36. COLLEGE OF ST. MARY-ON-THE-SEA, NEWTON
At Newton, in the extreme northern tip of
the county; there was standing in 1400 an ancient
chapel, the sole memorial of a village which had
been devastated by floods and inroads of the sea.
Here rumour said that mysterious shining lights
were seen at night and other marvels; moved by
which portents Sir John Colville rebuilt this
chapel of St. Mary and erected houses for priests
and a number of poor almsmen. (fn. 1) This chapel, in
connexion with which there was a gild of men and
women in 1403, (fn. 2) was at first under the governance
of the rector of the new parish church of Newton, (fn. 3)
but in July 1411 their relations were reversed and
the church was united to the chantry, or college,
of St. Mary on the sea coast and was to be served
by one of its members. (fn. 4) The chantry had been
established under a royal licence granted in
November 1406 to acquire in mortmain lands
and rents up to the yearly value of £40 and
spiritualities to the value of £20. (fn. 5) Sir John
accordingly bestowed on his foundation in 1408
about 100 acres of arable, with fen and fisheries in
the neighbourhood and across the Norfolk border
in Walsoken, Walton, and Emneth, said to be
worth £5 10s. yearly; (fn. 6) and in 1446 he had licence
to give another 100 acres round Newton and the
manor of Sybton Hall in Thorpland (Norf.), of
the total value of £8 16s. 11d. yearly. (fn. 7) In 1535
the rectory of Newton with the chapel of St. Mary
was rated at £18 14s. 8½d. (fn. 8)
As so often happened in similar cases, the endowments proved insufficient for the original
ambitious scheme, which seems to have included
twelve almsmen, (fn. 9) and a modification of the
founder's statutes was issued by Bishop Bourchier
in 1454. (fn. 10) The master was to be nominated by
the Bishop of Ely and was to find three chaplains,
of whom one was to serve the parish church of
Newton. He should also maintain three clerks
who could read and sing the service, one of them
acting as parish clerk and the other two serving
the chantry; also three poor men and a woman
capable of doing the washing, cooking, and other
housework. Any vacancy left unfilled by the
master after 20 days should be filled up by the
bishop. The parish chaplain's stipend was to be
£5 6s. 8d., the other two receiving £5 each; the
clerks were to have 40s. 4d. each for food, clothes,
and necessaries; but out of these sums each chaplain paid 53s. 4d. and each clerk 30s. for their
food 'at the master's table'. The four poor persons lived in the 'Bedehouse' and might not be
absent at night without the master's leave. Every
Friday the master was to give them 6d. or the
equivalent in food, and at Michaelmas each
should receive 6 yards of white cloth called
'blankette', 1 yard wide. All the chaplains and
clerks had to be present daily, either in the chapel
or the parish church, for matins, mass, choir offices,
and services for the dead, except the anniversary
services for private persons, all being celebrated
according to the Use of Sarum. The mass of the
Blessed Virgin Mary was to be sung, with the
collects Deus qui caritatis and Omnipotens Deus cui
nunquam sine spe, except on great festivals or by
special order of the master, for the souls of Sir
John Colville (fn. 11) and Emma his wife, and of Bishops
Fordham, Morgan, and Bourchier.
Little is known of the history of the college, but
the chapel was evidently a popular place of pilgrimage, whose spiritual benefits were appreciated;
for seven letters of confraternity issued by masters
between 1448 and 1512 have survived. (fn. 12) The
earliest of these was for Margaret Heryng and
John her son, and the latest for Sir Gylpin Calthorp and Dame Joan. One issued in 1503 by
William Thornburgh, Master of the Chapel of St.
Mary in the Sea, to John Wanley and Agnes his
wife is sealed with the seal confraternitatis nostre
memorate capelle—a small round seal with a rather
crude image of the Virgin and Child enshrined. (fn. 13)
The exact relation between this confraternity,
presumably equivalent to the gild mentioned in
1403, and the chantry or college is obscure,
though the same individual was master or warden
of each, and he seems to have acted on his own
sole authority.
Dr. William Thornburgh was still master when
he made his will on 4 August 1525. (fn. 14) He desired
to be buried outside the chapel 'before the window
in which looks out the image of the most blessed
Virgin Mary'. To the chapel he left certain lands
and furniture, on condition that the next master
should not make any demands for delapidations;
also a chalice 'that my name is wrytten upon', a
vestment of green velvet, and 'a booke imprynted',
to remain for ever in the chapel. Further he had
given 'in the manner of an Agnus dei that hynges
abowte our ladyes necke of sylver and guylte
wt certen reliques therin'. He mentions 'my too
pryestes Sir Robert and Sir Henrye'; but the
absence of all reference to the clerks or bedesmen
suggests that these members of the original foundation were no longer maintained.
In the Act for the suppression of chantries and
colleges passed in 1547 a few establishments were
specifically exempted, one of these being 'the
parishe churche commonlye called the Chappell in
the Sea in Newton within the Isle of Elye'. (fn. 15)
Probably by this time all traces of its collegiate or
chantry origin had been lost. As late as 1572 a
terrier of the rectory mentions 'the site and building called the Chappell on the Sea . . . conteyninge 3 acres', (fn. 16) but whether it was still used for
service is not indicated.
Masters
Thomas Blowyk, occurs 1448, (fn. 17) died 1452 (fn. 18)
Richard Rudhale, D.D., collated 7 Oct. 1452 (fn. 19)
Robert Ippeswell, died 1495 (fn. 20)
William Plome, M. A., collated 31 Dec. 1495 (fn. 21)
William Doughty, resigned 1498 (fn. 22)
William Thornburgh, LL. D., collated 19 June
1498, (fn. 23) died 1525 (fn. 24)
Edmund Page, collated 12 Oct. 1525, (fn. 25) resigned 1535 (fn. 26)
William Lorde, collated 8 May 1535, (fn. 27)
resigned 1537
Nicholas Walpole, collated 1538, (fn. 28) last master
The seal shows the Blessed Virgin and Child
under an ornate canopy. The legend is destroyed. (fn. 29)