THE ECCLESIASTICAL SEALS OF CORNWALL. 31 



Q-erman's, and thence into Devonshire. For awhile they were 

 settled at Crediton, then for a long period at Exeter, and thus 

 it came to pass that the Church in Cornwall had allotted to it 

 only a share of diocesan supervision ; thenceforth, for eight 

 hundred and thirty five years, it continued to be ecclesiastically 

 annexed to the neighbouring county of Devon. 



For a brief interval one of the Bodmin superiors acted as a 

 Suffragan Bishop, and another suffragan was subsequently 

 employed. The Bishops of Exeter moreover held Cuddenbeak 

 in St.Grerman's, and sometimes there transacted biisiness relating 

 to the Church in this county, but it was not until quite lately 

 (1877) that Cornwall once more had a Bishop specially its own. 



Notwithstanding a divided supervision, however, the Cornish 

 Church was not left without systematic oversight, its require- 

 ments being provided for by the following ecclesiastical scheme. 



In addition to the Papal control which for some time existed, 

 the Archbishop of the Province* was to visit the Diocese once 

 in every seven years. The Bishop's visitations, or his Chan- 

 cellor's, were to be once in every three years. The Archdea- 

 con's twice in three years — so as not to clash with those of the 

 bishop. f Each Eural Dean was to visit yearly. Chapters and 

 Synods were to be holden as required, and the Parochial Clergy 

 were to minister daily. 



Besides this general organization, for the Church at large, 

 iiany Religious Houses and Stations were early established. 

 These were of considerable importance, for they became not 

 only retreats for meditation, but they promoted literature and 

 were centres of instruction. They also provided for the nursing 

 and other relief of the poor and for ministrations in such sacred 

 edifices as were assigned to them or committed to their care. 



Certain churches, served by Colleges of secular canons under 



* From the records of Burian Deanery preserved at Bodmin it appears that 

 Eichard (Bancroft) Archbishop of Canterbury held a Metropolitan Visitation of 

 that Peculiar, by his Commissary the Vtn. William Parker, B.D., August 6th, 

 1605 



t The prescriptive rights of the ancient Archdeaconry of Cornwall are re- 

 corded in a composition deed signed by the Bishop and all the dignitaries of the 

 Church of Exeter, 26th March 1616, by which it appears that once in three years 

 complete, but not during Easter, the Bishop may, on his Visitation inhibit the 

 Archdeacon for two months. ("Cornwall Register " by late Rev. John Wallis, 

 Vicar of Bodmiu, and Archdeacon's official,p. 4(i9.) 



