By the Bev. W. G. Clark-Maxwell, F.S.A. 



363 



personal character than most of the documents which we have 

 been considering : — 



" To the honourable Father in God, Simon Bishop of Salisbury, his knight 

 John Bluet sends greeting : 



" Dear Sir, since Sir Kobert de Dorinton, parson of the Church of Lacok 

 in your diocese, which you have appropriated to the Abbess and Convent of 

 Lacok, is willing in the name of charity and in aid of them, to submit himself 

 and his church with all rights and appurtenances, to your decision, and to 

 agree by his letter, that you shall appoint to the Abbess and Convent a pension 

 from his church, so that by the payment and receipt of this pension they may 

 have possession of the church : I humbly pray that it would please you, to 

 appoint to the Abbess and Convent, a pension according to the form of the 

 submission of the aforesaid parson, so dear sir, that they can have possession 

 of the church, and enforce their right, in right of the appropriation; And I 

 also who formerly had the advowson of the same church, with the Abbess 

 and Convent, agree and bind myself and my heirs and assigns, to hold and 

 have as firm and lasting whatever it shall please you to appoint and do. And 

 in witness [&c] Given at Lacok the Sunday before the feast of St. 

 Augustine 1 the seventh year of Edward son of King Edward." 



This letter is dated at the end of August, 1313, and John de 

 Dorin ton's letter on the 17th June preceding ; but no decision 

 seems to have been come to in the matter till June 7th, 1315. The 

 reason of this may be the ill -health of the Bishop, who died in this 

 year, and the instrument issued in the name of Eichard of Battle, 

 one .of the Canons, acting in the vacancy of the see as " official " by 

 the appointment of Walter (Key n olds) Archbishop of Canterbury. 1 

 The document after citing the original appropriation of 1312, goes 

 on to fix half-a-mark as to be paid annually to the Abbess and 

 Convent during the Eector's lifetime, as an acknowledgment that 

 he held the Church of them. 



The Abbey being now fully recognised as possessed of the 

 Eectory, had to carry out their part of the bargain with regard 

 to the building of the Lady Chapel in the Abbey. It had been 

 begun at least as early as 1312; as on the Wednesday before 



1 This was probably the feast of S. Austin of Hippo, on August 28th, not 

 that of the Archbishop of Canterbury, on May 26th, which would throw the 

 date into 1314. 



2 Appendix No. X. For an account of how episcopal jurisdiction came 

 to be vested in the Chapter of Salisbury during the vacancy of the see, vide 

 Diocesan History of Salisbury (S.P.C.K.), p. 112. 



2 B 2 



