By T. H. Maker. 263 



The pasture laud iu Mere was subject to a modus of 2d. for 

 s very milch cow and 4d. for every calf, aud, as moduses had to be 

 aken iuto consideration by the commissioners at the apportionment, 

 he tithe rent charge is very low on the pastures of Mere. Every 

 garden, also, was liable to a modus of Id., every poultry yard, Id., 

 and every orchard, Id. 



The tithes, as apportioned, are : — rectorial, £732 per annum ; 

 vicarial, £400 per annum ; manorial, £9 15s. per annum. 



Certain lands paid Lammas tithes, amounting in the whole to 

 about £8 per annum. These were paid on Lammas Day in the 

 churchyard, where the collector sat to receive them on a certain 

 tomb which — like the custom itself — has succumbed to old age. 1 



The Chantry House. 



1424, King Henry the Sixth granted to the Dean and Chapter 

 of the Church of the Blessed Mary of Sarum, that they might give 

 and assign to Richard Cheddesey, Henry llochell, and J ohn Culpek, 

 chaplains of the chantry of the Blessed Mary in the Church of 

 Mere, a certain piece of their garden near to the churchyard of the 

 parochial church of the Blessed Mary of Mere, lying on the 

 southern part thereof, and containing one acre, holden by them as 

 of the Duchy of Cornwall, 



" ad edificandum et componendum super eaudem peciam mansioues pro eisdena 

 capellanis necessarias ; qui quidem capellani aliquam habitationein ad conimo- 

 randuru insimul et iD coromuni ante hsec tenipora non habuerunt." 



This, doubtless, was the origin of the present Chantry House and 

 the date of its erection. The other house alluded to probably stood 

 on the site of that called " Dean's Orchard," which is of much later 

 date. 



The Rev. William Barnes kept a boarding school in the Chantry 

 House from 1827 to 1835, and here many of his poems in the 

 Dorset dialect were written. 



For document relating to tithes at Devoid see Appendix. 



