HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 43 



Church of Christ, at Burton-upon-Trent." This Abbey was very 

 extensive ; the church was 228 feet in length, and 52 feet and a half 

 in breadth, adorned with a handsome tower at both ends. The 

 cloisters, situated on the south side of the church, were 100 feet 

 square. The fraytor adjoining was 96 feet in length and 30 in 

 breadth, and the principal dormitory on the east 100 feet by 10. 

 The vestiges of the cloisters are still visible in the old wall be- 

 tween the church-yard and the bowling-green. In this wall are 

 several remains of Saxon architecture, particularly some curious 

 arches ; and beyond these, on the margin of the Trent, are some 

 other vestiges of the Monastery. The most remarkable is the out- 

 line of the east window of a chapel, now filled up with brick and 

 mortar. The old Manor House is the property of the Marquis of 

 Anglesea : what was once the porter *s lodge, on the side next the 

 town, is now converted into a blacksmith's shop. 



The Church dedicated to St. Modwen was standing in the early 

 part of the eighteenth century ; it was taken down, and the present 

 neat edifice, with a fine tower, was erected on its site in the year 

 1720. In the west gallery is an elegant and well-toned organ, 

 erected in 1771, and the tower contains eight musical bells with a 

 set of excellent chimes. This church contains many monumental 

 inscriptions : in the belfry lies a defaced monument, supposed to 

 be the tomb of the original founder of the Abbey ; and within these 

 few years, several stone coffins have been found in the church-yard. 

 But the most remarkable antiquity in Burton is its bridge, which 

 consists of thirty-six arches, extending 515 feet, and was first 

 built in the time of Bernard, Abbot of Burton, in the reign of King 

 Henry II. about the year 1175.* 



Burton retains the name of a borough, merely with reference to the 

 translation of Burgos, a town, though some of the Abbots were for- 

 merly summoned by writ, and sat in Parliament.! The Lord of the 

 Manor has a Court of Record in it, weekly, on Friday, called the 

 Jenter's Court, where pleas can be maintained to any amount, and 

 his Bailiff' is also Coroner. A Court of Requests, for the recovery 

 of small debts, is likewise held under the Bailiff. Among other 

 privileges, the inhabitants are exempted from being empannelled 

 on county juries. 



The town of Burton consists of one principal street, called High- 

 street, which extends in a parallel line with the river from north to 



* Erdeswick's Survey of Staffordshire, 

 h Shaw's Antiquities of Staffordshire, Vol. I, p. 11. 



