BOOK VI. St. Matthew. A third market upon Saturdays, the only one of the three now continued, was granted by Edward III. to Archbishop Stratford, and a fair on the feast of St. John the Baptist.* Of the fairs, the two last only are now held. Historical Notices. Manor. Dr. Ducarel was of opinion, that Croydon was the ancient Noviomagus. The Roman road from Arundel to London, is supposed to have passed through or near the town; and was, until lately, visible upon Broad green.+ In 1264, during the wars between Henry III. and his barons, the inhabitants of London, who had been chased out of the field at the battle of Lewes, retreated to Croydon; a part of the king's army being then at Tunbridge, marched thither, assailed them in their lodgings, slew many, and won a great spoil.‡ On the 25th of May 1551, Croydon, and some of the neighbouring villages, were terribly shaken with an earthquake.§ Fuller, after speaking of the fatal assizes at Oxford, in 1577, says, "the like chanced about four years since, at Croydon in Surrey, where a great depopulation happened at the assizes, of persons of quality; and the two judges, Baron Yates and Rigby, died a few days after." || The summer assizes are now held alternately at Croydon and Guildford. The manor of Croydon belonged to Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, at the time of the conquest; but by what grant Mr. Lysons was not able to discover, as Pat. 18 Edw. III. pt. 2. m. 48. dorso. + Archæologia, vol. ix. p. 104. Holingshed's Chron. ed. 1585. vol. iii, f. 269. § Bishop of Hereford's Annals of England, f. 248. he found no mention of it in the great cartulary of Can- CHAP. I. terbury, in the Bodlean library, Oxford. It has been annexed to that see ever since, except for a short time during the Commonwealth, when, the bishops' land being sold by parliament, this manor appears to have become the property of Sir William Brereton. It was valued in the reign of Edward the Confessor at £12 per annum; at the time of the Conquest, at £27, to the archbishop, and £10. 10s. to his men. In 1291, it was taxed at £20 only; in Archbishop's Bourchier's time (time of Hen. VI.) it was said to be £55. 3s. 11d. per annum.* In the parliamentary survey of 1646, the annual value is stated to be £274. 19s. 94d. exclusive of the timber. Croydon park, of which the famous Sir William Walworth was keeper, in the reign of Ric. II. was given by Archbishop Cranmer to Hen. VIII. in exchange for other lands; but it reverted to the archbishop by another grant in the reign of Edward VI. Archbishop Parker entertained Queen Elizabeth and Palace. her whole court here seven days, and Whitgift received more than one visit from the same princess at this palace. When the possessions of the see of Canterbury were seized by the parliament during the civil war with Charles I. Croydon palace was first leased to the earl of Nottingham, and afterwards to Sir William Brereton, "a notable man at a thanksgiving dinner," says a pamphleteer of the time quoted by Lysons,‡ "having terrible long teeth, and a prodigious stomach to turn the archbishop's chapel into a kitchen, and to swallow up that palace and lands at a morsel." After the Restora * Cart. Misc. Lamb. MS. Library, vol. xiii. No. 14. + Grants of Lands and Exchanges, Augmentation Office. 31 Hen. VIII. Env. of London, vol. i. p. 128. BOOK VI. tion this edifice was fitted up, and nearly restored to its former state by Archbishop Juxon. From the various conjectures respecting the dates of the erection of different parts of this palace given by Ducarel, it may be collected, that the whole was built since the middle of the fourteenth century, before which time it appears to have been of wood. The same writer is of opinion, that the east and west part of the great court were some of the earliest buildings that were constructed entirely of brick. The guard-chamber seems to have been built by Archbishop Arundel, and the hall by Archbishop Stafford; but there is nothing to fix the date of the erection of the chapel, though it appears to have been repaired by Archbishops Laud and Juxon. Large sums of money were expended on this edifice by some of their successors, particularly by Archbishop Wake, who built the great gallery, and Herring, by whom the whole was completely repaired and fitted up. In 1780, this palace not having been inhabited for more than twenty years, had become much out of repair; in consequence of which an act of parliament was obtained for disposing of the buildings and grounds, comprising about fourteen acres, and vesting the produce in the funds towards erecting a new residence for the archbishops. It was accordingly put up for sale, and purchased by Sir Abraham Pitches, for £2520. The premises are now occupied as a calico printing manufactory and bleaching-ground. The hall is very spacious, the roof resting on dwarf columns attached to the walls, which end in small corbels of angels, holding shields of arms. At the east end is a sculpture of the royal arms of England, impaled with those of the Confessor, neatly * Hist. of Croydon, pp. 43-68. |