Isabel and her heirs; for which they bind themselves in an indenture of three parts, one remaining with the said Isabel, another with the prior of the house of St. John the Apostle at Pontefract, and the third with the chaplain. Whenever the Chantry shall be void, the said Isabel, her heirs and assigns, the lords of the manor of Gunthwaite, shall appoint the chaplain, who shall be a secular, not a regular, [i.e., not under the rule (regula) of any religious house], and who shall enter without any other presentation. If they do not present within a month, then the prior of St. John of Pontefract shall present; and if he does not present within three weeks, then four or two of the most able parishioners of Calthorn shall appoint. Neither the Archbishop nor the Archdeacon to have any power or jurisdiction in this Chantry. Three copies of this indenture to remain with the chaplain, Isabel, and the prior, one each." It was dated at Cawthorne on the Feast of St. Margaret 1455 in the presence of Sir Thomas Harrington, Richard Waterton, Thomas Everingham, Aymer Burdet, Robert Barnby, Esq., William Methley, John Addy and many others.
The following is the return made of this Chantry in the "Valor Ecclesiasticus," or "Liber Regis," which contains the returns made by the commissioners of the value of all benefices in accordance with the Act passed 26 Henry VIII., conferring upon the Crown the first fruits of all benefices and also one yearly rent or pension amounting to the value of the tenth part of the profits of every benefice:
"Chantry of the Blessed Mary in the Chapel of Cawthorne in the parish aforesaid [Silkstone]: Master Richard Wygfall cantarist there. The Chantry there is worth in site of the mansion with garden iiijs.; rents and farms of certain lands and tenements in Cawthorne cs.; în all per annum ciiijs. Sum of the value above. Which it is worth clearly. A tenth part thereout, xs. vd."
This Chantry was suppressed in the first year of Edward VI. (1547), but the endowment, which became the possession of the Crown, was afterwards given to the Parish School, which is still receiving this £5 4s. a year from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
