50 
THE KING’S MANOR, YORK. 
he laid the first stone, and lived to see the work completed within 
twenty-two years. The North Wall of the Nave of this Church 
is still standing, together with a portion of the West Front; 
whilst recent excavations have disclosed the foundations of the 
Choir, as well as of the apsidal ending of the Norman Church of 
Abbot Stephen. Plate II. 
The original Priory of Stephen of Whitby was not enclosed by 
walls, and there was constant strife between the monks and citizens 
as to the privilege of sanctuary. In 1265 a serious disturbance 
arose irom this cause, and, as a result of this invasion of Abbey 
grounds, and what were considered Abbey privileges, the Abbot 
enclosed his Monastery by a line of walls. 
Perhaps the most distinguished in the long list of Abbots is 
William Sever, or Sevyer, who ruled over the house from 1485 to 
1502. It was he who rebuilt the abbatial residence, parts of which 
are still standing. During his abbacy a long and acrimonious 
controversy was carried on with the city authorities with reference 
to the rights and privileges of the Abbey. 
In the year 1538 the Abbey of St. Mary shared the fate of the 
other religious houses in the kingdom, and was suppressed and 
despoiled. The number of Monks would vary from time to time, 
but when the Abbe} 7 , whose annual income according to the late 
Canon Raine was ^1650, was surrendered to the Crown by William 
Thornton or Dent, the last of the twenty-nine Abbots dating from 
Stephen of Whitby, the community consisted of the Abbot and 
fifty monks, as well as many lay brethren and dependents of 
various kinds. 
At the Dissolution the Abbey was retained by the Crown, and 
it is much to be regretted that, at least, the magnificent Church 
was not preserved. But York had its Cathedral, and the district 
its Parish Church of St. Olave, and the retention of a second great 
Church was deemed unnecessary. 
Within a few months after the actual dissolution of the Mon¬ 
astery, the Great Council of the North, which in 1537 had been 
permanently constituted by a Royal Commission, succeeded in 
obtaining from the King a grant of “ The House which of late was 
called St. Mary's Abbey without the City of York,” for the purpose 
of holding their Courts and conducting their official business, 
as well as for the occasional abode of the Lord President, and the 
ordinary residence of those members of the Council whose duties 
required their constant attendance. 
