32. THE COLLEGE OF WALLINGFORD
The college and church or chapel of St. Nicholas was situated in the south-east corner of the
outer bailey of the castle of Wallingford.
Leland, in the time of Henry VIII, wrote:—
There were a dean and prebendaries in the King's
free chapel within the third dyke of the Castle here
in the beginning of King John's reign—and probably before— which Edmund Earl of Cornwall
(11 Edward I) endowed with lands and rents for the
maintenance of six chaplains, six clerks, and four
choristers etc. (fn. 25)
The charters of King John show that there
were then two royal prebendal chapels at Wallingford; one of which is described as 'our
chapel of Wallingford to wit the church of All
Saints'; (fn. 26) whilst there are several later references to prebends in 'our chapel within the
castle.' The last of these is of the year 1214,
when William de London received the king's
letters of presentation to the prebend which had
been held by Master William de Pottern, 'in
the chapel of the Lord the King in the castle
of Wallingford.' Letters were at the same time
sent to the canons of the chapel, and likewise to
the bishop of Salisbury, 'if perchance that prebend may lie in his diocese.' (fn. 27)
Kennett records an inquisition of the year
1183, from which it appears that Miles Crispin
was the founder of the Wallingford prebends. (fn. 28)
Miles Crispin came in with the Conqueror, and
died in 1107.
On 19 March, 1227, the king presented
Hugh de Bathon to the rectory of StokesBasset, Oxfordshire, which was at that time a
prebend of the chapel of St. Nicholas in Wallingford Castle, on the resignation of John de
Wighenholt. (fn. 29)
In November, 1229, the king committed the
custody of Wallingford Castle to his brother
Richard, earl of Cornwall, together with the
honour of Wallingford and its appurtenances;
but it is expressly stated that the king reserved
in his own hands the gift of the prebends of the
castle chapel. (fn. 30)
This collegiate church of St. Nicholas was
further endowed and re-established in 1278, on
so important a scale, by Edmund, earl of Cornwall, that he was usually regarded as the founder.
Edmund's foundation charter, together with
another of the year 1280 extending the endowment, received royal confirmation at Michaelmas,
1283. (fn. 31) By this charter a college was founded
in the chapel of St. Nicholas, consisting of a
dean (Roger Drayton was the first appointment),
six chaplains, six clerks, and four taper-bearers (fn. 32)
(ceropherarii), with an endowment of £61 12s.
yearly rental in Warborough and Shellingford.
It is stated in the charter that Edmund founded
the college for the salvation of his own soul, and
of the souls of Richard, king of the Romans,
his father, of Sanchia his mother, of the king
of England, and of the souls of all the faithful
who had died in the Lord.
In 1356 Edward III gave his licence for the
appropriation of the church of Harwell, Berkshire, to the dean of the free chapel of
St. Nicholas within Wallingford Castle, the
gift of his son, Edward the Black Prince, for the
sustenance of the six chaplains, six clerks, and
four taper-bearers. (fn. 33) Five years later the college
received the additional gift of the manor of
Harwell. (fn. 34)
The dean and college or the king's chapel
within the castle of Wallingford obtained licence
in January, 1389, to appropriate towards their
maintenance the church of All Saints, Wallingford, which did not exceed the value of 100s. a
year. (fn. 35) The church of All Saints stood within
300 yards of the college; there was no special
provision made for vicarage, but the church and
parish were served by the clergy of St. Nicholas.
The deanery, as in so many similar cases,
appears to have been often bestowed upon prominent pluralists who treated it as a sinecure.
Richard Feld, who was appointed by the crown
dean of the free chapel of Wallingford in
November 1399, probably never saw the college
of priests over whom he was supposed to preside;
for at the time of his appointment he held the
rectories of Ringwood and Cleeve, Worcester
diocese; and was also prebendary of Alveley in
the free chapel of Bridgnorth, prebendary of
Cotton in the collegiate church of Tamworth,
and warden of the free chapel of Tickhill,
Yorks. (fn. 36)
Henry VI, in 1444, at the petition of Stephen
Morpeth, the dean, granted to the college ten
marks yearly out of the fee-farm of the town and
honour of Wallingford. The letters patent of
this grant mention that the stipends originally
assigned were 40 marks to the dean and his
substitute, 10 marks to each of the six priest
chaplains, 7 marks to each of the six clerks, and
40s. to each of the four choristers, and that there
were other considerable and heavy charges; but
that the true annual value of the rents and
possessions of the college had so materially diminished that the income, after paying for repairs
and necessary burdens, barely left a balance of
ten marks, so that either the number of ministers
must be materially lessened, or the foundation
ordinance set at naught. The king thereupon,
in addition to the grant of ten marks, ordained
that the dean and chaplains on festival days
might procure extra boys from elsewhere, and
only be obliged to support two choristers throughout the year. (fn. 37) The choristers were, however,
ere long increased to the original number.
Dr. Underhill, who was dean of the college
from 1510 to 1536, built a new west tower for
the collegiate church. (fn. 38)
Leland, writing about 1538, states:—
The Deane afore Dr. London that now is built a
fair steple of stone at the west end of the collegiate
chapel, in making whereof he defaced, without license,
a piece of the king's lodging joining to the eastward
end of the chapel. The Deane hath a fair lodging of
tymbre within the Castle, and to it is joined a place
for the ministers of the chapel. (fn. 39)
The notorious Dr. London, of evil fame, one
of Cromwell's monastic visitors, was dean of
this college from 1536 until his final disgrace.
On 23 February, 1538, John London wrote to
Cromwell detailing the condition of the establishment over which he presided. After every
man's portion (a dean, six priests, six clerks, a
deacon, and four choristers) had been paid, there
was very little left for other charges, 'wherbye
such ornamentes as the noble founders gave unto
that chapell do oonly remayne, very olde and
dyvers of them past mending.' The Kinges
Grace of hys most tendre benyvolens dydde
within the viii yeres past bylde newly the hole
Colledge, in maner all, as well the Deans as the
Prests and Clerks lodgyngs.' London then proceeds to beg for the ornaments of the conventual
church of Abingdon about to be dissolved, stating
that they had 'very few copys, few vestments,
and butt oon awlter clothe of sylk, and all thees
very olde.' He proceeded to state that if the
king granted them these Abingdon goods, he
would be glad at his own charge to repair them,
and to 'sett in every of them hys Grace is armys,
with a scripture of memory that hys Grace conferyd such ornaments to that hys Grace is
Colledg.' (fn. 40)
John London, one of Cromwell's favourite
tools in the work of suppression, was richly rewarded. He was not only made dean of Wallingford, but was also dean of Oseney, warden of
New College, Oxford, canon of York, Lincoln,
Sarum, and Windsor, and rector of several
parishes. With his wealth and promotion came
the display of his dissolute nature. Archbishop
Cranmer styled him 'that filthy prebendary of
Windsor'; he was convicted of perjury and of
the foulest form of adultery. His life and death
were both evil. After riding through the public
streets of Oxford, Wallingford, Windsor, and
Wokingham with his face to the tail, and spending some hours in each town 'in a pillory where
every voice might revile and every hand might
hurl filth at him, he was thrust away into
the Fleet Prison, where he miserably died' in
1540. (fn. 41)
The College and Chantry Commissioners of
Henry VIII, of 1546, reported that the college
of St. Nicholas in the castle of Wallingford was
founded by the Black Prince for one dean, six
priests, six clerks, and four choristers for daily
divine service, 'whyche they do observe accordyngly.' The annual value was £155 4s. 1½d.
The stipends of the six priests amounted to £40;
of the six clerks, £28; of the four choristers,
£8; and of the sexton, 26s. 8d. The wages of
'certayn manialls and servantes' amounted to
£4 13s. 4d.; bread, wine, wax, and oil cost
£5; £6 6s. 7d. was paid for certain obits, and
40s. as a pension to the church of All Saints,
Wallingford. The remainder, after certain dues
had been discharged, went ' towards the lyvynge
of John Dune deane,' and for the repair of the
houses and tenements. (fn. 42)
The commissioners of Edward VI, of 1548,
stated that John Donne, the dean, bachelor of
divinity, and subdean of the king's chapels, had
£31 2s. 1¾d. as his annual stipend from this
college, and that he had besides this £60 towards his living in other benefices. Of the four
priests of the college, one, Richard Crane, aged
74, was bedridden; Richard Fotherby, aged 52,
was unable to serve cure; William Donkeley,
aged 38, and John de Ayshedale, 52, were also
pronounced ' unable to serve cure,' which seems
to mean that in the opinion of the commissioners
they could not with success discharge the duties of
an ordinary parish priest. Each of the four were
drawing stipend of £6 19s. 10d., 'which is their
only lyvynge.' The names of the six clerks and
the four choristers are also set forth. One of
the former was organist and teacher of the
choristers.
The commissioners added to their report
that:—
A vicar is to be endowed, or a preste must be
allowed to serve the cure of Allhallowes without the
Castell Gate, forasmoche as by impropriation the
deane was both parson and vicar, unles it shall stande
with the Kings Majisties pleasure to unite and
annexe the same unto Saunte Maries or some other
parishe within the Towne. Within whiche parish
of Allhallowes be of howslyng people lx. (fn. 43)
The Church Goods Commissioners of the same
year estimated that the lead on the chapel, tower
and cloister amounted to ten fodders, at 15 ft. sq.
to the fodder; and there were four bells. (fn. 44) The
college was suppressed in 1548, and the site
granted to Michael Stanhope and John Bellew.
From them it was purchased in the same year by
the dean and canons of Christ Church, Oxford,
as a place of retirement in times of sickness. In
1552 the clerk's lodgings and other premises
were leased to Thomas Parry, but on condition
of his quitting the entire premises, save one
chamber, at eight days' notice, in the event of
the plague or other serious visitation occurring
at Oxford. (fn. 45)
The pension roll of Philip and Mary, 1554,
shows that the members of the dissolved community were treated liberally. Two of the
chaplains who then survived were receiving £6
a year, being only 19s. 10d. less than their former
salary, whilst all the clerks were in receipt of the
income they had previously drawn less a single
shilling, viz. £4 16s. 8d. (fn. 46)
Deans of Wallingford
Ralph de Norwich, presented 1216 (fn. 47)
Roger Drayton, presented 1283 (fn. 48)
Richard Feld, presented 1399 (fn. 49)
Stephen Morpeth, occurs 1444 (fn. 50)
Dr. Berworth, 'late dean' in 1534 (fn. 51)
John Underhill, 1510-1536 (fn. 52)
John London, presented 1536 (fn. 53)
John Donne, occurs 1546 (fn. 54)