After a government of 20 years, Waterville was deposed, at the instigation of the monks, by the Archbishop of Canterbury. No positive crime was alleged against him—at least the monks have not mentioned any in their accounts of the monastery.
The next abbot of whom we read is Benedict, a man of great learning, who was appointed to the rule of the monastery by the king in 1177, after he had held it in his possession two years. The abbot brought several relics to the monastery, and finished the chapel of Thomas à Becket. He was very zealous likewise in his endeavours to re-obtain the abbey lands which had been forfeited or seized during the rule of his predecessors; nor was he scrupulous of the means which he took to effect it: sometimes he took possession of them by force, and at others he tried to conciliate the usurpers by large sums of money and fair promises.
The monastery, during his government, underwent many important changes. He rebuilt the whole body of the church, "from the lantern to the porch;" and it is the opinion of Gunton, that the curiously painted ceiling which covers the middle of the building was of his workmanship. He likewise added several houses to those which were already within the precincts of the abbey, and built the present gate which leads to the west front of the cathedral, with a chapel over it, which was dedicated to St. Nicholas.[8] ]
Benedict likewise obtained a charter for holding a fair upon the feast of St. Peter, and a market to be held every Thursday. The fair was to continue eight days.
This abbot ruled seventeen years, and died in 1194.
Andreas succeeded Benedict, and rose gradually from a monk to a prior, and finally to an abbot. It is said that he was a good man, and secured the esteem of the monks by giving them the lands of Fletton and Alwalton to enrich their table. He ordered likewise six marks a year to be given out of the monastery funds to the infirmary. This donation was continued by his successors for a long time, but Abbot Walter, during his rule, directed that it should be employed in purchasing wine for the "pitanciary."
During the reign of Andreas there were several lands given to the "Eleemossynary," and the monastery was very flourishing. He governed seven years, and died in 1201. His body was entombed in the south aisle, with two of his brethren, under a Norman arch, beneath which is the following epitaph:—
Hos tres abbates quibus est prior abba Iohannes,
Alter Martinus, Andreas ultimus, unus
Hic claudit tumulus; pro clausis ergo rogemus.