 Many of the indepen- 

 dent cures in Cumberland have attained their present position by this 

 process of development from district chapels. 



Reg. of Fountains (Cotton MS. Tiberius, C. xij), ff. 97-8. Patric son of Thomas had a grant of 

 ' Tornthayt in Derwentfelles ' from Alice de Rumelli, daughter of William fitz Duncan, in the early 

 part of the thirteenth century, which place he undertook to assart and cultivate. It is noteworthy that 

 as soon as the estate became inhabited, the owner set about at once to provide a chapel for his tenants, 

 A late copy of the deed, by which Patric was enfeoffed, remains with his descendant at Workington Hall. 



" Reg. of St. Bees (Harl. MS. 434), ii. 15. In the Register of Glasgow there are several documents 

 illustrating the origin and privileges of parish churches, and the jealousy with which their incumbents 

 watched the tendency of chapels to interfere with the offerings and dues of the mother church which 

 were only of inferior importance to its tithes (Reg. Epis. Glasguensis (Bannatyne Club), i. pp. xxiii. 

 41, 48, 61, et passim). 



3 Reg. of St. Bees MS. viii. 13. 4 Ibid. ix. 6. B Ibid. i. 12, 29. 



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