Medieval
Axbridge and the Bishop of Bath and Wells
Niall
C.E.J. O’Brien
The town and parish of
Axbridge is situated about ten miles north-west of Wells. The place was
formerly called Anesebriges and Axebruge.[1]
The name of the place means a ‘bridge over the Axe River’. The town stands a
short distance from the northern bank of the river. The Axe River starts in the
Mendip Hills and flows 21 miles into the Severn Estuary. The river is navigable
for 11 miles up to Lower Weare near Axebridge.[2]
There is evidence of people
living in caves in the Mendip Hills and the Romans settled and mined in the
area.[3] The
modern parish of Axbridge lies in Winterstoke hundred but anciently was a royal
estate in the Cheddar hundred. The parish is about 540 acres in area.[4]
In the days before the
Norman Conquest Axbridge was a royal burgh ingeldable under Cheddar. A sitting
of the county court was held there as the ‘third penny’ – 10 shillings, was
paid to the King as lord of the County of Somerset.[5] One
day King Edmund, brother of Athelstan, was stag hunting in the forest by
Axbridge when the stay and the pursuing hounds fell over a place called
‘Cheddar Cliff’ and were all killed. King Edmund was lucky not to share the
same fate as he was dashing after the hounds.[6]
In 910 Axbridge was
listed among the places for Burghal Hidage as Axanbrycg.[7] In
1086, as part of the Domesday Survey, the royal burgh of Axbridge was included
under the royal burgh and manor of Cheddar. Because of this inclusion the
population and area of Domesday Axbridge is not stated but entered under
Cheddar.[8]
The manors of Cheddar and Axbridge were also included within the ancient royal
forest of Mendip and as such were subject to forest law. This situation would
cause fraction between Ralph de Shrewsbury, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and King
Edward III.[9]
This article records
the history of Axbridge and its association with various Bishops of Bath and
Wells and some other people connected with the town in medieval times.
The
manor of Axbridge passes to the Bishop of Bath and Wells
King John granted Hugh
of Wells, then archdeacon of Wells, the two royal manors of Cheddar and
Axbridge in return for an annual rent of £20 per year.[10] Hugh
of Wells was the son of Edward of Wells and elder brother of Josceline, later
Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury. Hugh spent the early years of his clerical
career in the Diocese of Bath. In 1209 he was elected Bishop of Lincoln. He
appointed new vicars and introduced new methods of administration. In 1215 he
attended the Fourth Lateran Council and served a royal judge for a number of
years. Hugh died in 1235 and was buried in Lincoln cathedral.[11]
Sometime after 1209
Bishop Hugh granted Axbridge to Thomas Walensis.[12] Subsequently
by an undated charter Thomas de Walensis granted to Maurice de Grant the vill
of Axbridge under the same terms that Thomas received it from Hugh, Bishop of
Lincoln. For this charter Maurice gave Thomas 100 marks and committed to pay a
half mark each year for services.[13]
On 12th July
1211 (5th year of Josceline’s pontificate) Bishop Hugh of Lincoln
granted to his brother, Josceline, Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury, the advowson
of Axbridge church.[14]
On the same date of 12th July, Bishop Hugh of Lincoln granted that
all his fees, lands etc. held by him in the Hundreds of Winterstoke and Cheddar
which he gave to Josceline, Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury, be free of the
hundred court.[15]
Josceline was made Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury in 1206 after taking over the
great abbey. In 1219 he reverted to the title of Bishop of Bath until his death
in 1242.[16]
On 11th July
1211 (5th year of Josceline’s pontificate) Bishop Hugh of Lincoln
granted Bishop Josceline a half knight’s fee in Rugeberg and Dreicot which was
previously held by Maurice de Benington and Gaufrid Maureward, along with another
half fee at Norton which Stephen de Altaville held.[17]
On 7th
November 1224 (18th year of Josceline’s pontificate), Hugh, Bishop
of Lincoln, made a charter granting the vill of Axbridge to his brother
Josceline. This charter was witnessed by Roger de Lack, Amauricus de Buggeden,
William de Winchcumb, canons of Lincoln; Roger the chaplain, Adam de Clevesend,
Gilbert de Tanton, Robert de Mont Sorell, canons of Wells, Stephen Chamberlain,
Thomas de Hauteville, William de Stoke, Philip de Wik, Peter de Cotington,
Walter de Abbodestun, John Camerar, and Roger de Waleis among others.[18]
About the same time of
1224 (18th year of Josceline’s pontificate), Maurice de Gaunt made a
charter granting all his rights in Axbridge to Josceline, Bishop of Bath, for
100 marks. By an undated charter Thomas de Walensis granted the vill of
Axbridge to Bishop Josceline.[19]
On 15th May
1229 a royal inspeximus was made of the grant by Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, of
the advowson of Axbridge to Josceline, Bishop of Bath, along with the half
knight’s fee at Norton Hawkfield and the half fee at Rowberrow and Drycot.[20]
On the death of
Josceline in November 1242 Axbridge was passed to his successor, Roger of
Salisbury and remained with subsequent Bishops of Bath and Wells throughout the
medieval period, subject always to an annual rent to the crown. In 1247 Bishop
Roger of Bath and Wells granted 8 acres at Axbridge to William de Dure.[21]
In 1280 a writ Quo
Warranto was brought against the Bishop of Bath and Wells concerning certain
lands in Somerset including the manors of Axbridge and Cheddar. The Bishop
answered that Axbridge and Cheddar were granted by the crown to Hugh de Wells,
then archdeacon of Wells, at a rent of £20 per annum. Subsequently Hugh became
Bishop of Lincoln and in that position granted Cheddar to Bishop Josceline of
Bath and Glastonbury. Bishop Hugh granted Axbridge to Thomas Walensis who gave
it to Maurice de Gaunt and Maurice gave it to Bishop Josceline.[22]
The
annual crown rent for Axbridge, Cheddar and Congresbury
When Hugh of Wells took
passion of the royal manors of Cheddar and Axbridge the annual rnet to the
crown was £20 per year. Later this increased to £54 per year. In April 1331
King Edward informed Ralph, Bishop of Bath and Wells, of the £54 due from the
manors of Axbridge, Cheddar and Congresbury that was payable to Edmund of
Woodstock.[23]
In May 1332 King Edward
III informed Bishop Ralph of Bath and Wells that the £54 rent due to the crown
for the manors of Axbridge, Cheddar and Congresbury is to be paid to Edward de
Bohn. The Bishop was also told to pay up the £27 in rent arrears due and give this
amount to Edward de Bohn. But it seems that Bishop Ralph was slow at paying the
rent and in July the sheriff of Somerset and Dorset was ordered to collect £118
in rent arrears (for the years 1330 and 1331) from the land and chattels of the
Bishop. By December 1332 Bishop Ralph had paid the £54 due to Edward de Bohn
and the King acquitted the Bishop of that amount at the Exchequer.[24]
By 1336 Bishop Ralph
was again in rent arrears to the crown for Axbridge, Cheddar and Congresbury
and received a demand to pay up the arrears and the £54 annual rent which was
due. Bishop Ralph replied to Henry, Bishop of Lincoln and treasurer at the
Exchequer, to negotiate the matter at the King’s court.[25]
On 10th
April 1351 the King wrote to Ralph of Shrewsbury, Bishop of Bath and Wells, to
pay the £54 due from the annual farm of the manors of Axbridge, Cheddar and
Congresbury to John, Earl of Kent. John was the son of Edmund, late Earl of
Kent, and had recently proved his age and did homage for his father’s estate.[26]
In 1428 Thomas, Earl of
Salisbury was in receipt of the £54 fee farm rent from Congresbury, Cheddar and
Axbridge from the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and Alice, wife of Richard Neville
was his heir.[27]
Axbridge square by Martin Clark
Axbridge
in the Mendip Forest and forest law
The manors of Cheddar
and Axbridge were within the royal forest of Mendip and formed the ancient
bounds of the forest. Mendip was one of the five great royal forests in
Somerset – namely; North Pederton, Selwood, Neroche, Exmoor and Mendip. All
these places were subject to forest law which was a law into itself. A royal
forest such as Mendip extended beyond the woods and waste to include manor land
and villages. Everyone within the forest area was subject to forest law with
its own courts and officers.
The forest officers
were continually extending the bounds of the forest. By 1298 the limits of the
Mendip forest had extended greatly across Somerset to include such places as
Chewton, Uphill, Stoke Giffard, Compton, Loxton, Worle, Winscombe, Shipham,
Rowberrow, Ubley, West Harptree, Blagden and East Harptree among other places.
Every King promised to reform the forest laws but each was powerless against
the forest officials. in 1300 and 1301 Parliament eventually forced King Edward
to accept reform and placed limits of the rights of forest officers and
restrictions within the forest area. But implementation on the ground was slow
and the public were unsatisfied. Disputes continued to occur between the forest
officials and the public which often ended violently.[28]
In 1328 the legate
Ottobon and Archbishop Meopham issued a constitution against the violation of
church property. Any offenders were to be excommunicated at parish churches. On
1st August 1332 Bishop Ralph wrote to Robert de Cotes, vicar of
Cheddar, to pronounce the constitution in the parish church. The timely of this
pronouncement was spot on as another battle between the Bishop and the forest
officials was just about to happen. On 25th August Robert de Cotes
replied that he had made the pronouncement. He also said that John atte Boure,
Thomas Gylemyn, John Champion and John his servant were recently under
suspicion of implementing forest law against the Bishop’s interests.[29]
Under the forest law
issued in 1327 every person with a wood within the forest law area could take
husbote and haibote as he needed it without attachment by the forest officers
as long as it happened in view of the officers. It seems that the Bishops
servants had cut various oaks and other trees in Cheddar wood without any
forest officers present.[30]
In October 1332 John de
Leftwich was appointed bailiff for the Bishop’s manors at Axbridge, Cheddar,
Banewell, Iatton, Congresbury and Blakeford.[31]
On 13th November
1332 Robert, perpetual vicar of Cheddar reported to Ralph, Bishop of Bath and
Wells, that it was John Champion, John Knight and Simon le Forester who were
guilty of robbing the Bishop’s manors of Axbridge and Cheddar. These men were
aided by Matthew Pecche and Robert Box as it was reported.[32]
The three accused were ordered to appear before the Bishop on the same day but
failed to turn up.
In response, on the
same day, Bishop Ralph wrote to the rectors of Shipham, Romberrow and Axbridge
along with the vicars of Cheddar, Compton and Winscombe that John Champion,
John Knight and Clement le Forester were excommunicated for non-appearance. The
three along with Matthew Pecche and Robert Box were ordered to appear before
the Bishop on 30th November 1332.[33]
Matthew Pecche was not
ordinary individual but was the hereditary forester-in-fee of all of Somerset
and had succeeded Sabina Pecche. The hereditary line had begun in the reign of
King Richard I with William de Wrothan. These were hard men with centuries of
forest law behind them yet on 24th November all five appeared before
Bishop Ralph at Banwell and said they would obey the church. Their move was not
without method as they caught the Bishop off guard. With no legal officer
present the Bishop could not pronounce sentence and 3rd February was
set as the new day of appearance. As the three main people accused had turned
up the recent sentence of excommunication against them was lifted but a new one
could be imposed if they failed to appear on the original date of 30th
November.[34]
As one would expect the
three main suspects failed to appear on the 30th November. In
December 1332 Clement le Forester, John Champion and John Knight were
excommunicated for violating the Bishop’s liberties in the manors of Axbridge
and Cheddar. The rector of Axbridge was to publish the letters of
excommunication relating to Clement le Forester.[35]
Shortly after this,
Matthew Pecche had got his boss involved, Robert de Ufford, head forester on
south side of the Trent. Robert de Ufford issued a summons to everyone involved
to appear before his court at Axbridge on 13th December. We are not
sure if this court happened but accommodation in the area was book for the
occasion.
Sometime after Robert
de Ufford had informed King Edward III and on 30th January 1333 a
royal writ against Bishop Ralph was issued. This writ seems to have quietened
all concerned and nobody else was excommunicated. Yet Bishop Ralph was
determined to free himself from forest law and on 1st September 1337
received a royal charter freeing the manor of Cheddar from forest law. But
there was still trouble on the ground between the Bishop’s men, the locals and
the forest officers. On 3rd October 1337 a special commission was
appointed to go to Cheddar and explain that the area was subject to
disafforestation and no longer part of forest law.[36]
Among the special
commission were Thomas de Berkeley, Richard Lovel and Walter de Rodeneye. On 10th
November the Bishop’s accountant spent money at Cheddar for the arrival of the
jutices and on 19th November hay was purchased for eleven horses of
Thomas de Berkeley that were stabled at Woky manor. Shortly after this, a great
banquet was held at Wells at which 268 people attended at a cost of £5 10s 7½d.
Two of the special guests were Thomas de Berkeley and Walter de Rodeneye.[37]
On 14th
February 1338 Matthew Pecche issued a release to Bishop Ralph and his
successors from ‘all right in the forest, custody of the forest and
forestership within the manor of Cheddar in the county of Somerset, lately
within the meters of the forest, but now disafforested. A deed to this effect
was later enrolled on 17th February on which day Matthew Pecche had
a drink with Bishop Ralph in London and next day Matthew Pecche went into the
chancery to acknowledge the agreement. Not long after Matthew Pecche sold the
office of forester-in-fee and after various owners it was acquired by the
Mortimer family in 1359 and in the fifteenth century passed to the crown
through the Duke of York.[38]
Yet for the Bishop of
Bath and Wells and Axbridge the limits of the Mendip forest continued to be
disputed locally. The forest officers in particular seemed to want to retain
the fullest extent of the forest. It was not until 14th April 1345
that a royal order enforcing the disafforestation was issued. By that time the
application of forest law in the west of England was on the way out although
officers continued to be appointed to the Mendip forest down to the seventeenth
century.[39]
Early in 1339 John de
Acton, chivaler, along with Roger Paddock, Richard la Fletcher, John, son of
Henry le Forester of Cheddar, Adam Jones, palfraiman of Acton, John Loueday,
Robert Box, Walter Foul, Richard Paddock, John Barry, John de Henton, Richard
le Hunt, Richard de Elkynton, and certain others took and carried away goods
and chattels to the value of 200 marks. These goods were taken from the
Bishop’s manors of Axbridge, Cheddar, Westbury, Wells and Stokegiffard. In the
process the Bishop’s men were assaulted and wounded. On 14th
February 1339 a writ was sent to Hugh de Courteney, Earl of Devon, Thomas de
Berkeley, William Shareshulle, Richard Louie and John de la Ryvere to inquire
into the matter.[40]
Other
estates at Axbridge
Medieval records name
other people with property in and around Axbridge besides the Bishop of Bath
and Wells. In Michaelmas 1236 Walter de Chamberlain acknowledged that a
messuage in Axbridge belonged by ancestral right to Muriela, wife of Walter de
Cheddar. For this Walter de Cheddar and Muriela conceded the messuage to Walter
de Chamberlain to hold of them for 12d of annual rent paid at Michaelmas and a
once off payment of a half mark.[41]
In January 1243 William
le Jovene quitclaimed to Henry, son of David, half of a burgage plot at
Axbridge. For this Henry gave William 2½ marks.[42]
In three weeks from
Easter 1285 Philip de Wike acknowledged that he held property and rents in
various places including Axbridge from John de Wike. For this acknowledgement
John de Wike gave Philip de Wike property elsewhere in Somerset to hold for
life and after death to revert to John.[43]
In and about the feast
of Trinity in 1302 William de Axbridge and Cristiana his wife gave their
property in trust to Simon de Bradwell, parson of Bageworth church, to hold it
for their lives and pass it on to the heirs of William. The property included messuages
and land around Axbridge, Alurenton and Southbrent. In the following year
William and Cristina de Axbridge purchased property for life from Valentine de
Wellington at Farlegh Munford.[44]
In 1303-4 William de Contevill
sold a messuage and land in Compton and Axbridge to Nicholas and Joan de
Langelond for twenty pounds sterling.[45]
At Trinity term in 1330
Hugh, son of Nicholas Langelond, and Margaret his wife entrusted their property
to John de Cogan, parson of Huntespill church and Thomas Jolyfe of Wynton. The
trustees then returned the property to Hugh and Margaret, which included
unspecified property at Axbridge, to hold for life and afterwards to the right
heirs of Hugh Langelond.[46]
In 1353 John, son of
Hugh de Langelond, knight, and Isabella his wife, gave their property in trust
to Thomas de Fourneaux, parson of Baghebourgh church and John Horn, vicar of
Wynescombe, for their lives and to pass it on to named heirs. Property at
Axbridge was included in the enfeoffment.[47]
In Michaelmas 1345
William de Coker and Elizabeth his wife entrusted their property to John de
Coker and John de Bogan, chaplain. Part of the property included an eight part
of a knight’s fee at Axbridge.[48]
In 1362 John Stoke and
Isoda his wife gave the manor of Obelagh along with property in Axbridge,
Cheddar and Compton Episcopi to Nicholas Huscarle and he returned the property
to them and their heirs. Shortly after John Stoke and Isoda sold the manor and
property to William Cheddar of Bristol with the right to hold for their
remaining lives.[49]
In 1382-3 and by a
further deed in 1383-4 Robert Cheddar of Bristol and Joan his wife purchased
the manor of Avele juxta Dunster and property in various places including at
Axbridge from William Draper and Roger Seward of Cheddar for two hundred
pounds. Among the Axbridge property was a messuage held for life by Elena atte
Ree of the inheritance of William Draper. In 1388-9 Sir Thomas Broke and Joan
his wife sold the manor of Avele juxta Dunster and the Axbridge property along
with property elsewhere to Ralph Perseval and Henry Bokerel.[50]
In 1388-9 James Stapleton,
burgess and goldsmith of Bristol, and Edith his wife, gave two messuages, an
acre of meadow and an acre of willow bed at Axbridge to William Changeton and
Richard Parker of Malmesbury to hold in trust. On the deaths of James and Edith
the property was to pass to John, son of Henry Turfray, and Isabella his wife.
Shortly after this deed James Stapleton and Edith gave the messuage in Axbridge
to John Turfray and Isabella in return for twenty marks and an annual rose at
Midsummer.[51]
In 1391-2 James Fitz
James and Alianore his wife gave property in trust to John Bassett and William
Modeford, chaplains, including unspecified property in Axbridge.[52]
In 1413-4 Robert
Chesilden and Joan his wife granted the manor of Wyke to John Boundenham and
Agnes his wife along with a messuage in Wells and a rent of a pound of pepper at
Axbridge. For this John Boundenham was to pay 100 marks and £10 per year for
the life of Joan Chesilden.[53]
In 1414-5 Thomas Staple
and Joan his wife gave property in Somerset and Cornwall to Richard Haukeford
including unspecified property at Axbridge. Unfortunately the deed of transfer
is much damaged and torn and so it is difficult to know if this was a transfer
into trustees or a sale of the property.[54]
At Michaelmas in 1425
William Chount and Joan his wife sold the manor of Wyke juxta Yatton and other property
including some at Axbridge to John Dawekyn for 200 marks.[55]
In 1425-6 Thomas Grede of Thornerton, Devon and Agnes his wife acknowledged a
deed whereby certain property of Agnes would remain to her until the decease of
the life tenants when the property would pass to William Vyell. The property
included a messuage, two tofts, ten acres of land and five acres of meadow at
Axbridge and Cleve which Henry Vyell and Alice his wife held for the life of
Agnes. There was also a messuage, two tofts, ten acres of land and five acres
of meadow at Axbridge and Cleve which Margery, wife of Nicholas Stanshaw held
for life.[56]
In 1429 William
Dodesham senior gave a quarter part of the manor of Hutton and two messuages in
Axbridge and Compton Bishop to William Dodesham junior and Joan his wife. This
was likely to be a marriage gift of some kind. Later, in 1441-2, John Austell
and Margaret his wife sold property for 1,000 marks to John Tretheke which
included unspecified property at Axbridge.[57]
On 10th
April 1437 Joan, wife of Sir Thomas Brook, died. By his first husband Robert
Cheddar she left two sons, Richard and Thomas Cheddar. Richard Cheddar died on
8th June 1437 and his brother Thomas Cheddar inherited 15 messuages,
40 acres of land and 40s of rent at Axbridge and Cocklake (worth 100s).[58] When
Thomas Cheddar of Bristol died on 3rd June 1443 he left 15
messuages, 40 acres of pasture and 40s of rent (annual value 100s) at Axbridge
and Cocklake besides other property in Somerset and other counties to his two
daughters. The Axbridge property was held of the Bishop of Bath and Wells.[59]
In 1461-2 Joan, wife of
John, Viscount Lisle, purchased three messuages, 6 acres of land, 10 acres of
meadow and 10 acres of pasture at Cheddar and Axbridge from John grace and Joan
his wife for forty pounds sterling. It would seem that Glastonbury abbey had a
claim on this property as John and Joan pledged to warrant for Joan de Lisle
against Abbot John of Glastonbury.[60]
Chapter
meetings
In the thirteenth
century Axbridge church was often used by the chapter of Wells cathedral as a
meeting place – the manor of Axbridge then belonged to the Bishop of Bath and
Wells as we saw above. In 1243 the full chapter attended a meeting at Axbridge,
with the Archdeacon of Wells in the chair, to hear an appeal on whether the
church of Congresbury was vacant or not. The result was later published in the
cathedral of the feast of SS Peter and Paul (29th June). Later in
July 1243 the chapter again met at Axbridge to discuss Congresbury church. The
sub-dean said the church was appropriated to the communa and so was no vacant
and that Peter Saracenus should not be instituted. The King’s officials claimed
the royal right of presentation and backed Peter Scaracenus. Congresbury was
once a royal manor. After two days of discussion no settlement was reached and
an appeal to Rome was made.[61]
In 1250 a chapter
meeting was held at Axbridge to make an appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury
about the status of Congresbury church after Bishop William de Button appointed
his nephew William de Button to the church.[62]
Bishop’s
court
On 3rd
November 1335 the Bishop of Bath and Wells held a judicially sitting in
Axbridge Church. There he heard the case against Valentine de Gernevyle, a
vicar of the Cathedral church at Wells. Valentine was found guilty of
incontinence and was suspended for half a year.[63]
Axbridge church of St. John the Baptist
Rector
of Axbridge
The episcopal registers
of the various Bishops of Bath and Wells record a number of people who served
as rector of Axbridge. In November 1329 Sir John de Sutton, priest, was
collated as rector of Axbridge church with the archdeacon of Wells mandated to
induct him. In March 1329 John de Sutton was collated to Yeovilton church.[64]
In April 1330 Robert de
Mora was rector of Axbridge. In that year he received letters to be raised from
a subdeacon to that of deacon. In June Robert de la More received letters to be
ordained a priest.[65]
Yet a later document says that the parish church of Axbridge was vacant from September
1329 until September 1330. The first fruits due to the Pope from Axbridge was
then worth 40s 40d.[66]
In January 1334 a
licence was given to Robert, rector of Axbridge, to study at any university for
two years.[67]
We are not sure what subjects Robert studied at university but mathematics was
possibly not one of them. In September 1335 Robert, rector of Axbridge,
acknowledged that he owed 6 marks to Bishop Ralph.[68]
In 1348 a person called
Sir Adam was rector of Axbridge.[69] In
September 1350 Bishop Ralph wrote to the rectors of Axbridge and Hocton along
with the vicars of Banewell, Compton, Congresbury, Jacton, Cheddar and
Wynescomb to admonish all labourers living in their parishes and instruct them
to observer their labour agreements and stop causing unrest.[70]
In April 1450 Bishop
Bekynton collated Master John Moreton, S.T.P., to Axbridge church which was
vacant on the resignation of Sir Thomas Parle.[71] John
Moreton was a student at Winchester College in Oxford in 1418 and in 1419
became a New College scholar. in 1426 John Moreton got a M.A. with a Bachelor
in Theology by 1443 and a Doctorate in Theology by 1446. In 1446 he rented rooms
at Durham College. John Moreton’s first parish was rector of Saham Toney in
Norfolk. On 5th February 1443 he came to Somerset as vicar of North
Curry and was a canon at Wells cathedral by 1446 and prebendary of Combe xv (later
prebendary of Whitechurch). On 27th September 1450 he became rector
of Charlton Musgrove and held it until his death. By July 1464 John Moreton was
decease.[72]
In 1459 Sir Richard
Wiche, chaplain, was collated as rector of Axbridge church which was vacant on
the resignation of Master John Moreton. Later John Moreton got a pension of £10
per annum out of the fruits of Axbridge with the consent of Richard Wiche.[73]
On 13th
April 1489 Bishop Robert Stillington collated Thomas, Bishop of Tones, as the
new rector of Axbridge.[74] On
18th October 1494 an exchange of benefices was made between Thomas,
Bishop of Tenos and Master Thomas Raynys, M.A., priest and canon of Wells
cathedral and prebendary of Cudworth. Thomas Raynys would become the new rector
of Axbridge while Bishop Thomas would get the prebendary.[75]
Thomas Raynys was educated at Winchester College, Oxford in 1446. His first
benefice was in 1474 as vicar of Basingstoke. By 1494 he was a canon at Wells
and prebendary of Cudworth. By September 1499 Thomas Raynys was deceased and
left a number of manuscript volumes of sermons.[76]
On 2nd
September 1499 Bishop Oliver King collated Master John Lugwardyn, bachelor in
degrees, to Axbridge church. Master John Lugwardyn was also a canon at Wells
cathedral. In January 1500 he got a papal bull from Pope Alexander VI for the
union of Axbridge, worth less than 20 marks sterling and 60 ducats of gold,
with the prebend of Timberscombe during his tenure.[77]
This union, if it was
made effective didn’t last long as by 1502 Master John Lugwardyn was dead. On
30th March 1502 the Bishop collated Master John Beckham, bachelor in
canon law, as the new rector of Axbridge.[78]
In March 1503/4 John
Beckham, bachelor in degrees, was rector of Axbridge when he received a papal
bull from Pope Julius II for a dispensation to hold a plurality of benefices.[79]
In 1513 John Beckham
resigned the rectory of Axbridge and received a pension of 5 marks by the vicar
general in the absence of the Bishop. But John Beckham didn’t stay a retired
cleric for long as on 21st November 1513 he was made vicar of
Cheddar on the presentation of the dean of Wells, the vicarage being vacant by
the death of Master Thomas Goldweg. Meanwhile on 19th November 1513
Sir John Noseyt, a member of the Bishop’s household, was appointed the new rector
of Axbridge.[80]
Church
of St. John the Baptist at Axbridge
The parish church at
Axbridge is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Parts of the church date back to
the 13th century but most of the present structure is 15th-century. It looks an
impressive structure built of Mendip limestone with its lofty tower and
intricate exterior.[81]
Sometime after 5th
December 1328 nine rectors and vicars met at Axbridge church to discuss the
value of Berghes vicarage where the archdeacon, Robert de Wamberg, had just
presented John de Hampton Meysi. Previously on 24th June 1328 Adam,
Abbot of Glastonbury, had exchanged ne acre of glebe and the advowson of Berges
with Robert de Wamberg for certain tenements at Middeton Abbots near
Yevelchester. The inquisition found that the tithes of wool, cheese, milk,
lambs, calves, foals, apples, eggs, fisheries, geese, houses, hay, and mills
with the oblations of the altar was worth 15 marks per year while the tithe of
sheaves was worth 25 marks.[82]
In February 1329 Bishop
Ralph of Bath and Wells told the Papal Nuncio of a number of vacant benefices
in the Diocese including the parish church of Axbridge which was taxed at 6½
marks. The true value was said to be £10 per year.[83]
In September 1349 or
1350 Thomas Picoit of the Diocese of St. David’s was ordained in the parish
church of Axbridge by Ralph, Bishop of Bath and Wells. But John Spyse
questioned that this ever happened and a search of the register was requested.
Unfortunately we are not told the result of those enquires. The itinerary of
Bishop Ralph doesn’t show him at Axbridge in those times.[84]
In 1413 Edward Curteys,
burgess of Wells, gave 10s to the fabric fund of Axbridge church.[85]
For more on Edward Curteys see = http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2013/09/edward-curtis-burgess-of-wells-in_10.html
In 1450 Sir Richard
Jonys was parochial chaplain at Axbridge while Sir William Frenssh was
stipendiary chaplain. In 1463 Sir Nicholas Harper and Sir Denis Omer were
chaplains at Axbridge.[86] In
1468 Sir W. Pytman and Sir John Besewick were chaplains at Axbridge.[87]
In 1496 John Payne of
Hutton made his will in which he donated one burgage with an adjacent barn to
Axbridge church to pay for prays for his soul.[88]
On 23rd
February 1496/7 an inquisition was held in the parish church of Axbridge
concerning the right of patronage of Uphill church. It was found that Dame
Joan, viscountess Lisle, relict of Edward, Viscount Lisle and also of John
Talbot, one of the heirs of Thomas Cheddar, had the right of presentation.[89]
On 20th
April 1515, in Axbridge church, Sir William Newton, chaplain, was instituted to
Hygham church on the presentation of Glastonbury abbey.[90]
Many years later, in
1582, the parish church of Axbridge had its own theatre and the school master
of the grammar school at Wells brought the children there to take part in a
play against the statues of the cathedral chapter. The schoolmaster admitted
his crime and was to pay 24 poor people 1d each.[91]
The
deanery of Axbridge
The deanery of Axbridge
included the parishes and churches of Barrows, Axbridge, Blakedon, Eastbrent,
Lymsham, Bagworth, Were, Lokkyn, Custoke, Huphill, Hutton, Loxston, Bledon,
Weston, Congresbury, Shepham, Brene, Woky, Southbrent, Cheddar, Flexby,
Stanley, Compton Episcopi, Blakeford, Burnham, Banwell, Barrows, Wynscombe and
Winchester.[92]
Burgesses
of Axbridge
Axbridge was an ancient
royal burgh. In the time of the Saxon Kings some thirty burgesses of Axbridge
were giving hunting and fishing rights in an area near the Black rock by the
estuary of the Axe and outside the royal Mendip forest.[93]
In the time of King
John letters of exemplification were given to the dean and canons of Wells and
the prior of Wells along with the burgesses of Wells, Axbridge, Welington and
Cheddar to be exempt from tolls, pickage, pavage and keige throughout the
King’s dominions.[94]
On 4 id November 1348
the will of William Dreycote, burgess of Axbridge, was prove before the
official of the archdeacon of Wells in the parish church of Axbridge. William
Dreycote donated money to the church and asked to be buried in the cemetery of
St. John the Baptist at Axbridge.[95]
In 1413 Edward Curteys
of Wells gave Thomas Nony of Axbridge 6s 8d in his will.[96]
Other
people of Axbridge
On 3rd June
1443 Thomas Cheddar of Bristol died. He asked to be buried in the parish church
at Cheddar before the image of St. Andrew the Apostle in the chancel. Thomas
Cheddar left a vast estate to his two daughters including property in and
around Axbridge. One of the daughters, Isabella, married Sir John Newton of
Court de Wyck in Yatton. When Sir John died in 1487 he left property at
Axbridge to his son Nicholas Newton.[97]
The
poor of Axbridge
In 1417 Richard Bruton,
canon of Wells made his will and gave 6d to each poor person in Axbridge who
was confined to bed and due to sickness could not go out in the town. Similar
poor people in Wells, Bruton, Glastonbury, Shepton, Corscombe, Lydeyard,
Asshull, Milton, Bruham and Evercryche also got 6d. Richard Bruton also gave a
separate donation of 6s 8d to the poor of Axbridge and similar amounts to the
poor in other towns.[98]
Axbridge
in later times
In the fourteenth
century Axbridge grew as a centre for the wool trade and cloth manufacture. It
even had its own mint, with coins showing the town's symbol: the Lamb and Flag.
The trade was made possible as the River Axe was navigable to Lower Weare near
Axbridge.[99]
By the seventeenth
century the wool trade had declined and the absence of later economic
development preserved many old buildings by accident over design. Today Axbridge
is a designated conservation area with many heritage buildings from its
medieval past as well as later buildings.
===================
End of post
=================
[1]
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[2]
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[4]
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[5]
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[6]
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[8]
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[10]
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[12]
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[13]
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[98] Rev. F.W. Weaver (ed.), Somerset Medieval Wills, p. 89
