CHAPTER VI

PAROCHIAL FINANCE

N view of the many expenses which devolved upon the

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wardens in the working of a medieval parish, it is

important to try to understand how they were able to raise the necessary funds. In the first place, of course, it must be understood that the churchwardens had nothing to do with the tithes-that is, with the regular charge on the produce of the land, which was from the first intended for the support of the clergy, for the poor, and for the maintenance of the chancel portion of the church's fabric. These were received in due course, according to the law, by the parson, or vicar, or by their agent, without any reference to the popular representatives of the parish as such, and except for an occasional donation from the priest to the common fund for some special purpose, the parish exchequer took nothing whatever from the tithe due to the clergyman.

The methods by which the people of a parish raised money for their works were many and various, and some of them curious; some few of them must needs be touched upon briefly in any account of the life of a mediæval parish. In the first place, then, may be mentioned the occasional voluntary assessment of the people of a parish, according

to their possessions, sometimes called "setts," or "cess." This, however, was not a very common way of raising money, and recourse was had to it, apparently, only in the case of extraordinary repairs upon the church becoming necessary. From the many examples that are to be found in the extant accounts, the voluntary rate was evidently difficult to enforce, especially when the amount claimed had, more or less, to be proportioned to the property of individuals. Still, in some places, it was clearly very successful as a means of raising money; as, for instance, at Wigtoft, in Lincolnshire, where, in 1525, the accounts show that the church was completely repaired by money obtained by a voluntary rate. Here a list of eighty-six inhabitants is given, who are assessed at sums varying from 1d. to 3s. 4d. Although the unequal incidence of the tax was evidently admitted by all, it was apparently held that when the parish had made the rate, its vote was binding upon every one. At St. Dunstan's, Canterbury, in 1485, a church rate, or "cess," produced £4 5s. Id., in sums varying from John Roper's 6s. 8d. to Richard Crane's 4d.; whilst at the same time extra "gifts of devotion" are recorded of sums varying from d. to 4d. Between 1504 and 1508 another parish "cess," in the same place, produced nearly £6.

Closely allied to a parochial rate, although not so universal, nor, of course, possessing the binding force of a public assessment, were joint voluntary gifts for special purposes. Something in the way of decoration, or of a bell, a window, a vestment, or a piece of plate was wanted, and the people, as one account expresses it, immediately "drew themselves together" to pay for it, or to purchase it. For instance, at Morebath, a small uplandish parish in Somerset, on the

borders of Devon, in 1538-9, some of the inhabitants bought a new cope for their church at the cost of £3 6s. 8d. From 1528, also, in the same place, the vicar gave up his rights over certain tithes of wool to add to the sum then being collected to purchase a "new suit of black vestments." It is perhaps worth noting that these were only obtained for £6 5s. in 1547, just before the alterations in religion made them useless.

Towards the end of the fifteenth century a change is noticeable in the accounts of the churchwardens. It evidently became more and more common for them to possess lands, and to have houses left to them, as trustees of the parish; the revenues of these were used only for parochial purposes, and mainly, perhaps, for the upkeep of lights and the celebration of anniversaries. Running through all the wills of this period, too, is a manifestation of the same spirit of devotion to the parochial churches, with which the donors had been connected during life, and the same eager desire to leave something in money or in kind to them is everywhere seen. These naturally, if not by express desire, came into the charge and guardianship, not of the parson of the place, but of the people's wardens, who were responsible for the Church goods.

Instances of such gifts are so numerous that the selection of examples is rendered almost impossible, and they are taken here almost at haphazard. At Woodchurch, in Cheshire, in 1525, one James Godyker left to the wardens of his parish church 20 marks to buy twenty bullocks to be let for the purpose of bringing sufficient revenue to find an extra priest. In Nottingham, a shop in "Shoemakers row row"

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was left to sustain a lamp; in other places in that county there are divers lands to pay an extra priest, who has also a house;" "money is bequeathed to be distributed unto the poore yerly;" "arable land was given for a light;" "medow land for a lamp;" a "stock of 5 sheep, valued at 2s. 8d. each, and one cow valued at 8s. ; ""two stocks of money 10s. and 26s. 8d. in the tenure of Robert Braunesby, Edward Dawson," etc., and "20s. in the tenure of Richard Blank-the interest being 4d. on every noble," etc.

Then collections were made by the assent of the parish at various times and in different ways. Thus The Early History of the Town and Port of Hedon, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, shows the wardens of St. James' making collections in the town for church purposes three times a year. At the feast of St. Mary Magdalene they themselves collected both through the town and in the fair, like the wardens of St. Augustine's. On the feast of St. John, during Christmas week, boys were sent round with collecting bags, and each boy received id. for his pains. In the parish of St. Augustine's, in the same place, there were many receipts from these collections, such as: "collections in the city, 5s. ;" "in the church on the feast of the Circumcision, 10s. ;” “on St. Mary Magdalene's day, with relics in the city, 15s.;' "on all Sundays with the tabula, 8s." This last form of collecting seems to have been very popular at Hedon and elsewhere, and probably refers to the method of carrying round some holy picture to excite the devotion and generosity of the people. In the same way, and with the same end, in numberless places relics of the saints were taken about by the collectors for the reverence of the faithful.

At St. Dunstan's, Canterbury, the outdoor collections were made by members of the various brotherhoods, which, to the number of eight or nine, were attached to the church. In the same way the parish cross, which may be considered to be the corporation banner of the parishioners, was carried round the city or district to remind the people of their duty to assist in the corporate work and to stimulate their devotion.

The times for making regular collections naturally varied in different places. In the church of St. Helen's, Worcester, for instance, there seem to have been three yearly collections for general church purposes, namely: Lux fulgebit Sunday (Christmas), Paschaltide, and the "standing afore the church at the Fayre." These regular days did not, of course, interfere with other special collections in the same parish, as "for St. Katherine's light," "our Lady light," "the Clerke's money," "Peter's farthings," etc. At St. Edmund and St. Thomas, Salisbury, special collections were made for the fabric on every Good Friday and Easter day. On the latter day, in one year in this parish, £2 10s. 1d. were contributed to the "font taper," which would appear from other accounts to be the name for the penny given by each man, and the halfpenny given by each woman, who communicated on Easter day-a contribution which was prohibited by some bishops, as likely to be misunderstood. With this view, the payment was ordered to be transferred till the Sunday following the Easter Communion.

Collections for specific objects are, perhaps, the most common in all parochial accounts. In one, the holy water vat for the asperges and the thurible are said to have been