Plympton in the Olden Time, by James Hine, F.R.I.B.A. 91 
its more wealthy neighbour, Plympton. Its great market in fact 
was Plympton. As Plymouth grew into more importance, as a 
naval as well as fishing station, and as the inhabitants became 
more influential, they naturally became anxious to obtain in- 
dependence, and the right of self-government, with municipal 
privileges. Accordingly the inhabitants petitioned the king and 
parliament to be incorporated as early as 1412, and the answer to 
the petition was, " Let the petitioners compound with the lords 
having franchises before the next parliament, and report to them 
of their having made an agreement." As a matter of course, the 
prior and convent at first opposed their views, but when the 
inhabitants succeeded in 1439 in obtaining the royal licence and 
an act of parliament, which constituted them a corporation, under 
the title of the Mayor and Commonalty of the Borough of Ply- 
mouth, it was time for the prior and convent to come to terras 
with the reformers ; and animated with an excellent feeling, they 
addressed a petition to Bishop Lacy, representing that it would be 
desirable to convey to this municipal body certain lands, tenements, 
franchises, fairs, markets, mills, and services, which they had 
possessed therein from time immemorial, and praying his consent 
to dispose of them. In January, 1440, as bishop and patron, he 
directed a commission to the archdeacon of Totnes to hold an 
inquisition, and to report to him the verdict of the jury. Accord- 
ingly a public inquisition was held in the nave of the priory 
church of Plympton, on the 7th of January, the gates of the 
monastery, and the doors of the church, being thrown wide open 
for all comers to enter. That was a memorable day for the young 
town ; and no doubt many Plymouthians flocked to the priory, 
anxious to know the award. The jury being sworn, found that 
the premises of the priory, within Sutton-Prior, had in part been 
burnt by a hostile descent from Brittany ; — that the yearly rental of 
the lands and tenements there was £8., — of the courts, fairs, and 
markets 60s., — and the clear profit from the mills something more 
