362 On the Succession of the Abbesses of Wilton, Sfc. 



connected in some way with the Knights Hospitallers of S. John of 

 Jerusalem. " It might have been one of those Hospices which were 

 erected for the convenience of the religious when travelling, and 

 where the chief duties of the residing Prior were to afford provisions, 

 rest, and the means of devotion to those brethren whose necessities 

 required them." In the eighteenth Edward II. — 1324-5 — John 

 de Norrugge was Prior of S. John's. At some time during the 

 reign of Edw. III. the prior was Roger Hudde, he is mentioned 

 as "Magister et fratribus hospitalis Sancti Johannis extra portam 

 de Wylton." Again in the nineteenth Rich. II — 1395-6 — Geoffry 

 was the "■ humble " prior of the house of St. John, Wilton. Being 

 considered in the light of a charitable institution at the time of the 

 Reformation, it was not dissolved. Considerable remains, including 

 the chapel, are still extant. Here the religious offices continue to 

 be said by the prior for the use of the inmates, who occupy the 

 hospital residences adjoining, re-built hy the liberality of the late 

 prior. The original seal of the Priory of S. John no longer exists. 

 The present seal in use is no doubt a copy of an earlier one, it is 

 circular in form and apparently of the last century. It bears the 

 Agnus Dei with the legend SIGILLVM : HOSPITALIS : SANCTI 

 : IOHANNIS : IVXTA : WILTON. 



Of all the religious foundations once existing at Wilton, one only 

 has left no trace behind it. The Black Friar preachers were es- 

 tablished in Wilton in or before 1245. They erected a church and 

 convent, but removed their establishment to Fisherton about 1280, 

 to which Henry Fitz-Aucher granted lands in 1293. 



END OF VOL. XIX. 



H. F. BULL, Printer and Publisher, 4, Saint John Street, Devizes. 



