A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



book of the gospels of St. Luke and St. John. 64 

 A grant of 245. for three days' food, made to 

 the friary in 1299, when King Edward was at 

 Lewes, shows that there were then twenty-four 

 brethren. 58 From this time their history is a blank, 

 broken only by occasional bequests of money from 

 pious testators, until shortly before the dissolution. 



In May, 1533, Cromwell sent one Thomas 

 Folks down to Lewes to make inquiries about a 

 chalice which was in the hands of ' one Robert 

 a Smyzth of Framfield.' The warden, John 

 Parker, 56 was away at the time 'at Winchelsea 

 at the visitation of Dr. Quickhoppes,' and the vice- 

 warden knew nothing of the matter, but Thomas 

 Man, ' lister ' of the house, wrote to Cromwell 

 saying that about Easter one of their chalices 

 disappeared, and he heard the warden say that he 

 had lent it ; it was duly returned on 27 April. 67 

 Four years later, when the suppression of the 

 religious orders was proceeding, and spies and 

 sycophants were carrying every light word of 

 ' treason ' to Cromwell, it was reported that 

 Brother Richard and Brother Longe of the Grey 

 Friars of Lewes had said that the king was dead, 

 the wish being evidently assumed to be father to 

 the thought. Brother Richard admitted that he 

 had said so to his brethren, Brother Longe and 

 ' Black Herry ' ; when asked where he had heard 

 the news, he ' stood long amazed and at last said 

 that a somyner who keeps an alehouse opposite 

 the Friars' gate told him ' ; the latter however, 

 denied having even heard the rumour, whence 

 it appeared that Brother Richard himself was the 

 originator of ' the abominable tidings.' 6I The 

 sequel appears three weeks later, when Sir 

 William Shelley writes to Cromwell that 'the 

 friars have their punishment this Saturday at 

 Lewes, and take it very penitently.' 5! 



This appears to have been one of the last of 

 the friaries to be surrendered, as on 15 December, 

 1538, the bishop of Dover wrote to Cromwell 

 that if the northern houses had made their 

 releases to the king he knew of no house to re- 

 lease except Lewes. 60 Shortly afterwards he writes 

 that he has received the house to the king's use. 

 It was not much of a haul, as the goods, includ- 

 ing altars, bells, windows, and gravestones, would 

 not cover the debts, which were ^15 41. ; there 

 was 77 oz. of plate but it was mostly pledged 

 and would have to be redeemed. 61 



In 1524 John Peterson desired to be buried 

 ' in the church of St. Frauncis of the Freres 

 Minors of Lewes befor the chapell of saint Bar- 

 bara,' 62 but the more correct title appears to have 

 been ' church of St. Mary and St. Margaret.' M 



54 Suss. Arch. CoL \, 167. " Ibid, ii, 146. 



M He occurs as warden in 1531 ; Add. Ch. 29844. 



" L. and P. Hen. Vlll, vi, 435. 



"Ibid, xii (2), 1185. "Ibid. 1282. 



60 Ibid, xiii (2), 1059. 61 Ibid. 1060. 



" Will in P.C.C. Bodfelde, 27. 



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



96 



27. HOUSE OF FRANCISCAN FRIARS, 

 WINCHELSEA 



The Grey Friars were established at Winchel- 

 sea before 1253, m which year they are men- 

 tioned in the will of St. Richard. 64 Another 

 early reference is in a plea of 1263 concerning 

 land in Pevensey salt-marshes, when it is men- 

 tioned that the father of one of the parties, not 

 being able to afford the cost of protecting the 

 land from the sea, leased it at a low rent to ' a 

 certain prior of Winchelsea,' who can only have 

 been the prior of the Grey Friars, on condition 

 of his embanking it. 66 When the old town of 

 Winchelsea was destroyed by the great storm of 

 1287 and rebuilt by King Edward the barons 

 stipulated that he should allow no religious 

 establishment to be erected, save only a house 

 of Friars Minors. 66 



With the exception of a casual reference in 

 1294, when the abbot of Westminster, as a 

 penalty for harbouring an apostate friar, was 

 condemned to pay 60 marks to be divided be- 

 tween the houses of Winchelsea and Litchfield, 67 

 and of numerous bequests of goods and money, 

 the history of the church of St. Francis M of Win- 

 chelsea is practically a blank until July, 1538, 

 when the bishop of Dover, who was visiting the 

 friaries to receive their surrender, came here. 69 

 He found the Grey Friars very poor ; the 

 warden was absent or would probably have given 

 up the house, as indeed he must have done 

 shortly after this. 



PRIORS, OR WARDENS, OF WINCHELSEA 



John Beere, occurs I5io 70 

 Robert Beddington, occurs 1530" 



28. HOUSE OF AUSTIN FRIARS, RYE 



The only settlement of this order of friars in 

 Sussex was at Rye, and of its origin nothing is 

 known except that the friars were firmly estab- 

 lished here by the middle of the fourteenth 

 century. In 1368 the prior and convent of 

 the Friars Eremites of St. Augustine in Rye 

 granted that one of their brethren, being a priest, 

 should celebrate daily at the altar of St. Nicholas 

 in the parish church for the welfare of William 

 Taylour of Rye and Agnes his wife, in return for 

 certain benefactions. 73 ' Ten years later, the 

 mayor and commonalty of Rye granted the 



"Suss. Arch. Coll. \, 167. 



" Assize R. 912, m. 13. 



" Parl. Proc. file 2, No. 6. 



" Man. Francisc. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 60. 



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



69 L. and P. Hen. nil, xiii (i), 1456. 



70 Suss. Arch. Coll. xvii, 129. 



71 Ibid, vii, 220. 



" Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. v, 497. 



