iiecent Excavations at Holy Island Priory. 227 



them "The Church in Lindisfarne, which had been originally 

 the episcopal see with its adjacent vill of Fenham,"* and the 

 church of Norham, which had been rendered illustrious by the 

 body of St. Outhbert, with its vill of Shoreswood." This was 

 couhrmed in 1084, and again in 1093, when the "west part of 

 the vill of Holy Island " was added to the property before 

 granted. When the cell at Holy Island was established in the 

 latter year, the Prior and Convent of Durham conceded to it the 

 rights and appurtenances belonging to the Eectory of Holy 

 Island, together with the vill of Fenham, but reserved to them- 

 selves the church at Norham with its vill of Shoreswood, 

 together with the corn-tithes of the hamlets of Lowick, Kyloe, 

 Ancroft, Ord, and Tweedmouth. Gifts of lands from time to 

 time by landowners in Northumberland, also added considerably 

 to the income of the cell.f 



No documents are extant which give an account of the income 

 of the priory before the year 1326 — the annual value previous 

 to 1328 was estimated at nearly £250 — equivalent to a sum of 

 about £5000 at the present time. For the details of this amount 

 see Appendix A. 



After this date it was seldom that the annual income amounted 

 to as much as £200 ; the country from which it was obtained 

 being on the Borders, was subject to constant raids from 

 Scotland, and in many years the income did not come to half 

 that amount — in 1390 the receipts only amounted to £32 13s. 6d. 

 In 1350 no rents were received from Kyloe, Holburne, Lowick, 

 Barmoor, Bowsden, Ancroft, Cheswick, Scremerston, and Norham 

 "all laid waste by the Scots;" and in 1386, 1387, 1388, the 

 whole of the country bordering on the coast from Tweedmouth 

 to Beal and inland to Kyloe, was " waste and made no return." 

 The average income was about £120 annually. 



There was sufficient money, however, to provide not only the 

 great church of the Priory and the subsidiary churches of Holy 

 Island, Tweedmouth, Kyloe and Ancroft, but also to put up 

 buildings of a substantial character, affording ample, if not 



* Fenham is a hamlet on the mainland opposite to the south-west 

 corner of the island. Here the monks had a large granary and stockyard. 



t Raine gives a long list of benefactors to the cell, amongst which we 

 find the names of cle Houbourne, de Muscanip, de Chevington, de Bulmer, 

 de Haggerston, de Behil (Beal), de Orde, de Scremerston — all proprietors 

 of land in Islandshire. 



