[65] Rot. Hund., Edw. I., vol. i. p. 290, col. 2.
[66] The institution of Bononius, on the presentation of William de Yngoldesby, canon of Salisbury, to the vicarage of the prebend of [North] Grantham, occurs in Bishop Hugh of Wells’ roll for Lincoln Archdeaconry, m. 3. The last entry but one on the same membrane is the institution of Richard de Newerc, chaplain, on the presentation of Geoffrey de Boclond, canon of the south prebend of Grantham, to the vicarage of that prebend. Brief definitions of the vicarages follow each entry: the vicarage of South Grantham is said to consist in a moiety of the altarage of Grantham and Gonerby, and in all the fruits of the altars of Horton (Houghton) and Bresteby (Braceby). Each vicar had to pay a pension of 100 shillings yearly to his prebendary.
[67] A very full account of Grantham Church, by the late Bishop (then Archdeacon) Trollope, compiled for the Lincoln Diocesan Architectural Society’s meeting at Grantham in 1867, is printed in Assoc. Arch. Soc. Reports, vol. xi. pp. 1-12. Sir Gilbert Scott’s brief summary of its architectural history will be found in the same publication, vol. xiii. pp. 28-35. Turnor’s History of Grantham and Street’s Notes contain accounts of the building; and a small pamphlet by the Rev. D. Woodroffe, called Half-an-Hour in Grantham Church, may also be mentioned. The present writer, while mentioning these, has been led in some instances by his own study of the building to somewhat different conclusions.
[68] The carving is allied to that of the capitals in the Castle Hall at Oakham and in Twyford Church, Leicestershire, but is somewhat smaller in scale and less bold in outline. The foliage of some of the capitals was much mutilated by the introduction of galleries in the eighteenth century.
[69] No doubt the builders intended to rebuild the nave arcades in conformity with this new spacing. The design, however, was abandoned.
[70] The study of Newark Church is a necessary complement to the study of Grantham. From what happened there in and after 1313, probably as a result of the great extension at Grantham, we may gather that, as an initial part of such an extension, the lower courses of the new walls were first built, and that then the masons, beginning at the east end of one aisle, worked westwards, and left the other aisle, in which they worked eastwards, to the last. This would account for some differences in the masonry of the upper and lower parts of the walls of the south aisle.
[71] The top stage of the tower was probably added as an afterthought, and not designed until the stage below had been completed.
[72] A mill-stone was placed on the top, and the new vane mortised into it.
[73] The chantry returns of Edward VI.’s commissioners (Roll 33, Nos. 91-96) enumerate the chantries of the Holy Trinity, founded by John de Orston; Corpus Christi, by the same John and others; St. Mary, by William Gunthorp and others; St. John Baptist, by Richard Saltbie and others; St. Peter, by Robert Stonesbie; and Curteys’ Chantry, by the executors of Richard Curteis for two priests. No. 97 is a return relating to the endowment known as the “Deacon’s Land”; and No. 113 is the certificate of the Guild of the Name of Jesus, which held its services in Grantham Church. These chantries, with the exception of “Curteys Chantry,” were all of fourteenth century origin; and their foundation took place between 1346 and 1362. The early history of the Guild is obscure, until the endowment of a chaplain by the will of Robert Pacie of Barkston in 1494. Seven returns of Grantham guilds, in pursuance of the Act of 12 Richard II. (1388) appear among the Chancery Guild Certificates (Nos. 109-115).
[74] For the reference, see [note 1, p. 136]. The document deals with the endowment and appointment of three chaplains, one at the altar in the rood-loft; another in St. Peter’s Chapel in the South Street; and a third in the chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr in the churchyard. Their duties are carefully detailed; and the Abbot and Convent of Vaudey, in return for benefits conferred on them by the founders of the chantries (Roger de Wolsthorp and Richard de Saltby), charge themselves with the maintenance of the chaplains. St. Peter’s Chapel, mentioned here, was, as already noted, distinct from the parish church; and the chantry of St. Peter (see [note 1, p. 149]) may have been endowed in this building, and not in St. Wulfran’s. It is possible that the Haryngtons, whose tomb is in the south aisle, west of the doorway, may have been founders or co-founders of a chantry there, the position of the chapel of which may be indicated by the bell-cot at the west end of the aisle. The licence for the foundation of the chantries at the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi altars bears date 18 August 1392; and on the same date William Gunthorp and others had licence to alienate land, &c., in augmentation of the chantries of St. John Baptist and St. Mary (Patent Rolls, 16 Rich. II., part i., mm. 13, 12).