The ecclesiastical seals op Cornwall. 45 



In a deed of Hobert Chichester, Bishop of Exeter, confirming 

 before 1154, a grant to the Priory of St. Andrew, Tywardreath, 

 the witnesses at Bodmin include, besides the Archdeacon of 

 Cornwall, and very many others, Ealph, Dean of Cornwall, 

 Bartholomew and Eoger, Deans. [" Testibus . . Eadulfo 

 decano Cornubie, . . Bartolomeo, Eogero, decanis, et pluribus 

 aliis."] * These may have been Deans Eural or they may have 

 been Deans of Colleges in Cornwall. Seals used by the Deans 

 of Collegiate establishments will be noticed presently. 



CONVENTUAL AND OTHER SEALS. 



The official Seals of the chief ecclesiastics of the Diocese — 

 hitherto undescribed by other writers — having now been noticed, 

 we will turn our attention to the seals of the recognized religious 

 houses in Cornwall. 



The late Eev. Dr. Oliver figured many and described most of 

 them in his Monasticon, and Mr. "Worth, as before stated, has 

 treated of them. It will, therefore, be sufficient here to give such 

 references and supplementary information as will enable anyone 

 interested in the subject to trace as many of them as possible. 



Of great Abbeys there were none in Cornwall ; but the little 

 Preceptory of the Templars f independent of Diocesan control, 

 is still identified not only by its Church of St. Catherine at Tem- 

 ple, but also by what was probably the residence of the officer 

 of the commandery, and of those associated with him. This is 

 now called the Abbey Farm. 



Although designated an Abbey, its headquarters were else- 

 where ; and therefore it is doubtful whether Temple Abbey 

 possessed a Seal J of its own or not. If the Knights there had 

 a separate seal, it has not yet, as far as I am aware, been found. 



St. Benet's or Benedict's, in Lanivet,has been called an Abbey, 



* Oliver's Mon : Dioec : Exon : p. 41. 



t See page. 32, ante, with its note. 



J The peculiar form of Cross, the Banners, War-cry, and the Seals of 

 these Knights as an Order, are described in works relating to their history. Then* 

 Badges appeared on their Seals. One was the Agnus Dei, the Holy Lamb bear- 

 ing a red-cross Banner. Another displayed two Knights on a single horse, to 

 signify the original poverty of the Order. 



The armorial sign of the Barristers Templars of the present day is a Pegasus 

 or winged horse. With regard to it Boutell writes : — " This is derived from the 

 early badge — the two horsemen having been mistaken, in later times, for wings." 



