RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



net per annum.^" In 1546 the valuation was 

 put down as j^35 i2j. ii^d., the various items 

 makingup the sum being minutely particularized.^^ 

 In the survey of 1548 the college 'goods' were 

 assessed at i Js. ^d. and the ' plate ' as being 

 1 9 oz. ' parcell gylte.' The previous survey of 

 1546 had given the 'goods ' as being of the value 

 of ;^i 17J. 5«?. and the 'plate' £^ js. yd. 



The commissioners recommended that the 

 school should be continued, and that the school- 

 master, William Gegoltson, should remain in 

 the dual capacity of master and curate, his salary 

 being fixed at ;^8 per annum.^^ The reason for 

 Gegoltson's retention as an assistant parish priest 

 was that the college was distant from the parish 

 church (Stillingfleet) one mile, that in Acaster 

 there were 200 houseling people, and that ' the 

 ryver of Owse, which is a great stream,' ran 

 ' betwixt the said College and the Parish Church 

 and in that place without a bridge.' 



In the former survey an imperfect and, in 

 parts, illegible memorandum is appended, show- 

 ing that a chantry had been founded and en- 

 dowed at the college by Sir William Maleverer, 

 apparently in March, 15 20- 1. 



At the suppression William Alcocke was pro- 

 vost, a man of the age of sixty-seven. He was 

 ' indifferently learned,' and enjoyed a stipend of 

 ^10 a year with 'no other living.' The three 

 fellows were William Barton, John Rawdon, 

 and William Gegoltson the schoolmaster. 

 Barton was sixty-three years of age, and Rawdon 

 forty-nine, their stipends being at the rate of £6 

 a year each, and neither of them possessed any 

 other preferment. Gegoltson was thirty-eight ; 

 his income was j^5 a year, and he also was no 

 pluralist. He was 'indifferently learned,' but 

 was still carrying on his work in 1571.^' 



198. COLLEGE OF HOWDEN 



The church of St. Peter ^ at Howden was 

 given at the Conquest to the Prior and convent 

 of Durham.^ In the year 1265 the living was 

 valued at 275 marks,' and the Prior of Durham * 

 made an attempt to convert the rectory into a 

 religious community of sixteen monks. This 

 was not effected, however, but on 1 1 March 



'° Fa/or Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 20. 



" Torks. Chant, Surv. (Surt. Soc), 240-z. 



" Ibid, ii, p. X. 



" Leach, op. cit. ii, 100. 



' The old ascription was St. Peter and St. Paul. 

 Murray is certainly in error in calling it St. Cuthbert's 

 (Torks. Handbk. 1 14), and equally without foundation 

 is the dedication ' St. John ' (Pat. 1 7 Edw. Ill, pt. i, 

 m. 31). There was a 'St. John's' prebend and a 

 ' St. Cuthbert's ' chantry in the church. 



' Lawton, Coll. Rerum Eccl. 345. 



' Hutchinson, Guide to Hotvden, quoting Stowe MS. 

 in Brit. Mus. 



* Hugh de Darlington, 1258-72. 



3 36 



1267, because the parish was wide and large, 

 and the revenues sufficient to maintain ' many 

 spiritual men,' " Archbishop Giffard, with the 

 consent of the Prior and convent of Durham, 

 and at the petition of the Dean and Chapter of 

 York, made the church collegiate.^ He ordained 

 that there should be five prebendaries, each of 

 whom was to provide at his own cost a priest- 

 vicar. These prebendaries were to have the 

 cure of souls, which they were to administer by 

 their respective priests, who were to dress in 

 canonical habit like the York priests, and observe 

 the same method of singing which obtained at 

 York, except matins, which they were to say in 

 the morning for the parish.' One of these pre- 

 bendal priests was to be rector chart. The three 

 chantry priests of St. Thomas, St. Mary, and 

 St. Katharine, were also to be present at the 

 hours, processions, and high mass ; and other 

 altars were in no case to be assigned to the 

 prebendal vicars, lest the number of priests pre- 

 sent at the college services should be diminished ; 

 they were rather to be augmented. ' Each 

 chantry priest was to have one mark yearly 

 in addition to the stipend he received as cantarist. 



This establishment of a college would naturally 

 mean loss to the Durham monastery ; and com- 

 pensation was given to the prior and convent 

 from lands belonging to Howden. 



The remainder of the Howden possessions 

 were to form a common fund which was to be 

 equally divided among the canons. The canons 

 were to be residentiary, the period of residence 

 being three months yearly, either continuously 

 or at several times. The patronage of the pre- 

 bends was to belong to the priory of Durham, 

 the canons to be instituted and inducted by the 

 archbishops, or to be presented to the dean and 

 chapter during a vacancy of the archiepiscopal 

 see. The area of the churchyard was to be 

 divided among the canons in equal portions for 

 their residence, and the houses then existing were 

 to be converted for the use of the quire. 



The five prebends had territorial names as- 

 signed to them — Howden, Barnby, Thorpe, 

 Skelton (or Laxton), and Saltmarshe ; and, in 

 order that no disputes as to precedence might 

 arise. Archbishop Giffard also ordained that in 

 the quire and processions the following order 

 should be observed : on the south side (i) the 

 prebendary of Howden, called the first prebend, 

 was to have the first place ; (2) Thorpe, the 

 third prebend, was to come next ; (3) Saltmarshe, 

 the fifth prebend, followed ; and (4) the cantarist 

 of St. Thomas's altar. On the north side (i) 

 the prebendary of Barnby, the second, was to have 

 the first place; (2) Skelton alias Laxton, the 

 fourth prebend, came next ; (3) the priest of the 

 altar of St. Mary followed ; and (4) the priest of 



' Torre's MS. fol. 1077. 



" Lawton, Coll. Rerum Eccl. 345. 



'Torre's MS. fol. 1077. ' Ibid. 



1 46 



