Earl of Hertford. The King, in the same year, founded the grammar-school for the parish.

The following answer of Bishop Veysey to the writ of the Barons of the Exchequer, desiring information concerning the temporalities of this college, is copied from his Register, vol. 2. fo. 5.

de

"Johannes permissione divinâ Exon Epus, egregiis viris Baronibus de Scaccario Dni mei Regis apud Westmonasterium, salutem in eo, in quo est omnis vera salus. Breve Dni Regis presentibus interclusum cum eâ quâ decuit reverenciâ accepimus sub tenore in eodem contento. Cujus quidem Brevis auctoritate pariter & vigore certificamus, quod scrutatis Registris nostris ac aliis evidenciis diligenter recensitis, comperimus quod Custos & Collegium de Otry habuerunt & in suos proprios usus tenuerunt prout in presenti habent & tenent, ecclesiam Sce Marie de Otry unitam & appropriatam dicto Custodi & Collegio per Reverendum Patrem bone memorie Johannem Grandissono, olim, dum vixit, Exon Epum Predecessorem nostrum A. D. 1337. Et solvere consueverunt pro decimâ ipsius Collegii ratione Spiritualium & Temporalium £4. 7. 04.--Item pro decimâ dicte Ecclie Dive Marie de Otry 20s.-Item pro Vicario ejusdem 6s. 8d. Habent eciam in suos proprios usus & optinent ecclesias Parochiales sequentes, viz. Ecclesiam Parochialem de Istyngton quam appropriavit dictis Custodi & Collegio antedictus Reverendus Pater. A. D. 1338, cujus decima 14s. 74d. Item ecclesiam Parochialem de Ipplepen dicto Custodi & Collegio appropriatam per recolendum virum felicis memorie Edmundum Lacy, olim Exon Epum Predecessorem nostrum A. D. 1439, cujus decima 6s.--Item Ecclesiam Parochialem de, Northam dicto Custodi & Collegio per sepedictum Patrem Johem de Grandissono appropriatam A. D. 1361, cujus decima 14s. 9 d. Comperimus eciam per alia fide digna documenta quod solvere consueverunt Regi Celsitudini ac Progenitoribus suis pro temporalibus taxam sub nomine Decani & Capituli Ecclesie Rothomagensis 25s. Quod vobis significamus per has nostras literas patentes &

sic mandata cerenissime Regie Majestatis cum ea quâ decuit reverenciâ & diligencia executi sumus. In quorum omnium & singulorum fidem & testimonium sigillum nostrum, &c. &c. Datum in manerio nr de Chudlegh 17. Novembris Anno Dni Regis Henrici 12°, & Consecrationis nostre2°."

The collegiate church of Ottery has sometimes been compared to the Cathedral of Exeter, and has been called St. Peter's in miniature. The ground' plan is indeed nearly the same; but, in my opinion," it is a very humble imitation of its prototype, and will stand no comparison in unity of design, chasteness of architecture, and splendour of decoration. Bishop Grandisson seems to have built the whole of the choir, and of the Lady chapel, and to have retained the greater part of the walls and windows of the old church to form the nave, which he must have entirely new vaulted. We have already remarked that Bishop' Bronescombe dedicated the Old parish church in 1260, in the reign of Hen. III.

In a letter which Grandissor addressed to Pope Benedict XII. (vid. 1. Regist. fo. 40.) he says, that this collegiate church was dedicated to our Lady, and St. Edward the Confessor; and he afterwards adds "in quorum reverenciam ibidem jam Ecclesiola, inter omnes Regni istius juxta statum suum venustior est constructa."

The curious observer will remark throughout the church, in the nodules of the nave, choir and aisles, the arms of Grandisson, viz: palewise of six, argent and azure, a bend gules, charged with a mitre between two eaglets displayed Or; as also very frequently the Montacute armorial bearings, viz. Argent 3 lozenges or fusils in fess, gules. Probably William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, who married Catharine, Bishop Grandisson's sister, might have assisted in founding the college, or in altering and improving the old fabric. The Earl died 2. Feb. 1344.-See 1. Dugdale's Baronage, p. 647.

A gorgeous chapel, communicating with the north aisle of the nave, cannot fail to arrest the attention of the spectator. Perhaps it is the grandest specimen of the florid and most recent style of English architec

ture within the diocese of Exeter. From the armorial bearings of Bishops Courtenay and Veysey, it is reasonable to suppose that it was begun late in the 15th, and finished in the early part of the 16th century.

The feeling spectator will heave a sigh, when he beholds the two magnificent monuments in the nave, supposed to be erected to the memory of Grandisson's parents. If love of the arts could not protect them from injury and mutilation, still the respect due to such an ornament of his country and of mankind, should have secured them better treatment. I said that these monuments were supposed to be erected to the memory of the Bishop's parents; for it is an unquestionable fact, that both were buried in the conventual church of Dore, in Herefordshire. In 1. Regist. fo. 40. a letter of Grandisson's to Pope Benedict XII. is extant. After congratulating his Holiness on his recent promotion to the papal chair,* he tells him that his eyes are still streaming with tears for the loss he has lately sustained by the death of his mother: he then proceeds thus: "Ipsa Mater mea Anglicâ genere, in domo Cisterciensis Ordinis nomine Dora à suis Progenitoribus fundatâ, noviter humi tradita, patrem licet Burgundum genere ibidem sepeliendum, & Tube Archangelice ultimum sonitum prestolatur, prout venerabilis Doctor Abbas ejusdem domûs de Dore dicte satis novit."--Perhaps the monuments in question were erected to some of the Montacute family.

There was a chapel of our Saviour near Otery bridge. For the repairs of this chapel and the bridge, Bishop Lacy granted an indulgence of forty days, on the 8th Sept. 1438. Bishop Veysey permitted one John Selman to become a Recluse in this chapel, on 10. November, 1531.-Vid. 2 Regist. Veysey fo. 61.

The letter must clearly be written early in 1335, as Pope John XXII. died on 4. Dec. 1334.

ST. JOHN'S HOSPITAL,*

EXETER.

BETWEEN fo. 17 and 18 of Bishop Bronescombe's Register, a memorandum is inserted, purporting to be a true copy of the first and second foundation of the hospitals of SS. Alexius, and John the Baptist. It states, that in the year 1170, 12. Hen. II. whilst Bartholomew was Bishop of Exeter, William Prodom, the son of Ralph Prodom, had begun the foundation of St. Alexius' Hospital, in a spot of ground immediately behind St. Nicholas' Priory,t "retrò Monasterium Sci Nicholai"-that he had obtained a spot of ground, called Illisberry, for this purpose, of Walter, the Abbot of Battle, and that the same was confirmed to him by the Abbot Odo, who succeeded Walter. This foundation was made for poor needy persons, "pauperibus egenis," and was not a place of and for two Monks, as Izacke absurdly represents it.

From this memorandum it further appears, that the Hospital of St. Alexius subsisted for seventy years,

• The original brass seal of the hospital was in the possession of the late Alderman Crossing. I have seen an impression-it was circular, and represented a building something like a church; but having on the south side three round arches perfectly similar to those still standing in the inner court. The inscription ran thus:-"Sigill hospital Sci Johis juxta oriental Porta Exon."

+ Jenkins has discovered that "this hospital was situated in Gandy's Lane, anciently called St. Lucie's Lane; a common abridgement for St. Alexis."-See pages 31 and 329, of what he is pleased to call his "History of Exeter."

I have met with a lease, dated 8. Feb. 1. Hen. VII. where the "Venella vocata Saint Luce," is described as being near Ffrerenhaye, and the gardens of the Prior of St. Nicholas. It is now called Friernhay-street.

when it was united to St. John's Hospital, near the East gate, founded and endowed about the year 1240, by two brothers, called Gilbert and John Long. This act of incorporation received the ratification of King Henry III. and the confirmation of Boniface, Archbishop of Canterbury. Soon after this, John Long, one of the founders, probably from a motive of humility and charity, became a member of the hospital, and was appointed the master of the community "of the brothers and sisters."*

Bishop Bytton, who died in 1307, is recorded to have been a great benefactor to this charitable institution. Amongst other good works he repaired their infirmary.

In

The first regular mention of the hospital in the Registers of the See of Exeter occurs in 1274, when Bishop Bronescombe, on the 21. Sept. commissioned William de Werpelisdon, Canon of the Cathedral, to the charge and administration of its temporalities. 1276, John de Castello was appointed to the same office. And indeed it is obvious, from the sequel of the registers, that until the dissolution of the hospital, by Henry VIII. the Bishops commissioned some respectable ecclesiastic to overlook its temporal con

cerns.

In Bishop Grandisson's Register, vol. 2. p. 3. is an interesting document, dated 29. May, 1329. It informs us that Sir Philip de Columbariist and his wife Alianora had bestowed on the hospital the patronage and advowson of the parish church of Holne, near Ashburton. At this time the hospital was exceedingly poor. This Bishop confirms the appropriation of the benefice, and orders that the number of clergymen, who served the hospital, originally confined to two,. should be increased to four; and that one of them should daily celebrate our Lady's mass; and another,

• "Alter frater Johes Longus intrans fraternitatem predicti Hospitalis factus est Magister Fratrum & Sororum ejusdem Hospitalis."

I also observe in 2. Regist. Grandisson, fo. 134. that the bishop, on 31. Dec. 1329, desired Matilda de Tiverton, whom he describes to be "senio confracta & corpore incurvata," to be admitted among the infirm sisters of St. John's Hospital.

† According to Leland, this Philip and his wife were buried in Barnsta ple Priory.-See his Itinerary, vol. 2. p. 104.