vested in the Crown, as belonging to a dissolved alien priory. It stands in the present Valor by a false name, thus,
6l. 12s. 8d. ob. Stratton Omnium Sanctorum R. 13s. 3d. q. tenths,
and I suppose came to be fixed so, because anciently the church is called St. Michael and All-Saints; but strange it is, that the names both of St. Peter and St. Michael (by which only, this rectory is known) should be omitted: as it is not discharged, it is incapable of augmentation. It paid 4d. carvage and 7d. Peter-pence; and as it now doth, 1s. 10d. synodals, and 6s. 8d. procurations; and for St. Peter, 5s. procurations, and 1s. 6d. synodals; in all 15s.
The church is 25 yards long and 7 broad, it hath a square tower and two bells,[1] the south porch is tiled, the nave and chancel thatched, the last of which was built by John Cowall, rector here in 1487; he lies buried in the middle of the chancel, with this on a brass plate now loose,
Orate pro anima Johannis Cowall quondam Rectoris istius Ecclesie qui istam Cancellam de Nove fieri fecit Aᵒ Domini Mᵒ ccccᵒlrrrviiᵒ et pro quibus tenetur. (sc. orare.)[2]
But though he built the chancel in 1487, he continued rector till 1509; his will is in Register Spyltimer, fo. 225, in which is this; "Also my house in the street called Pepyrs, I wol the state ther of, with all the Lands ther of, shall remayne in the handys of feoffeys, and in the Attorneys of them, to my Parishiners beholfe, in excusing of tenths and tallage, when it fallyth, and the overplus to the reparation of the churchys of St. Michael and St. Peter in the sayd town, evermore; seen, that the cunstabyll and the church-wardynnys, shall let it, and repare it, with the ferme of it; and the residewe of the ferme, I wol yt remayne in the handys of the said constabyll and wardeyns, and yerly they make acounte before all the parishe, and they to excuse the rent of it to the lordys of the fee." This house, with about 12 acres of land, part copy and part free, is now in feoffees hands; and is worth about 10l. per annum, and the churchwardens receive the rent, and apply it as it ought to be, to repair the church, since the taxes of tenths and tallages are ceased. He was also a benefactor to the gild of St. Anne, which was kept in this church.
The nave was finished in 1440, for then Ric. Havell's legacy towards finishing the new church roof, was paid.
There was another brass plate in the chancel, now lost for Ric. Vynne, Jan. 26, 1626, aged 76. I find that Mr. Layer Vynne was curate here some time.
There is an altar tomb in the churchyard on the south side, for Will. Weddall, Gent. 1730, and Mary his wife, who was daughter of Tho. Dixon.
