I40 The Abbey-church. 



have been succeeded by other abbots, one of whom, — 

 Wulfwold, — between 1060 and 1066, gives his lands to " Saint 

 Peter's minster in Bath." 



We now reach firmer ground. In 1087 the monastery 

 suffered severely (according to Warner, was " totally burned 

 down ") in the insurrection made by Odo and others against 

 William Rufus. In 1090 that king annexed the Abbey of 

 Bath to the bishopric of Wells, then held by John de Villula, 

 who soon set about rebuilding the church and its adjuncts 

 from their foundations on a scale of grandeur commensurate 

 with his ambitious ideas. How far the work had progressed 

 we know not when, in 1137, fifteen years after the death of 

 De Villula, the city was destroyed by fire, together (according 

 to Stow) with St. Peter's Church. But whatever may have 

 been the injury sustained by that building, the very substan- 

 tial Norman walls, at least, were still serviceable enough to 

 be left standing ; for we find that Bishop Robert immediately 

 restored, enlarged and beautified it; associating, in 11 78, 

 St. Paul with St. Peter in the tutelage of the Church. 



Then followed a period of more than three centuries, 

 memorable, as regards this monument of the piety of our pre- 

 decessors, chiefly for the neglect of some of its priors, which 

 made restoration necessary in 1324-5 ; and for the much 

 more grievous ruin which later was allowed to overtake it, — 

 so grievous that nothing short of complete re-edification 

 would meet the case. And here we enter upon the history 

 of the present fabric. 



In 1495, Bishop Oliver King was translated from Exeter 

 to this see. There is a pretty story of a dream in 1499 

 which incited the worthy prelate to rebuild the church, — 

 an enterprise in which he was ably seconded by William 

 Birde, elected prior in the same year. In 1503 Bishop 



