thiny shillings, in discharge of her claim. In 1869 the house was sold for street improvements for £859, which, deducting ten per cent. for compulsory sale, would be about twenty-five times its purchase value in 1535.

We can trace with very fair accuracy the date at which nearly all our houses came into the possession of the Church. Some which stand between the churchyard and the street are, no doubt, built upon land which had belonged to the Church from the beginning; but the first house which the deeds show as having become a part of the church property, is one in Thomas Street, which was acquired in 1409. Nos. 38 and 39 Redcliff Street came into the possession of the Church in 1425, and Penner Wharf, with the adjoining house, in 1460.

In 1479 the feoffees of the church bought 18 and 19, St. Peter's Street, which were described as standing opposite to the Castle gates, from Henry Poyntz, and his wife Alicia; and between 1456 and 1496, the Church acquired a piece of land at the corner of Thomas Street and Mitchell Lane. On April 10th, 1549, William Butler bought a chamber over the gateway of the Bear Inn, from Milo and Hugh Partryck, to whom the property of Stoke's Chantry had been granted by the King, and about 1570 he gave it to the Church. Finally, a house in Thomas Street was acquired, I do not know how, between 1603 and 1636.

Thus we see that nearly all the property that the Church possesses was acquired between 1400 and 1636; subsequent benefactions were mostly left for the poor. The deeds do not state for what consideration the property passed, so that it is impossible to say whether they were bought or given, but I expect they were, for the most part, purchased.

These deeds throw much interesting light upon the manner of the endowment of town Churches, and at any rate they negative the absurd idea that Churches were endowed in any way by the action of the State. These houses passed to the Church by gift or purchase on the part of individuals or the authorities of the Church, just as houses might do now.

One of our deeds, bearing date October 28th, 1334, which

As St. Thomas' Church was, like St. Mary Redcliff and Leigh, until 1852, a Chapel of Bedminster, it was only necessary to provide for the maintenance of the fabric and services; the income of the Clergy was chiefly provided from the endowments of the mother Church.

conveys a property in Redcliff Street, contains the first mention of the Canynge family in Bristol, as the name of John Cannynge appears among the witnesses. He was, I suspect, the father of the first William Canynge, who died in 1396. John was a family name of the Canynges, and is found in every generation that can be traced till the connection with Bristol ceased.

And also we have on a deed bearing date February 2nd, 1352, one of the ancient seals of the city, before the lilies of France were quartered on the national flag; and also one dated September 9th, 1364, with a much more elaborate castle, and a flag, with the French lilies quartered with the English lions; this last seal often occurs subsequently. Mr. Planchés thought that the earlier seal may very likely have been made in the reign of Edward Ist.

Two deeds of the middle of the 15th century record the foundation of obits of Henry Gildeney and Margaret his wife, and Matthew Sherwyn, Thomas Sherwyn, and his wife Isabel. And finally there are three bonds to keep the peace. On August 29th, 1437, John Lamport, and his wife Johanna, were bound under a penalty of six pounds of wax to keep the peace towards John Smalcombe and his wife Isabella. On March 31st, 1453, Patrick More Weaver was bound to no less personages than the Mayor and the Churchwardens of St. Thomas the Martyr, in a penalty of twenty shillings, not to molest William Smalcombe, weaver, in any way.

And on June 19th, 1478, William Arnold, alias Gillam, was bound to the Churchwardens of St. Thomas the Martyr, in a penalty of forty shillings, to keep the peace towards Patrick Crane, alias Sherman, of Bristol.

It is worth noticing perhaps, as an index of nationality, that we find two Patricks in these bonds. The Smalcombe family seem to have had a tendency, perhaps inherited, to fall into hot water.

I have brought for inspection our oldest deed, the deed which contains the name of John Canynge, and that which bears the oldest city seal. Also a rental of 1477, and portions of the Old Service books, used as covers for Warden's accounts; the rental is cut to show the payment of the amount due at each quarterday, just as the Exchequer tallies used to be cut.

5 On the Municipal Seals, &c., of the City of Bristol, by J. R. Planché, Somerset Herald, in the Journal of the British Archæological Association, vol. xxxi, p. 188, and plate 12, fig. 2.

Proceedings of the Club,

1886.

MEETINGS AND EXCURSIONS.

THE second Annual Meeting of the Members of the Club took place on Tuesday, January 26th, 1886, when, in the unavoidable absence of the President (Bishop Clifford) the chair was taken by Lieut.-Col. Bramble,

Treasurer.

The financial accounts for the past year having been read by the Treasurer, and audited by Mr. John Williams, a brief statement of the proceedings of the Club since the last Annual Meeting was read by the Hon. Secretary.

The election of Officers and Committee for the year 1886 then took place, with the following result:-President, the Hon. and Rt. Rev. Bishop Clifford; Vice-Presidents, Mr. John Reynolds, and Mr. F. F. Fox; Treasurer, Lieut.-Col. J. R. Bramble; Secretary, Mr. Alfred E. Hudd; Committee, Messrs. W. E. Jones, A. C. Pass, John Taylor, and Thos. S. Pope.

The Secretary announced the resignation of Mr. Walter Derham, M.A., in consequence of his removal to London; also that two more vacancies had been created by the election as Honorary Members, by the unanimous vote of the Committee, of Mr. Thomas Kerslake, and Mr. William Edkins. The following gentlemen were then elected as ordinary members of the Club:-Mr. Francis Fox Tuckett, Mr. Robert Hall Warren, Mr. John Fuller, and Mr. Arthur Baker.

A paper was read by Col. Bramble, entitled: Extracts from the Parish Records of St. Nicholas, Bristol, in which some curious regulations for the government of the Church officials, with their various duties, etc., gave much interesting information explanatory of medieval ceremonies. This paper, which is printed at pp. 142-150, gave rise to some discussion, in which Mr. J. Taylor, Mr. Pope, Mr. William Thomas and other members took part. Some of the curious phrases and ceremonies referred to being somewhat obscure, Col. Bramble promised to add explanatory notes before publishing the paper.

Mr. John Taylor, Bristol City Librarian, then read a paper on Some Curiosities of Church Records, giving many quaint and amusing extracts relating to baptisms, weddings, and other ceremonies of the Church, during the Middle Ages, which is printed at pp. 96-103.

SPECIAL MEETING, MARCH 3RD, 1886.

A special meeting was held on March 3rd, 1886, at the house of the Secretary, to arrange for the work of the session, and to fix on localities to be visited during the summer. Among other places mentioned were Wemberham Roman Villa, Yatton, Hinton Abbey, Wellow, Whitchurch, Salisbury, and Stonehenge, most of which have since been visited. The Secretary was requested to endeavour to arrange during the summer for a two days' excursion to some place of antiquarian interest, and he promised to do so. This excursion took place in September, the locality selected being Salisbury, and an account of the proceedings there will be found on pp. 161-164.

EXCURSION TO WEMBERHAM ROMAN VILLA, YATTON. ON Saturday, April 3rd, by kind permission of Cecil Smyth-Pigott, Esq., a visit was paid by the members of the Section, to the recently discovered Roman Villa at Wemberham, near Yatton. Some remarks were made at the villa, by Mr. A. T. Martin, M.A., on this and other Roman remains in the neighbourhood. The villa1 was probably the residence of the officer who had charge of the dykes and earthworks for keeping the sea from overflowing the low country surrounding Yatton, and is valuable as evidence of the trouble taken by the Romans in reclaiming land from the sea. Soon after their departure, the dykes being neglected, the sea again flowed up to the valley, probably as far as Nailsea, and was only again reclaimed long after the Norman conquest. On reaching Yatton the members were met by the vicar, the Rev. Prebendary Walrond, and the chief features of the very fine parish church were inspected under the guidance of Col. J. R. Bramble, Mr. T. S. Pope, and the Secretary. The beautiful west front was much admired, as was also the general effect of the interior, although the chancel is undoubtedly too small for the nave. Col. Bramble pointed out the chief peculiarities of the fine monuments in the Newton chapel, and some of the other architectural features, after which, by invitation of the Rev. Prebendary and Mrs. Walrond, a visit was paid to the Vicarage, where the members were kindly entertained with afternoon tea. A fine 15th century stone fireplace in the kitchen was examined, and a sketch was made of it by one of the members present. After thanking their kind hosts for their hospitable reception, the party returned to Bristol by the 5.30 train.

1 Further accounts of this villa will be found in the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Arch. Socy. for 1885, vol. xxxi, p. 64; and in the Proceedings of the Soc. of Antiquaries, for 1886, p. 29.

2

In a paper on The Perpendicular Architecture of Somerset by Mr. E. A. Freeman, published in the third volume of the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archl. Soc. (1852), the writer says of this west front that it is "quite worthy of forming the entrance to any small cathedral or abbey," and that it is "a most noble and magnificent design, quite unsurpassed among our parochial edifices." He finds fault however with the very awkward effect" of the central mullion of the west window.

EXCURSION TO HINTON CHARTERHOUSE, &c.

ON Saturday, May 1st, 1886, the first general meeting of the members for the year took place. On reaching Bath, by the 10.8 a.m. train from Bristol, carriages were in waiting in which the party proceeded through the beautiful valley of the Avon, passing Claverton with its picturesque church and old houses, to Limpley Stoke, where the quaint little church on the hill was glanced at in passing. On arriving at

HINTON CHARTERHOUSE,

they were most kindly received by Mr. and Mrs. T. D. Salisbury, under whose guidance they were conducted round the grounds of Hinton House for an inspection of the remains of the Carthusian Priory, founded by Ela, Countess of Salisbury, in 1232. The Hon. Secretary stated that by kind permission of the owners of the property, the Rev. S. P. and Mrs. Jose, and of their present host, Mr. Salisbury, he had been allowed to make some excavations in the orchard near the house, and in other parts of the grounds, and had found some foundations of walls, which he pointed out to the members present, some of which had probably formed part of the great Cloister Court of the monks. So little is known of Carthusian houses in England, that it is difficult to understand the few remains that are still left of the Hinton Charterhouse buildings However, having paid visits to several continental houses of the order, to Mount Grace, the most perfect of the monasteries remaining in England, and to the London Charterhouse, the Secretary thought he had some ground for supposing that the walls discovered in the orchard originally formed part of the western side of the great Cloister Court of the Priory, which was exclusively reserved for the use of the monks. The beautiful little 13th century building to the S.E. of the house, which much resembles in some particulars the chapel of the Witham Charterhouse, in the same county, was not the great church of the monastery, of which only a small fragment remains. The other group of buildings probably formed part of the Prior's House, which was so situated that the Prior was able to overlook both cloister courts, one eye on the monastery and one on the world, so to speak, the latter being represented only by the lay brothers, and the few passing strangers of the sterner sex, who sought the hospitality of the monastery. The first English house of the Carthusians was founded at Witham, in Somersetshire, A.D. 1181, and, as it is hoped that the members of the Club may visit the remains of that monastery. Mr. Hudd's paper is withheld upon the subject for the present.

FARLEY CASTLE.

After partaking of some light refreshments at Hinton House, and thanking Mr. and Mrs. Salisbury for their kind reception, the members drove to Farleigh Hungerford, where the picturesque ruins of the Somersetshire residence of the Hungerfords were examined. In the chapel, the monuments to various members of the family, the arms, armour, and other antiquities were inspected, and the following note was read by Mr. F. F. Tuckett upon the Saint to whom the chapel was dedicated.