For
this 20 shillings was paid, a very large sum for the time, not to
mention a fee to the summoner, travelling expenses and the writing of
letters on the parish's behalf.[44] The wardens of Stratton, Cornwall,
had a similar experience "when the churche wardyns & the hole
p[ar]ysch was exco[mu]nycatt" in 1565. Among the expense items
relating to that occasion is a significant one: "ffor wyne & goodchere
ffor the buschuppe ys s[er]vantt[s] ij s. viij d."[45]
So close is the supervision of the ordinary over the churchwardens, so
effective the discipline of the church courts, that we seem to hear
occasionally a sort of dialogue going on between judges and wardens,
the former directing certain things to be executed, the latter
replying and reporting from time to time that progress is being made
on the work to be performed, or that the missing objects will be soon
supplied. Accordingly, at the archdeacon of Canterbury's visitation in
1595, we find the wardens of St. John in Thanet (Margate) reporting:
"The chancel[46] is out of repairs, for the repairing whereof some
things are provided."[47] Two years later they state to the court:
"For repairing of the churchyard we desire a day."[48] At the same
visitation the wardens of St. Lawrence in Thanet (Ramsgate) present:
"Our Church is repaired, saving that some glass by reason of the last
wind be broken, the which are [sic] shortly to be amended.
Pages:
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28