A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The deed contained in a condensed form 

 statutes for the school : — 



The tyme of the begynyng of his informacion of 

 the scole in ye morrow tjde at sex of the clocke, and 

 soe contynowyng unto viij. The seyd scolemayster 

 to begyn agayn at the or of x and to contynue unto 

 xil, and then from ij aftemone untill sex at even, 

 sayng dayly at the breking up of the scole de profundis 

 for ye sowlys of John Gardener and Isabell his wiff, 

 ye sowlis of breder and sisturs belongyth unto the 

 monastery of Seynt Brigitt of Syon and for all crystyn 

 sowlys. 



In 1 5 1 1 a survey ' of the property of the 

 abbey of Syon in Lancashire stated that ' the 

 Mylle that John Gardyner toke of my Lady 

 theris not well repared nor the Dammayntened.' 

 The surveyor therefore made a memorandum 

 to inquire whether it would be hurtful to my 

 lady or her tenants to take the mill. 



The Valor EccUsiasticus of 1 535 records 

 the almshouse chantry ; but not what for con- 

 venience may be called the mill chantry ; nor 

 is it mentioned in the chantry certificates of 

 1546.' It is, however, mentioned in 1548 in 

 the following terms : — 



A stipcndiarie in the parishe church there. Or- 

 deyned and founde by the mayer and burgesses 

 of L.mcaster with parte of the profitts r)'singe 

 and growinge of one mill gr.iunted to them by 

 Indenture for terme of years and the residue of 

 the profitts are ymployed to the mayntenaunce of one 

 Grammer Schole, for which purpose they say the 

 mill was graunted to them. John Lunde pryest in- 

 cumbent of thage of liiij yeres hath yerely for his 

 salarie goj-nge out of the said mill the some of iiij //'. 

 And his lyvinge besides is nil. The yerely value 

 of the stipende paid to the priest is iiij Ft. Plate, 

 none.' 



Thus the payment to the priest had become 

 reduced from ^^5 to ^^4. It is not stated how 

 much the residue of the profits was. A mis- 

 statement as to the origin of the chantry is made, 

 and a curious statement as to the title of the 

 corporation. 



The chantry had not been ' ordeyned and 

 founde ' by the mayor and burgesses, but by 

 Gardyner's will, and the corporation title was 

 the instrument of 1500, which assigned to them 

 Gardyner's lease of 1469. 



On the dissolution of the chantries, John 

 Lund, the priest of the chantry, was pensioned 

 off 25 February, 1548,* and the £^ a year 



' Based on evidence taken at a court held at Ald- 

 clifFe ' the Monday after the Feast of Decollation of 

 Seynt John in the second year of King Henry VIII,' 

 I Sept. 1 5 1 1 . The survey is set out at length in 

 Baines (1870 ed. ii, 568), but no reference is 

 supplied. 



* Duchy of Lane. Colleges and Chantries, Certifi- 

 cates (pt. i), No. 69. 



' Leach, English Schools at the Reformation, from 

 Duchy of Lane. Div. xviii, vol. z6b. 



* Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. 135, fol. 65. 



which he had received was for the future handed 

 by the town to the receiver of the duchy of Lan- 

 caster.' As regards the school, no ' continuance ' 

 certificate for that part of the endowment has 

 been found ; possibly such a certificate was not 

 considered necessary, the endowment being 

 clearly secular. 



On 22 May, 1571, ' Lune mill being now 

 by the greate rage of water utterly decayed ' and 

 no longer able to yield profit to the duchy or 

 support to the school in Lancaster, a commission^" 

 was appointed to inquire who was the owner 

 of the property and what could be done with 

 it. The return made in the following year to 

 the chancellor of the duchy stated the owner to 

 be Robert Dalton, who had purchased the mill 

 from Philip and Mary in 1557-8." It mentions 

 that the mayor and burgesses had kept up the 

 yearly payment of ^^4 '^ to the chantry priest 

 until the dissolution of the chantries, after which 

 the sum was paid to the ' prynce,' and of 

 j^3 6;. id. to the schoolmaster, and of 61. 8^. to 

 Robert Dalton until the decay of the mill, 

 which had rendered the payments and the con- 

 tinuance of the school at Lancaster impossible. 

 It estimates that the repair of the mill would 

 cost £110, but does not recommend it : — 



Notwithstandinge, it standithe in suche damige of 

 ffreshe water besydes the salte water whiche doethe 

 ebbe and fflowe dayly aboute it that no man wilbe 

 bound ffor the upholde of it fFor that it hathe bene 

 three tymes within the memorie of man with 

 extreme waters clearely overthrowne and dyverse 

 personnes drowned in the same. 



Here ends the history of Lune Mill at Lan- 

 caster. Though the commissioners did not 

 actually recommend its abandonment, they 

 clearly thought it would be waste of money to 

 repair it, no tenant being procurable, and it prob- 

 ably was left to be eventually washed entirely 

 away by the river and the tides. When Robert 

 Dalton died a few years later, the inquisition 



' Duchy of Lane. Mins. Accts. No. 2682, bdle. 

 168, 1-3 Edw. VI. 



'" Duchy of Lane. Special Com. 204. 



" Pat. 4 & 5 PJiil. and Mary, pt. 8. This patent 

 granted to Robert Dalton of Bispham the lordships 

 and manors of AldclifFe and Bulk, and all messuages, 

 &c., late to the priory of Lancaster of old regardant 

 and pertaining and formerly parcel of the possessions 

 of the late dissolved monastery of Syon, and a number 

 of other tenements in Aldcliffe, Bulk, Lancaster, 

 Warton, Halton, Bolton and Scotforth, all formerly 

 belonging to Syon. Mills are not mentioned except 

 in general words, and no details of the premises are 

 given. The consideration paid was [^xfid"] ijs. \d. 

 for the whole. No particulars for the grant have 

 been found. 



" The return states, wrongly, that this was the sum 

 mentioned in Gardyner's will. The commissioners 

 appear to have abstained from examining the interior 

 of the documents produced before them. 



564 



