A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



14. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. 

 LEONARD, WIGTON 1 



This house had property in Waverton at 

 an early date, for it is mentioned in a charter 

 of Lambert son of Gillestephen of Waverton 

 that the land of the hospital was situated on 

 the east side of the vill. 2 When the chantries 

 were dissolved in 1546, George Lancaster 

 was incumbent of the hospital of St. Leonard, 

 Wigton. 3 



caster) was unable to pay the assessment as 

 the land belonging to it lay uncultivated." 



1 6. THE HOSPITAL HOUSE OF 

 CALDBECK 



Gospatric son of Orm gave this hospital 

 (hospitalem domum de Caldebech) with the church 

 of that place to the priory of Carlisle 8 some 

 time before 1170. 



15. THE HOSPITAL OF LENNH', 

 BEWCASTLE 



The collectors of the tenth, given by the 

 clergy of the diocese of Carlisle in 1294 to 

 Edward I. for the Holy Land, refer to this 

 house and reported that the hospital of Lennh' 

 in Bewcastle (Hospitale de Lennh 1 in Bothe- 



17. THE HOUSE OF ST. JOHN, 

 KESWICK 



The house of St. John (domus sancti "Johan- 

 nis) existed either as a hospital or hermitage 

 in the early years of the thirteenth century 7 

 and has bequeathed its name to the vale of 

 St. John near Keswick. 



COLLEGES 



1 8. THE COLLEGE OF GREY- 

 STOKE 



The district served by the collegiate church 

 of Greystoke ranks third in the list of the ex- 

 tensive parishes in Cumberland, the civil 

 parishes of St. Bees and Crosthwaite being 

 considerably larger. The church occupies a 

 picturesque corner of Greystoke Park near to 

 the gates of the castle on the eastern side of 

 the parish, close to the boundary of the parish 

 of Dacre. It contains two ancient chapelries, 

 Threlkeld on the west side of the parish and 

 Watermillock on the south towards the lake 

 of Ulleswater. The area of the whole dis- 

 trict is over 48,000 acres. In 1291 the 

 church of Greystoke, valued at ^120,* was 

 the richest parochial institution in the diocese 

 of Carlisle. 



When the fashion of founding collegiate 

 churches was introduced into Cumberland, a 

 start was not made with the church of Grey- 



1 At one time hospitals such as this and those 

 following must have been numerous in Cumber- 

 land, for near to many villages the name of Spittal, 

 the usual term in the vernacular for hospital, still 

 survives to remind us that some such institution 

 once occupied that site though all record of it has 

 been lost. Nothing has been discovered to show 

 the nature of these institutions, but it may be 

 taken that in them some provision was made to 

 isolate cases of endemic disease or to supply the 

 wants of the poor or to afford shelter to the desti- 

 tute. 



" Reg. of Holmcultram, MS. f. 73. 



3 Aug. Off. Chant. Cert. No. 12. 



< Pope Ni(t>. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 3 20. 



stoke. The credit of the first attempt was due 

 to Sir Robert Parvyng, the well known chan- 

 cellor of Edward III., who owned consider- 

 able property in the county. Though his 

 foundation at Melmerby was never com- 

 pleted, mention may be made of the prelim- 

 inary steps taken with that intent, inasmuch 

 as they furnish us with some very interesting 

 features of collegiate institutions at an early 

 period of their history. In 1342 Sir Robert 

 entered into negotiations with the ecclesiastical 

 authorities for the purpose of transforming the 

 parish church of Melmerby into a college of 

 eight priests, one of whom, Richard de Cal- 

 decote, was designated the custos or master. 

 The fragmentary record 8 of the proposed 



Reg. of Holmcultram, MS. f. 278. 



6 Dugdale, Man. vi. 144. 



' Reg. of Fountains Abbey (Cott. MS. Tib. C, 

 xii.), f. 78b. 



s Carl. Epis. Reg., Kirkby, MS. f. 459. The 

 deed, as recorded in the episcopal register, ends 

 abruptly without apparent cause, but it is un- 

 doubtedly authentic, for on 4 May 1342 Robert 

 Parvyng had licence from the king for the aliena- 

 tion in mortmain of the advowson of Melmerby 

 to certain chaplains to celebrate divine offices in 

 that church and for its appropriation by the chap- 

 lains (Pat. 1 6 Edw. III. pt. i. m. 7). It may be 

 taken that the scheme was abortive owing to the 

 death of Sir Robert in the following year and the 

 division of his property among grandchildren 

 (Inq. p.m. 1 7 Edw. III. ser. i. No. 48). The 

 proposed institution was described as a college or 

 chantry, but there is no doubt that the former 

 was intended : a chaplaincy in a collegiate church 

 was frequently described as a chantry. 



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