verted into Shops, Public Houfes, &c. and many have been carefully regiftered by the Industry of our Oxford Antiquarians, yet even of these several escape the most curious Enquiry. What we can difcover concerning their Names, Situation, or Conveyance from one Proprietor to another, will be faithfully remarked in the following Sheets; and if the Account should not prove wholly fatisfactory, the Reader muft impute it to thofe manifeft Alterations which every City, and especially populous ones, in Process of Time, muft undergo. The first in thofe Parts was the Hall under the Town Wall, termed e by the Name of White-Hall, (Aula Alba Parva.) Near it was another ancient Hall, called Stapled, or Stapel-Ledyne-Hall, afterwards LawrenceHall; by the first of which Names it was fo called in King H. IIId's Reign, when 10s. yearly Rent was given thence towards the Maintenance of Lights in St. Mary's Chapel in St. Michael's Church, by one of the Burewalds; at Length, coming through feveral Hands, was poffeffed by one R. Bulkley, fometimes a Regent in the Faculty of Grammar, who, by the Name of Lawrence-Hall, fituated between a Tenement of the Abbey of Ofney on the Weft, and another (which was ftanding in the Corner) belonging to Eynsham Abbey on the Eaft, gave it, 16 Ed. IV. to John Triftorp, Rector of Lincoln College, for the Ufe of that College, who are the prefent Lords thereof, and receive an annual Rent from Jefus College, for it being a void Plot of Ground joining to their Chapel on the N. Side, the Chapel was built thereon by Sir Eubule Thelwell. d The Tenement before mentioned belonging to Ofney Abbey, which was fituate on the W. Side of Lawrence Hall, was called White Hall, as appears from their Leger-Book In other Places it is called Aula Alba Magna, of which, together with Aula Alba Parva before mentioned under the Wall, Mr. Thomas Nettleton was Principal in 1499; in which Year, he refigning, was fucceeded by Mr. Rob. Ofeley; for it must be known, when our Halls decayed in the Number of their Scholars, then two of them were (though contrary to the old Statutes) united together under one Principal, as thefe two here mentioned were; to which, afterwards a Third, called Perry-Hall, was added, as is feen in our Regifters, where it is faid, that Mr. J. Gresley refigned his Principalities of Great Whitehall, Little Whitehall, and Perry-Hall, Anno 1507, and Mr. Thomas Orton, by the Confent of all the Scholars therein, was chofen in his Place. To the aforefaid Hall, also of Stapled or Lawrence was Plumer-Hall annexed, as is expreffed in the Donation Charter beforefaid of R. Balkley to Lincoln College. It's Situation is more fatisfactorily mentioned in one of our Registers, in thefe Words: Nich. Goffe, Sanita Theologia Baccalaureus expofuit cautionem per Jure Principalitatis Aule nuncupate vulgariter Plummerys Place jacet inter aulam Saneli Lavrentii ex prate parte Ocecident, et Gardinum Abbatiffe de Godftow ex parte Auftrali cum Gardino annexo, 1447. So far out of one of our Registers; but in late Records, called Aula Plumbea.-Near it was another Hall, called Stoke-Hall; fo called from a Family of that Name, the Owners of it, of whom Will. de Stoke was one, who held Lands thereabouts alfo in this Parish from Ofney Abbey, as appears from one of their Dimiffion Charters to him, when Adam Fetiplace was Mayor of Oxford. About the Year 1259, it was inhabited by Welch Clerks, for fo it plainly appears in an Inquifition concerning fome Perturbers of the Peace, 34 Ed. I. wherein be the Names of feveral Clerks of this Hall, called Thereftoke-hall, firnamed de Wallia, who were engaged in the fame Disturbance. It is alfo mentioned in the Will of Ric. Gay, Barber, Anno 1356, where it is faid, that his three Cottages which he leaves to his Executor, are fituated near Stoke-ball, in St. Michael's Parish at North Gate. Then was there Elme-ball, standing at the Eaft End of St. Michael's Church Yard, belonging to Ric. de Noreys, 19 Ed. II. of which I find no great Matter worth our Recital. The next Place of Note in this Lane, is the great House, built of FreeStone, oppofite to the South Side of St. Michael's Church, which, in the Reigns of R. I. and R. II. had for its Owner one Will. de Magno Ponte, or Grand Pont. From him it came to J. Ailworth; but he keeping it not long, gave it about the Beginning of H. III. together with four Seldes belonging thereunto, and the Rent of a Solar to the Priory of St. Fridifwede; and immediately after the Gift thereof, the Prior and Convent of St. Fridefwede demifed it to Nic. de Gloucester and his Heirs, conditionally, that he and they should pay 26s. per Ann. which Rents continued more or lefs till the Diffolution of that Priory. This House, in the Charters thereof, is faid to be fituated contra Eccm. St. Michaelis. ad portam Boreal. There, in a later Hand in the Margin, it is ftiled novum Hofpitium infra portam Borealem, from whence we may gather, that it was poffeffed by Clerks. The Fabrick both within and without, had the Shape of a little College, but being deserted, (with diverse other Inns and Halls, upon the falling out or Conflicts between the Scholars and Townsmen,) it came to be an Habitation for Lay-Perfons, who made it a Brewhouse, and afterwards a common Inn. For what Purpose it was fo built, I cannot tell; or whether it was intended for a College by . . . who began one, and had Licence from the King, but it failed. Oppofite to this House is another Tenement in the Church Yard of St. Michael, ftanding between the Church Door and N. Gate: The Ground on which it ftands, was fometimes Part of the Church Yard, but the Mayor and Commonalty claiming it to be a Parcel a In Thefaur. Ed. Chrifti, f. 90. b In Arch. Oxon. Twine, V. 3. 18. < V. 174. 136. d In Lib. Mag. Teftam. Burq. Oxon. f. 22. of of their Fee Farm, took Care to have a House built thereon by J. Plomer, to whom they had demised it; whereupon Rob. Afton, Rector of that Church, interpofed himself in the Business, and by his Endeavours for the Liberty of the Church, put a Stop to it.-Upon which the Mayor, then Steph. de Adynton. procuring by unjust Means the King's Brief, caufed the faid Rob. Afton to be caft into Prison at the Caftle; where he abiding for his honeft Intentions, and they proceeding in their Robbery of the Church, it fo fell out, that the faid Mayor, who a little before had violated the Graves and exhumed the Bones of the Dead, died fuddenly not long after in a most miferable Manner, with great Anguifh and Horror of Spirit.-This was done 16 Ed. III. as by an Inquifition taken 13 R. II. appears; which Paffage being of no small Remark, I deemed it not unworthy the Infertion thereof in this Place, because, as it is generally observed by Historians, that those that commit such Actions have a heavy Judgment follow them or their Pofterities. с b d From hence, going up the Street called N. Gate Street, as the Limits of this Ward are measured, we pass by feveral Houses where the Surge fometimes has been, and come to another Lane leading from the Corn-Market to Lincoln College, and fo towards the Schools, which Lane being now totally in St. Michael's at N. Gate, but partly formerly in St. Mildred's Parish, is in moft Charters called Cheney-Lane, and in fome Venella et Vicus ducens a Sutoria verfus Eccl. Sta. Mildrede. Godftow Book, in a certain Difmiffion there, tells us, that Maud de Upton, who was Abbefs of that Place, Regn. Ed. II. demifed to an Inhabitant of Oxon, two Seldes in the Parish of St. Mildred at N. Gate, (at the Corner) and Juxta Catenam Ferream, near to the Iron Chain. In an ancient Rental also, sometime belonging to Ofney, for Tenements in this Parish, and many Years before the faid Difmiffion, is mention made of the Tenement of Godwyn Edwacker infra Catenam ex parte Auftrali yielding 25. Whence it appears, that this Lane took its Name from having a Chain croffing one End thereof, being without Doubt fo fortified in the Time of K. Steph. and the Barons Wars, to keep the inward Parts of the City safe from Danger, much like the Streets of London, that were fo fortified, according to Stow, Regn. H. III. This Lane, by Reason the E. End thereof is oppofite to St. Mildred's, by the thwarting of Silver-Street, and in that Parish, is fometimes written, St. Mildred's-Lane, et fuperior Vicus Sta. Mildreda.In the Parish of St. Michael's at N. Gate, which hath formerly given fome Occafion of Miftake of the Situation of Halls therein, it was for the moft Part inhabited by Luminars, Exemplars, Transcribers, and Samplarers, i. e. by thofe that made, before Printing was invented, great Letters in the Beginning of Books and Chapters, and those that flourished or adorned them with Pictures, and tranfcribed them into feveral Copies, being in thofe Times a Profeffion of great Employment. Moft, if not all, of the Tenements herein, belonged to Godstow and Studley Nunneries, St. Fridifwede's Priory, and Ofney Abbey :-Among which, I find to have been these Halls following: a Whitehall, different from the other before-mentioned, and in the Parish of St. Mildred.-It was a long Tenement, and did of old belong to the Burewalds of Oxon, of whom, one Lambert, a Cordwainer, was Owner of, Regn. H. III. but in 1262, conveyed it to Reginald de Hulmo, Rector of All Saints' Church; which he, not long after, alfo gave to the Convent of St. Frid. in whofe great Ledger Book, a Rubrick, ftanding before the Conceffion of the faid Tenement, hath it thus,-Carta prima de Tenemento vocat aliquando Burald nunc Whiteball in parochia Sta. Mildride; whence it is the fame with that Whitehall which belonged to St. Frid. (written fometimes Hauk-ball,) and which was pulled down to make Room for the Building of Jefus College. The great Stone Gate that belonged to it being also situate in this Lane, as Mr. Winfore's Notes teftify. In it ftudied, for the most Part, Legifts. Then was there Corner-Hall, (Aula in Cornerio) ftanding in the Middle of this Lae, in St. Michael's Parish, and at the Corner turning into Cole Burner's-Lane, of which I fhall speak anon. This Hall or Tenement did belong to Ofney Abbey, by the Gift of a Benefactor, not long after their Foundation; but the firft Mention I find of it, ftiled by the Name of a Hall, (tho' it might be one feveral Years before) is in a Difmiffion of R. the A bot and Convent thereof, when Adam Feteplace was Mayor, which was about the Year 1258, and fo likewife for divers Years after. Near to this Hall was Chimney-Hall, another very ancient Hall, belonging to the faid Abbey, and standing in St. Mildred's Parish, about the Middle of this Lane on the S. Side thereof.-The firft Mention I find of it by the Name of a Hall, is in a Rental of Ofney Abbey, Circ. the Beginning of H. III. going thus, Tenementum Galfredi Toraldi vocat. Chimney-Hall in Parochia St. Mildred, afterwards I find a Dismission of it, by that Abbey, and by the Name of Chimney-Hall, to one Gilbert de Edrington, a Burgess of Oxon, 1291, for 40s. yearly Rent; wherein they made this Provifo, that if it fhould happen that any Queftion or Strife should arife concerning the faid Meffuage from the University, or any Mafter or Scholar therein, and brought before the Chancellor, that then the faid Gilbert and Alice his Wife fhould bear all the Charges of the Suit: And this certainly was, because that being deferted by its Scholars, as being a Hall or School, it might, ac Cart. p. 5. ex Lib. S. Frid. b Lib. Antiq. St. Frid. p. 196. Cart. 313. f. IOI, 102. • But Rous in his Tab. makes White-Hall and Hawke-Hall different.White-Hall yielding to St. Frid. Priory, 4s. per Ann. as in Inq. d In Thefaur. Chrifti, V. 90. 89. V. 390. where it is faid to be in Mildred-Street, V. 556. e In Thefaur. Æd. Chrifti, v. in Chimney-Hall. f Ibid. V. 83. cording cording to fome ancient Statute, reaffume its Masters again.-But as it was furmised by thofe of Ofney, so it came to pass :-For whereas, about the Year 1303, one Walter Brown, Batchelor of Civil Law had, according to the Statutes and Privileges of the University, procured this Hall of the faid Alice Edrington, (who was then a Widow,) to live in fub Titulo Conductionis, and for want of competent Schools for his Reading in this Hall, made himself a Principal thereof.-Then did the faid Alice, (understanding, according to the University Statutes, that if a Houfe had been once dedicated to the Ufe of a School, it might ever after be free for Students for Reading,) by her Attorney petition the Chancellor to have this Privilege taken off, which, after much Labour, was granted. "Volumus & Concedimus, faith the Chancellor in his Writing, quod ceffante Waltero predicto a Lectura Juris Ciuilis predicta Domus pro Scholis ex tunc & Pofterum prætextu Le&uræ prædicta vendicari non poffet vel baberi, fed quod predicta Aula ex tunc in Pofterum & in perpetuum pro Domo Habitabili & non pro Scholis ea Occafione habeatur, Statuto & Privilegio Contrariis non obftantibus ullo Modo, &c. dat. in Eccl. Beatæ Mariæ Virginis, Anno Dom. 1305. Which Hall, tho' forbidden to be made Use of as a School, yet was afterwards inhabited by Scholars. с In this Lane were feated two more Halls, called Nun-ball and Perry-ball. As for the first, I find no great Matter of it, only in a Rental Sans Date, it yielded 13s, 4d. The other in St. Mildred's Parish, belonging, with the former, to Stodley Nunnery; was fo called from a Family that were Owners of it, and bore the chief Place of Mastership of this City. It was given to the said Nunnery by one H. Daune, or de Auna, Circ. 1260, and faid to be worth, per Ann. 7 Ed. I. 28s. He was Rector of St. Mildred's Church, and gave them all his Lands that he had in Oxon, lying chiefly in his own Parish and St. Peter's in the Eaft; from which Revenues, according to his Defire, every one of the 50 Nuns of the said Place was to receive, on his Anniversary, 12 d. a Piece. This Hall was annexed to St. Mildred's Hall; repaired, 12 H. IV. by that Nunnery, and deserted from the Ufe of Scholars, Circ. 1530, as by several Circumftances it appears.-So far for the Halls in this Lane, called Cheney-Lane. Another Lane, called Cole-Burner's-Lane, led from the middle Part of this, where the Free Stone Wall now inclofes Jefus College back Yard to the High-Street, through the Middle of the Sury, and almoft oppofite to the Lane leading from N. Gate-Street to St. Mary's College. It affumed its Name from a Family therein fo called, of whom W. Coleburn, Clerk, was one, the Beginning of H. III. mentioned in a Charter, as Lord of Tenements hereabouts. The Meffuages therein did for the most Part be a Ibid. 100. In Arch. Civit. v. I. 196. • Scholares in Perry-Hall, Id. 97. Reg. Stodley inter Cart. de Par. St. Mildred. Twyne, 658. Ed. I. Twyne, 8. 131a Rot. Pergam. de Comput. Receptoris Prioriffe Stodley. h This was faid to be at first called Lifwis-Lane, V. 258. In Twyne 8. 458.-Reg. f. 269. F 2 Rot. Inquifit. Com. & Vill. Oxon. 6 and 7 long |