river, and was afterwards rendered famous as the stronghold of King Stephen. The mint at Wallingford continued in active operation during the reign of the Conqueror. Sir Henry Ellis, in his manuscript letter, gives the following particulars : "We have the following coins of William I. struck at Wallingford: "The king's head, full-faced, crowned, with fillets pendant. PILLEMV. REX. A. "Reverse-A figure saltire-wise, pointed with pearls, surmounted by a cross, voided; in the centre an annulet. SPEARTLING. O. PAL.* "Among the coins of William of the 'Pax' type, found at Beaworth (Hants), in 1833, the Museum has No. 454. No. 455. No. 456. No. 457. No. 458. No. 459. No. 460. No. 461. +pILLELMREX + IEGLPINE ON PAL + PILILEMREX + IEGLPINE ON PAL +pILLELM REX + IEGLPINE ON PAL + PILLELAREX (barred crown) + IEGLPINE ON PALI + PILLEEMREX + IEGLPINE ON PALI + PILILEMREX + IEGLPINE ON PALI + SPIRTIE ON PALN No. 462. + ÞILLELM REX (beaded crown) No. 463. No. 464. + SPIRTIE ON PALN + PILLELM REX + SPIRTIE ON PALNE + PILLELMREX + SPIRTING ON PALI "King's head, full-faced, crowned; in right hand a sword. "Reverse-Saltire-pointed, with treble knots, surmounted by a cross potent. Snelling, Plate I. No. 10. "These are the latest coins in our cabinets minted at Wallingford." It will be observed that in the inscription on these coins, which are all silver pennies, the Saxon "p" takes the place of "W," Willelm Rex being spelt "pillelm Rex," and Wal and Wali, "pal" and "pali." The place of mintage is also styled Weali and Well.* In June, 1833, more than six thousand pennies of the Conqueror were discovered in a piece of pasture-ground at Beaworth, Hants, about a foot below the surface; they were deposited in an oblong box, having a small, plain semicircular iron handle, without any ornament or trace of inscription. † With the exception of about a hundred, the whole mass consisted of pieces with the "Pax" type, which means a period of peace; but as this period was considered to have been established on several occasions during the troublous reign of the Conqueror, the precise time of coinage is uncertain. Among the coins thus found were two hundred and thirty-seven of the mint of Wallingford, the names of the moneyers and mint appearing as follows: Additions have been since made to this list in the cabinets of the British Museum, the moneyers' names being glpine (Eglwine), Brand, Sweartling or Swirting. "In the bay window" (of Parham, Sussex), "is a helmet in the shape of an extinguisher, with a nasal, found in the ruins of Wallingford Castle." ‡ This pointed form of helmet belongs to the time of the Conqueror. See illustrations in the Archaeological Journal, vol. xxviii. p. 203. *Ruding, edit. 1819, vol. i. p. 415. Ibid., third edit., vol. i. p. 151. "Sussex Archæological Collections," vol. xxv. p. 4. CHAPTER VIII. WILLIAM II. TO HENRY II.-1087 тo 1154. William Rufus. THE Conqueror died in September, 1087, having, by his will, bequeathed the kingdom to his second son, William Rufus, warning him to be "louynge and lyberell" to his people. This virtue, although by no means conspicuous in the character of the king, seems to have been exceptionally exercised in favour of the D'Oyley family, for on the death of Robert, who survived his royal patron only three years, and died in September, 1090, without male issue, those of his domains which were granted to him by the Conqueror reverted to the Crown, and were by royal favour conferred on his brother Nigel, who became second Baron Hock-Norton, Constable of Oxford Castle, and officiating Constable of all England, under the king. Robert d'Oyley was buried on the north side of the high altar of Abingdon Abbey, and on the death of his wife, Aldgitha, her remains were interred at his left side. A.D. 1092, 5 and 6 William Rufus. Upon the translation of the see of Dorchester to Lincoln, the new Cathedral Church in that city was to be dedicated on the seventh of the ides of May; but two days before the appointed time Bishop Remigius died, and the solemnity was postponed. His death is by writers imputed "to a judgment of God upon his simony and corruption.' "* Kennett states that "the king would have kept this bishopric in his hands, as he did other revenues of the church; but, being struck into a better sense of religion by a long sickness at Alvaston and Gloucester, he gave this see to his chancellor, Robert Bloet, on the first Sunday in Lent in the following year-1093." t "Simeon of Durham," p. 217. + Kennett, p. 100. In this reign, Wallingford market, which is mentioned in the Norman Survey, was held by prescription on Saturdays; it was afterwards changed to Sunday, and was continued to be held on that day for upwards of a century, when, by a royal proclamation, dated 1218-2 Henry III.-Monday was substituted. In after times, Tuesdays and Fridays were the appointed days, but the market on the former day becoming very inconsiderable, it fell into disuse, and that held on Friday, which is principally for the sale of corn, is now alone continued. The custom of holding the market at Wallingford on Sunday was not peculiar to the town. The fair as well as the market partook of a religious character, and was generally kept on a Sunday in most places, or, if not on that day, on some other high festival. The place of sale was in the immediate vicinity of the church, often in the churchyard, where the wandering friars preached to the crowd. Here the various classes who had flocked together either for business, or for pleasure, or for pillage, were invited to enter and worship in the sacred building, the door of which was always kept open. As time rolled on, this blending of the sacred and secular was extended, and we read not only of markets having been commonly held in churches, but plays enacted therein, while tournaments were held in the churchyard. Great abuses resulted from this state of things, and ultimately the custom was abolished. Towards the end of the reign of Henry III., the papal legate decreed that no market should be held in churches, and that no traffic or merchandise should be practised therein; and in the third year of the reign of Edward I., an Act of Parliament was passed which declared that neither fairs nor markets should be kept in churchyards; and so late as the reign of James I., one of the Canons (88, of 1603) directs the "churchwardens or questmen, and their assistants, to suffer no plays, feasts, banquets, suppers, church ales, drinkings, temporal courts or leets, lay juries, musters, or other profane usage, to be kept in the church, chapel, or churchyard." The market cross, which now so often excites our veneration in town and village, marks the spot where itinerant merchantmen were wont to meet, and itinerant friars to preach. * Chronicles of Abingdon, edited by Rev. Jos. Stevenson, M.A. That the market and fair were valuable and much-prized institutions will be seen by the pertinacity with which the inhabitants of Wallingford endeavoured to extend their right of free merchandise into the town of Abingdon-an assumed right, which met with the most determined opposition from the monks of the abbey, who set up an exclusive privilege of a fair within the town. The particulars are given under the reign of Henry II., when the conflict between the two bodies not only led to litigation, but was sufficiently serious to require the intercession of the king. The contest, however, between Wallingford and Abingdon may be said to have commenced, if not in this reign (William Rufus), very soon afterwards, for we find, just after the accession of Henry I., that the king was led to believe that the abbey had no legal right to the exclusive privilege of the fair; but, after a shallow investigation, royalty accepted a bribe offered by the abbot, and granted a charter,* under which the privilege was retained till the accession of Henry II., when the conflict again broke out. Four annual fairs were formerly held in the town-on the Tuesday before Easter, Midsummer Day, Michaelmas Day, and the 17th of December. By charter of Henry VII., the days were altered. They have all fallen into disuse, except the statute fair at Michaelmas, which is principally for hiring servants, and that bears evident signs of decay. A.D. 1098. Hugh de Grentmaisnil, the father of Adeline, who married Roger de Ivery and was now a widow, died about this time, and for his piety in giving the Church of Charlton, near this place, and sundry lands within the parish, to the Abbey of St. Evroul, at Uticum, in Normandy, was invested in the habit of a monk when he lay sick, and prepared for death by Jeffery, the prior, who had been sent over for that purpose by the abbot. On his death, two monks of the abbey salted his body, and carried it into Normandy, where it was honourably buried in the chapter house of the abbey. Robert, an elder brother of this Hugh, had a daughter named Agnes, who married Robert de Molines, the Norman, to whom we shall have occasion to refer hereafter.† "Chron. of the Monastery of Abingdon," vol. ii. p. 81. † Dugdale, "The Baronage of England," vol. i. p. 425. Kennett, vol. i. p. 101. |