RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



edge of the cliff at Winchelsea, not far from the 

 New Gate, for the erection of a house of Black 

 Friars. 34 The site thus granted, however, was 

 so far removed from the business quarters of the 

 town that but few persons came to worship in 

 the church, and the alms bestowed were small. 

 Accordingly in 1339 licence was given for 

 William Batan of South Iham to grant the friars 

 6 acres of land ' near the town ' whereon to 

 build their house and oratory. 36 It is not cer- 

 tain that they availed themselves of the per- 

 mission to move, but if they did it would seem 

 that the new site was down by the harbour, and 

 even less satisfactory than the first, for in 1342 

 they obtained from the pope a faculty to move 

 to another part of the town, as their convent was 

 in danger of being swept away by the sea. 36 For 

 the next fifteen years the history of these friars 

 is unknown, but in 1358 the king granted them 

 an acre of land in the centre of the town near 

 the church of St. Giles and allowed them to 

 take over five messuages adjoining this land, 37 

 and here they found a permanent abiding-place. 

 In 1372 the king released them from payment 

 of the rent of 5*. 8f< due for the said five 

 messuages, 38 and these concessions were confirmed 

 by Henry VI in I429- 39 



Of the history of this house, which was under 

 the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, 40 very little 

 is known. In 1398 Henry Sucton was ap- 

 pointed for a term of three years as ' lector ' or 

 teacher of philosophy and theology, and had 

 permission to make a pilgrimage to Rome. 41 

 The prior a few years later appears to have been 

 a partisan of Richard II, as in 1402 Henry IV 

 issued orders to arrest him and the rector of 

 Horsmonden, in Kent, for high treason. 42 The 

 result of his trial is not known, and beyond 

 numerous legacies, and the occurrence of Hugh 

 Stonard as prior in I439, 42a no further reference 

 is found to this Dominican friary of Winchelsea 

 until its dissolution in July, 1538, when the 

 bishop of Dover reported that the house was 

 ruinous, its furniture had fetched 10, there 

 was a close let for 2OJ., and the rest of the 

 property would not bring in ids. a year. 43 



25. HOUSE OF FRANCISCAN FRIARS, 

 CHICHESTER 



The date at which the Franciscans first came 

 to Chichester is not known, but it may well have 



84 Pat. 1 1 Edw. II, pt. ii, m. 29. 

 " Pat. 13 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 22. 



36 Cal. Papal Pet. 2. 



37 Pat. 32 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m.23- 

 "Pat. 46 Edw. Ill, m. II. 

 "Pat. 8 Hen. VI.pt. i, m. 19. 



40 Obit. R. (Surtees Soc.), 28. 



41 Suss. Arch. Coll. xxviii, 93. 



" Pat. 3 Hen. IV, pt. ii, m. 1 8 d. 



4H De Banco R. Hil. 9 Hen. IV, m. i 50. 



43 L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xiii (i), 1456. 



been soon after their arrival in England in 1225, 

 as Brother Walter de Colevile, one of the first of 

 the friars to come to this country, had relations 

 in Chichester. 44 They had certainly been settled 

 some little time before 1253, when Henry III 

 confirmed the grant made in their favour by 

 his brother Richard, earl of Cornwall, of a lane 

 adjoining their premises. 48 In the same year 

 St. Richard, bishop of Chichester, bequeathed to 

 the Friars Minor of Chichester 2OJ. and a psalter. 4 ' 

 In 1269 the friars were allowed to move their 

 house from the original cramped position to the 

 vacant site of the castle, 47 and here they built the 

 church of which the graceful remains still stand, 

 and in which Archbishop Peckham held an or- 

 dination in I282. 48 Of history these Grey Friars 

 appear to have had little ; when the bishop of 

 Dover visited the house in July, 1538, he found 

 it in good order, 49 and so left it undisturbed until 

 8 October, when it was duly surrendered by the 

 seven brethren then resident. 60 The inventory 

 taken upon its dissolution 51 shows little furniture 

 of value, save 140 ounces of silver ; the build- 

 ings were in good repair, ' all ye holl howse new 

 syleyde rownde abowte wyndaus and all ye 

 wyndaus well gleseyd,' and there were ' in ye 

 lybrary iiij stalls and a halff substancyally new 

 made w* dyv r se olde bokes ; item a goodely new 

 presse w* aimers for bokes.' 



The seal of Hugh, warden in 1253, ' s a 

 pointed oval : [the Virgin and Child] under a 

 canopy upheld by two full-length saints, each 

 holding a long cross and standing on a head ? of 

 a lion. In base, under a trefoiled arch, the 

 warden, half-length, in prayer to the left. 52 

 Legend : 



ME FOUE PAULE DOCE PIA [VIRGO] PETRE 

 RESOLUE. 



26. HOUSE OF FRANCISCAN FRIARS, 

 LEWES 



The Grey Friars were evidently settled in Lewes 

 some time before 1249, as the Assize Roll of 

 that year mentions the case of a thief who sought 

 sanctuary in the church of St. Mary at Lewes and 

 escaped thence to the house of the Friars Minor 

 of Lewes and remained there for ten days. 63 

 They occur again in 1253 as benefiting under 

 St. Richard's will to the extent of 2os. and a 



44 Man. Francisc. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 25. 



45 Pat. 37 Hen. Ill, m. 22^. 



46 Suss. Arch. Coll. i, 167. 

 "Pat. 53 Hen. Ill, m. 2. 



48 Reg. Efist. Peckham (Rolls Ser.), iii, 1029. 



49 L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xiii (i), 1456. 



50 Ibid, xiii (2), 562. 



51 Suss. Arch. Coll. xliv, 71-2. 



a Harl. Ch. 83, C. 32. The letters M E of 'me,' 

 u E of ' fove,' u L of ' Paule,' and u E of ' resolve,' 

 are respectively conjoined. 



43 Assize R. 909, m. 32. 



95 



