James's, Bristol, succeeded the late Mr. Beale in 1793; but resided in the former place, and resigned this curacy in 1803. Mr. Biddulph continued incumbent of St. James's, at Bristol, till his death, which lately occurred at an advanced age. He was universally respected by the inhabitants of that city, and is author of several publications, which have met with an extensive sale.*

461

The Rev. JOHN SHAW, M.A.-the present incumbent, was instituted in 1803, on the presentation of the Rev. T. T. Biddulph. The arms and mortuary inscriptions at present within the church, will be found noticed in our Appendix, numbered XII.

After the suppression of Evesham abbey, its lands in Bengeworth appear to have been granted to more than one individual, by Henry the Eighth. Among these were sir Philip Hoby, 462 Thomas Watson, esq.,463 sir Richard Long, Christopher Edmondes, gent., Roger and Richard Taverner, esqrs. 464 In the following century an important portion was vested in the family of Hazlewood; under a conveyance from one of whom to his own family the present Lord Northwick is understood to claim the lordship of this manor: a right expressly recognized by the Inclosure Act and its consecutive award. But from an abstract of sir William Hazlewood's title, commencing in 1716, it appears that his devisees and their descendants exercised repeated acts of ownership over the manor and appurtenances, subsequent to the Inclosure Act, and down to the

461 Among these are" Inconsistency of Conformity to the World," 12mo. "Essays on the Liturgy of the Church of England," 3 vols. 8vo. "Lectures on the Holy Spirit," 8vo. "Theology of the Early Patriarchs," 2 vols. 8vo. and Lectures on Psalm 51, 8vo.

462 Mention is made in a schedule of sir Philip's estate, given in Dugdale, of "a park called Thrawnehill park, with all lands meadows and pastures called Thrawnehill, in the hands of the late abbotte and convent of Evesham," described as being at that time" within the parish of Bengeworth."-New Monasticon, ii. 43.

463"All the premises in Bengeworth, parcel of the town and lordship of Bengeworth, of the value of £63 4s. 6d. have been sold heretofore to Thomas Watson."— Note occurring in the Roll of sir R. Long, and Chr. Edmondes, in Augment. Office. 464 In a roll dated 10th February 36th Hen. VIII. Roger and Richard Taverner request to purchase" several lands and tenements in the parish of Bengeworth, of which the [then] yearly value was £6. In another roll, dated 25th June, 37th Hen. VIII. Richard Long, kt. and Christopher Edmondes, gent. "request to purchase," in this parish, the rent of two tenements, a garden, close, and 14 virgates of land; all copyhold.-Originals in Augmentation Office.

66

year 1789. For by indentures of lease and release, sir John Rushout, first Lord Northwick, being party thereto, dated 14th and 15th October in that year, John Cracroft of Hackthorne in the county of Lincoln, esq. and his trustees released certain messuages, demesne lands, and other hereditaments in this parish, "save and except the said manor or reputed manor of Bengeworth," unto sir John Rushout, his heirs and assigns: noticing at the same time, that sir John had been treated as lord of that manor in the Inclosure Act. At present there are no tenures in the parish by copy of court-roll; nor has a court-baron been held here for many years. The extent of the parish, the whole of which was formerly possessed entire by the abbey of Evesham, contains by admeasurement, 1281A. 1R. 20P.

CHAPTER XII.

PAROCHIAL CHAPELRIES IN THE VALE,
ORIGINALLY COMPRISED WITHIN THE DEANERY OF
THE MONASTERY.

WE have learned from preceding portions of this work that the successors of St. Ecgwin claimed for their foundation entire exemption from episcopal control. Not only thus, but they even further urged for themselves, and exercised, an almost episcopal jurisdiction over the chapelries within the Vale, that were subordinate to their monastery. These were, in consequence, not visited by the diocesan, but by one of their own establishment, who was styled the Dean of the Vale, and who likewise collected the Peter'spence, or pecuniary acknowledgment made yearly to the court of Rome which collection elsewhere usually pertained to the diocesan. These rights they appear to have rested upon a bull from pope Celestine, which must therefore have been granted them about the period of the Norman conquest.

In this manner a large portion of the Vale became what is ecclesiastically termed a monastic Peculiar ; as being not under the control of the ordinary of the diocese, but under that of an individual appointed by the monastery. Some appearance of incertitude has been given by previous writers to the precise number of parochial chapelries included in this peculiar. A legal opinion prepared for Bp. Freake, after the dissolution,465 in citing the papal Decretals with regard to the urged exemption, considers the phrase employed-"the churches of the Vale"- as too indefinite. Dr.

485 In Nash's Worcestershire, vol. i. page 422.

Nash, with Mr. Tindal, seems disposed to restrict the exemption to the six chapelries which had been transferred by Henry VIII. to the dean and chapter of Christ-church, and which elicited the legal opinion above noted.466 But taking as our guide the Schedule prepared by the Commissioners of Henry VIII. when recapitulating the spiritualities of the monastery, at a period when these could not but have been clearly defined, we learn that the Vale-ecclesiastically considered as under the jurisdiction of the monastic dean -comprised the parochial chapelries of All-saints, St. Lawrence, and Bengeworth,-which chapels we have already described-together with those of North-and-Middle, and South-Littleton, Offenham, Bretforton, Badsey, Church Honeybourne, Norton, Hampton, and Wickhamford; being twelve in the whole.467

In each of these places considerable possessions had been conferred by the two Saxon kings upon St. Ecgwin's foundation. At that early period, though these kings themselves had recently embraced the faith as propagated from the see of Rome, their subjects could hardly have been christians even by profession. We may then justly look upon the district as a moral waste; and cannot err in regarding the scattered residents as semi-savages. Here then the humble inmates of the infant monastery were to employ their zeal, by gradually proselyting, as well as civilizing, the inhabitants. In this they would commence by apportioning to the residents tracts of land, which by example and advice they would assist them in cultivating; and would then build here and there a church, wherein to collect them for worship and instruction. At length a member of their community would be statedly employed in each division as a parish priest, and in this manner tythe as well as rental would ultimately become secured to their establishment. By these means the character of the district would be gradually changed and thus we doubt not that the foundation of all subsequent improvement in this vicinity was actually laid by the humble coadjutors of St. Ecgwin unerring Providence seeing fit to employ here this handful

466 These are Hampton, Wykhamford, North Littleton, South Littleton, and Offenham.-Nash, vol. i. page 415: Tindal, page 236, note.

467

Decanat' Vall' Evesham, infra dioc' Wigorn', ac in Exempt' jurisdictione Abbatis et Convent' de Evesham."-Valor Ecclesiasticus, 26th Henry VIII. iii. 255.