ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



ranged from ,^5 (Cockerham, Urswick) up to ^^44 (Whalley). This was 

 nearly always made up from the small tithes and the altarage of the church, 

 but in at least one case all the tithes of one of the townships were 

 assigned (with altarage) to the vicar." A competent manse"' was usually 

 added and sometimes a portion of the glebe.'' The vicars were generally 

 bound to pay the ordinary charges upon the benefice, the synodalia or 

 cathedral dues, and the archdeacon's procurations (originally food and other 

 provisions during his visitations), the extraordinary charges being borne by 

 the monastery ; other arrangements, however, occur." 



The provision made for these Lancashire vicars was fairly liberal as times 

 went. It was not attempted to fix a proportion between the value of the 

 whole rectory and the vicar's portion, the principle being simply to secure 

 the vicar a sufficient maintenance, not to give him a fair share of the profits. 

 But allowance was made for the greater burdens incumbent upon him in the 

 more extensive parishes, and occasionally, where the benefice was exceptionally 

 rich, this fact may have been to some extent taken into account. Neverthe- 

 less, the more valuable the church the larger was the residue that went to the 

 religious. The vicar of Kirkham was nearly twice as well paid as the vicar 

 of Garstang,'" but while Cockersand Abbey drew only 40 marks a year from 

 the latter, the income of the monks of Vale Royal from Kirkham was six 

 times that amount. 



Kirkham, Blackburn, which was worth 40 marks, and Whalley were 

 the best endowed vicarages in the county. Bishop Langton assigned to the 

 vicar of Whalley in 1298 a competent manse, 30 acres of land with 'house- 

 bote ' in the abbey's wood and pasturage for his beasts with theirs, the whole 

 altarage of the church and six of its seven chapels, and the glebes of those of 

 Burnley and Church." The altarage was estimated to be worth over ^^37, 

 exactly a quarter of the gross value of the rectory. All the ordinary and one- 

 third of the extraordinary charges were to be borne by the vicar, but the 

 abbey was made responsible for the repairs and maintenance of the chancel of 

 the church. The altarage probably increased in value, and in 1330 the 

 monks induced Bishop Northburgh to revise the vicar's portion as excessive. 

 His altarage was commuted for an annual sum of ,^44, the land and common 

 rights were withdrawn, and the maintenance of divine service in the chapels 

 was imposed upon him, which involved an expenditure of at least ^10 a year. 

 The abbey, however, had now to defray all extraordinary charges.'" It would 

 seem that the value of the vicarage was afterwards further reduced, perhaps 



°° Garstang {Cockersand Chart. [Chet. Soc], 282) ; a detailed ordination of considerable interest. 



" The vicar of Leyland was given half the rectory manse. 



*' e.g. at Whalley (in the first ordination) 30 acres and the glebes of all its chapels ; at Rochdale 

 4 oxgangs ; at Blackburn 2 oxgangs ; at Garstang 1 oxgang in the town fields ; at Ormskirk 4 acres ; at Huyton 

 3 selions. 



'' The tax known as ' synodals ' or ' synodaticum ' (also 'cathedraticum') was so called because generally 

 paid at the bishop's Easter synod ; Phillimorc, Eccl. Law, 162. Normally 2s. was the maximum from each 

 church, but some Lancashire parishes seem to have paid more ; Whalley Coucher, 206. 



^ ZS\ marks and 20 marks respectively. The figures are taken from the 'Taxation of Pope Nicholas.' 

 Benefices were not taxed at their full value, but this does not affect the proportions between vicarages and 

 rectories. In that part of Lancashire which lay in the diocese of Lichfield the vicarages were not separately 

 taxed. 



'' Whalley Coucher, 215. 



'' Ibid. 219. In 1 28 1, on appeal from the abbey, the archbishop inhibited the bishop of Lichfield from 

 acceding to a request of the vicar of Blackburn for an augmentation of his portion (ibid. 95). 



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