F&&K&N HAM AN D BATH&

ATH c ities alwa s , perhaps more than most other , has y been pleased to recognise and do hon our to its worthies . To me , the very streets of the city appear to be I peopled by the ghosts of bygone generations . If shut my eyes upon electric tramways and such like evidences of a l ’ what is c lled modern civi isation , the beaux and belles of ancient days seem to come trooping from their hiding places and appear tripping along the streets as of old ; the footways are at once all alive with the gentry occ ked of the hat and full bottomed wig period , with m their knee breeches and small clothes to atch .

Ladies , too, are there , with their hooped and tucked

- d dresses , their high heeled shoes , and those won erful creations of the wigmaker ’ s art upon their heads whilst sedan chairs of all sorts and kinds are borne quickly

along the roadways , now desecrated by every kind of

modern conveyance . It was in the eighteenth and early nineteenth t & /d centuries , of course , tha the city rose to the enith

and I of its renown , the crowd of notabilities who then

came to seek for rest , health and pleasure in this queen

- B t of watering places , has served to make ath almos

a synonym for a city of gaiety , diversion and life . Indeed the memories of that period of prosperity and glory almost seem to have obliterated the thought of

one persons and of incidents of earlier days. It is such

- person that I would recall to your memory to night .

When honoured , by the request of your President ,

1 A a e r read before th e memb ers of th e &iterar and Sc ientific Institution p p y , Bath Dec mb r 1 190 , e e 4, 6 . 2 Abbot Fec kenh an and Bath

y t to read a paper before this learned Societ , my houghts A F nh a almost immediately turned to bbot ecke m , of n Westmi ster , who is one of the personages my imagination has often conjured up whilst passing along the streets of this city . Most of those who listen to me probably know very little of this grave and kindly B t . u h ecclesiastic , but the name in the sixteent and c century , he was a generous true benefa tor to a the poor of this pl ce , and that at a time when he was himself suffering grievous trials for conscience A t sake . the outset I should like to disclaim any pretence of originality in my presentment of the facts of h m ’ A bbot Fec k en a s life . I have merely taken what R I find set down by others and chiefly by the evd .

hi s Blac k Monks E . Taunton in history of the English . He has been at great pains to collect every scrap of information in regard to the last Abbot of Westminster and I borrow freely from the resul t of his labours . ’ F c kenh am s e real name was Howman , his father and mother being Humphrey and Florence Howman of

ll F . the vi age of eckenham , in the county of Worcester

They appear to have been of the yeoman class , and to have been endowed with a certain amount of worldly wealth : at any rate they se em to have sent their son

b u John , who was born somewhere a o t the first decade m of the sixteenth century , to be trained in the onastery

hi was . of Evesham , w ch near their home Here , the boy , who had probably received an elementary education from the parish priest of his native village , would have been taught in the claustral school of the great abbey . In time he j oined the community as a i nov ce , and in accordance with the very general custom a of those d ys , became afterwards known by the name of

F . his birthplace , as John eckenham From Ev esham the young monk proceeded to Oxford A bbot Fec kenh am and Bath 3

’ ll to study at Monk s College , or Gloucester Ha , now kn own as Worcester College . It is not important here to determine th e actual date when he commenced his studies at Oxford ; probably he went to college about 1530 t , when we are told definitely that he was eigh een h years of age . His Prior at the ouse at Oxford was a h R monk of his own abbey of Eves am , named obert

Joseph , and an accidental survival of a manuscript letter-book gives us not only the information that it was

u this religious who ta ght the classics , but shows in some way at least how a professor lectured to his students in those bygone days . The MS . in question 18 l d a col ection of Latin letters and addresses , ma e by this

R s Prior obert Jo eph . It was , as you are all aware , the fashion in those times for scholars to send Latin epistles ll to their friends , and then to co ect them into a volume . We have many printed books of Latin epistles of this kind . Prior Joseph , though his elegant letters were never destined to see the light in all the glory of a m printed dress , still made his collection , which so ehow MS — or other got bound up with a Welsh . , one of — Peniarth to the MSS . and so was preserved tell us something more than we knew before about the work of a professor at Gloucester Hall , when the monks were A students there . mongst other interesting items of R information afforded in this MS . we have Prior obert ’ J n u e an d oseph s i augural lect re on a play of Terenc ; , by the way , very practical and good it is . There is also

ff r another lecture of a di e ent character , which was carefu lly prepared for delivery to the young Benedictine students at Gloucester Hall . It seems that one of & ’ ” u the monks had been p lling his old professor s leg ,

u t as we sho ld say , by telling him hat many of them thought that as a teacher he was getting a little past his prime , and that it might perhaps be a good thing if

B 4 A bbot Fec kenh am and Bath he were to give place to a younger man more in touch w R ith modern scholarship . Prior obert was deeply s wounded , and his carefully prepared addres upbraids his pupils for their ingratitude , and practically calls upon those amongst them who considered that he ought

: to retire , to come forward boldly and say so an i A t invitat on which it is hardly likely was accepted . any rate , the old professor certainly continued to occupy hi s chair for some time longer . l In specia regard to the young monk , John F eckenham , this same collection of letters is of some interest , since it contains a Latin epistle addressed to him on the occasion of his ordination to the priesthood . It is a dignity , the writer says in the course of a long letter , which in our days can never be F despised or held in little regard . rom this time forth you r very carriage and countenance must be changed ; from this time forth you are to live f after a fashion dif erent to what you did before . & Now have to be given up the things of youth and the ways of a child , for now you take up the sword ” l of the Spirit , which is the Word of God . This wou d 1536 have been written probably about the year , and in t the following year Feckenham was cer ainly at Oxford . ” & & h im A a 15 37 I find , writes nthony Wood , there in , b in which year he subscribed , y the name of John F eckenham , to a certain composition then made between

Robert Joseph , prior of the said college (the writer

- of the Latin letters) , and twenty nine students thereof on one part (of which number Feckenham was one of the senior) and three of the senior beadles of the ” univ ersity on the other . In 1538 Feckenham supplicated for his degree as 1 11th 539 . Bachelor of Divinity and took it on June , be Previo u sly he had , in all probability , en for some time A bbot Fec kenh am and Bath 5

teaching in the abbey school at Evesham , as he had l 27th himse f been taught , and he was there on January ,

' 1540 u , when the monastery was s rrendered to Henry V III . In the pension list his name appears as receiving 15 marks in place of the usual pension (10 marks) for the younger monks ; probably because of his A university degree . fter the dissolution of his religious

Fe c k e nh am rav itate d . b ac k home , John at first g \ to his old college at Oxford to continue his studies ; he was

e u B soon , how ver , ind ced to become chaplain to ishop B u ell of Worcester . This office he held ntil the 1543 h e resignation of that prelate in , when joined B B m ishop Edmund onner in London , re aining with him un til that prelate was committed as a prisoner to the 1549 in , for his opposition to many VI religious changes dur ing the reign of Edward . A t Fec kenh am this time , whilst still in London , received l D the living of So ihull in Warwickshire . uring the time of his rectorship his parents— Humphrey and

F - d 40s. lorence Howman eft a bequest of to the poor , and among the records of the parish is said to be an old vellum book & containing the charitable alms given

by way of love to the parishioners of Solihull , with

the order of distribution thereof , begun by Master John

a lias Fe c knam Howman , priest and doctor of divinity in the year of o ur Lord

Though moderate and gentle in his disposition , and ever considerate in his dealings w ith the convictions F of others , eckenham was strong in his own religious views and uncompromising in his attitude to religious

change . He consequently qu ickly fou nd himself

involved in an atmosphere of controversy , and at this time probably developed those oratorical po wers for which h e

u afterwards became really famo s . It was not long, th e however , before he found himself a prisoner in 6 A bbot Fec kenham and B ath

Tower , out of which he was , to use his own expression , ” borrowed frequ entl for the pu rpose of sustaining the an cient side in the semi -public religio u s controversies , which were then in much favour with all a p rties . The first of these disputes was held at the B Savoy , in the house of the Earl of edford ; the second ’ was at Sir William Cecil s at Westminster , and the third in the house of Sir , the great Greek scholar K VI ’ s . and ing Edward . tutor

A h Fec kenh am lt ough held all this time as a prisoner , was somehow or other still possessed of his b enefic e at h Solihull , of which , for some reason or ot er , he had not e b en deprived . He was consequently taken down from

London and opposed to the bishop of his own diocese , B h is op Hooper , in four several disputations ; the first was arranged at Pershore whilst the bishop was on hi s visitation tour , and the last in Worcester Cathedral , where amongst others who spoke against him was John t Jewel , af erwards bishop of Salisbury . With Mary Tudor ’ s advent to the throne Feckenham 5 h r . t of cou se obtained his liberty On Tuesday , 1553 September , , he left the Tower , and according to ’ Mac h n s Diar 24th y y , on Sunday the of the same month & ’ r Fec knam master docto did preach at Paul s Cross , ’ the Sunday afore the Queen s coronation . He again e B B b came chaplain to ishop onner , now also set at ’ liberty , and was nominated a prebendary of St . Paul s in

1554 m : . Other prefer ent came to him very rapidly Queen Mary made him one of her chaplains and her e 25th 1554 confessor , and b fore November , , he was ’ F D . . appointed ean of St Paul s uller , the historian , says of him at this time : He was very gracious wi th th e Queen and effectually laid out all his in terest with her

b u t (sometimes even to offend her , never to injure her) m to procure pardon of the faults , or itigation of the A bbot Fec ke nh a m an d B ath 7

p u nishment of poor Protestants . The Earls of Bedford and Leicester received great kindness from him ; and

hi s old friend , Sir John Cheke , owed his life to ’ F n m e e e c k a s personal interest with the Qu n . He took

u u t D p the cause of the nfortuna e Lady Jane udley , and remonstrated with the Queen and Gardiner upon the

policy of putting her to death . He visited the poor girl in prison ; and though u nsuccessful in removing the to prejudices of her early education , he was able help

o her to accept with resignati n the fate that awaited her . Neither did he forsake the hapless lady until she paid by ’ death the penalty of her father- ih - law s treason and her

& own share therein . When the Princess Eli abeth was 1554 sent to the Tower , in March , for her supposed part ’ t Fec knam in Wya s rebellion , , just then elected dean , n interceded so ear estly for her release that Mary , who ’ was convinced of her sister s guilt , or at any rate of her insincerity , showed for some time her displeasure with ’ Bu t & him . Eli abeth s life was spared ; and she was ’ released , mainly by his importunity , after two months

imprisonment . 19th 1556 V On March , , Giovanni Michiel , the enetian amb assaador D , wrote from London to the oge about the & B d t : restoration of the ene ic ines . He says Sixteen monks have also resu med the habit and returned to the

o Order sp ntaneously , although they were able to live

ou t and had lived of it much at ease and liberty , there D ’ being included among them the ean of St . Paul s (Feckenham) who has a wealthy revenue of well nigh 2000 notwithstanding which they have renounced all their temporal po ssessions and conveniences and f press for readmission into one o their monasteries . There were obvious diffi culties in the way of any large scheme of monastic restoration the property of the old abbeys had long since been granted away mostly to 8 A bbot Fec kenh am an d B ath

laymen , and at some of the greater houses , like

Westminster and Gloucester , chapters of secular priests had be en established in place of the dispossessed A m . t monks Westminster however , arrange ents were quickly made with the view of restoring the to their old home : promotion was given to the dean and the interests of the other secu lar canons

u 7 th 1556 were sec red , and on September , , the Queen F m appointed eckenha abbot of restored Westminster . The Venetian ambassad o r says that the monks with their new abbot were to make their entry at the close of

September , but this they did not do there was evidently much more preparation necessary than had been

D i tori l ul . H s c a calc ated upon ean Stanley , in his

Memori als o Westminster A bbe f y, says the great refectory was pulled down and the smaller dormitory ” was cleared away and other conventual buildings had either been destroyed or adapted to other uses . So there was obviously much to be done before the new n commu ity could take up the old life again , and it was not until 2l st November that the monks were able to begin once again the regular round of conventual duties in the cloisters and choir of Westminster . I cannot resist quoting here the account given by the Mac h n contemporary writer y , in his quaint style , of this & 2 l st was restoration . The same day ( November) the

D Fe c knam new abbot of Westminister put in , octor , late ’ A . nd dean of Paul s , and xiv more monks sworn in . the morrow after , the lord abbot with his convent went a ’ procession after the old fashion , in their monk s weeds , in cowls of black saye , with his vergers carrying his si lver-rod in their hands ; at Evensong time the vergers went through the cloisters to the abbot and so went into the church afore the high altar and there my lord kneeled down and his convent ; and after his prayer A bb ot Fec kenh am and B ath 9

was made he w as bro ught into the choir with the b n vergers and so into his place , and presently he ega

Evensong xxii . day of the same month that was ’ & On 2 . 9th da St . Clement s Even last the y was the

abbot stalled and did wear a mitre . The Lord Cardinal was there and many bishops and the lord treasurer and

a great company . The Lord Chancellor (Bishop

Gardiner) sang Mass and the abbot made the sermon . Feckenham lost no time in setting his house in order

and in gathering round him other monks and novices .

Giovanni Michiel , the ambassador before referred to , tells ’ D 20th us tha t on St . Thomas Eve ( ecember ) the Queen & chose to see the Benedictine monks in their habits at Westminster and so going for Vespers was received by the abbot and twenty-eight other monks all men

of mature age , the youngest being upwards of forty

and all endowed with learning and piety , as proved by their renunciation of th e many conveniences of

life . The restoration of Benedictine life at Westminster was not destined by Providence to continue for very M d 17 1558 long . Queen ary ied th November , , and her m W m funeral rites were sole nised at est inster .

Fe c k enh am u preached one sermon at the obseq ies , B B . and White , ishop of Winchester , the other oth ’ u th e u n gave mbrage to new Q ee , and the bishop s led to

A s Fe c kenh am his confinement in his own house . for it is said that Eli &abeth greatly desired to win over w to her side one hom she respected , and who was f universally popular . One story has it that she o fered him the A rchbishopric of Canterbury if he would assist in the settlement of the national religion on the lines w v i n . ot she desired The abb , ho e er , rema ed staunch to

his conscientious convictions , and in Parliament strenuously opposed all the measures by which th e 10 A bbot Fec kenh am an d B ath

n D religious settlement was fi ally effected . uring the F time of the debates in the Parliament , eckenham was qu ietly awaiting at Westminster the approac hing ruin of his house , which to him at least could hardly be

u . doubtf l He went on in all things , as if no storm clouds were gathering , leading his monastic life with

r his breth en . The story goes that he was engaged in planting some elms in his garden at Westminster when a message was brought to him that a majority of the House of Commons had voted the destruction of all religious houses , and the messenger remarked that as he and his monks would soon have to go , he was ” planting his trees in vain . Not in vain , replied the abbot . Those that come after me may perhaps be scholars and lovers of retirement , and whilst walking under the sh ade of these trees they may sometimes think of the olden religion of England and of

s o the last abbot of this place , and he went on planting . W 12th The end of monastic estminster came on July , 155 h 9 . On that date , for refusing the Oat of Supremacy , Feckenham and his monks were turned out of their house . What immediately became of them we do

u not know and probably never shall , but j dging from the case of the bishops we may suppose that they were probably assigned places of abode . It was , however , d soon consi ered injurious to the new order , that the bishops of the old order and A bbot Feckenham should be allowed even the semblance of liberty comprised in the order for a fixed place of abode , from which they 20th l . cou d not depart without permission So on May , 1560 ’ , it was agreed in the Queen s Council that Feckenham and some of the bishops should be confined A straightway in prison , and so by order of rchbishop Parker at night about 8 of the clock was sent to the A bb ot Fec kenh a m an d B ath 11

F Sc or F e leet doctor y , and Master eck nham to the

Tower . s 156 In thi confinement the abbot remained until 3 . In the March of that year Parliament had given authority to the new bishops to administe r the Oath h of Supremacy , wit the new penalty of death for those

u who refu sed it . The plag e was at that time raging in

t to the city of London , and the prisoners pe itioned be removed to some other convenient place for their ” better safeguard from the present infection . This was so far granted that they were committed to the f charge of the bishops . Stowe , the care ul historian , thus relates the fact : anno 15 63 in September the r old bishops and dive s doctors , (were sent to the ’ bishop s ho u ses) there to remain prisoners under their custody (the plague being then in the city was thought the cause . F n b ecke ham was rought , first of all , back to his ne w old home at Westminster to the care of the dean ,

B u t u Goodman . before the winter , at the s ggestion B of ishop Grindal , he was removed to the house B l . al of ishop Horne , of Winchester In spite of he could do and say and notwithstanding all his arguments , the Bishop of Winchester was unable to shake the resolu tion of the abbot and prevail on him to take the Oath of Supremacy . Horne indeed complains that F eckenham , at the end of all discussion , used to declare that it was with him a mere matter of conscience ;

: and , pointing to his heart , would say The matter ” A nd itself is founded here , and shall never go out . so to in the end , Horne gave up the task of trying change ’ O 1565 F his prisoner s pinion and by January , , eckenham F was back once more in the Tower . rom that time 17 1574 until th of J uly , , he remained either there r or in the Marshalsea, in mo e or less strict confinement , 12 A bbot Fec kenh am and Bath

A fter fourteen years ’ confinement he was permitted to

go o u t on conditions . He was bound not to try and gain others to his way of thinking ; he was to dwell

in a specified place , was not to depart from thence

at any time , without the licence of the lords of the ”

. A s Council , and he was not to receive any visitors F a prisoner on parole , then , eckenham came in July , 1574 , to live in ; whereabout , it is not exactly

w h ad h e kno n . No sooner gained his liberty , even with ’ restrictions , than the abbot s old passion of doing good

to others reasserted itself , and he at once became

engaged in works of true charity and general usefulness . Benevolence was so marked a feature in his character ” F l b e that , as u ler says , relieved the poor wheresoever he came ; so that flies flock not thicker about spilt

honey than the beggars constantly crowded about him . We have unfortunately no information about the

source of the money , which he evidently had at his

B u t v disposal . clearly considerable sums must ha e

been given to him for charitable purposes , as , no

doubt , the donors were assured that they would be

well and faithfully expended by him . Whilst dwelling F in Holborn , eckenham consequently was able to

build an aqueduct for the use of the people generally . Every day he is said to have distributed the milk of

twelve cows among the sick and poor of the district , and took under his special charge the widows and

orphans . He encouraged the youth of the neighbour

in & hood many sports , by giving pri es and by arranging m all Sunday ga es , such as English lads love . A nd now comes the connection of A bbot Feckenham B with this city of ath . Whilst labouring for the

u good of others in London his constit tion , naturally

enfeebled by his long imprisonment , gave way , and 18 157 5 he became seriously ill . On July th , , the A bbot Fec kenham and B ath 13

Council in reply to his petition , ordered the Master

R hi s R of the olls , or in absence the ecorder of London , to take bondes of Doctor Feckenham for his good behaviour and that at Michaelmas next he shall retu rn to the place where he presently is , and in the meantime ” B Th e he may repair to the aths . baths , of course at s — any rate in those day meant this city , which had been pre—eminently the health resort of Englishmen

for centuries . 157 5 Hither then , some time in the summer of , came Ab F i bot eckenham , w th leave to remain until the feast of Michaelmas . He , however , certainly remained

longer than that , as we shall see , as it was the common

practice at this time to extend such permissions . Whilst here the abbot was the guest of a then well-known

Dr R physician of the city , . uben Sherwood , who , although & a recognised popish recusant , had probably , like so e many other doctors , been allowed to remain unmol sted u because of his skill , and the pa city of such men of

talent in medicine in the sixteenth century . I may

perhaps , here , be allowed a brief digression to point out

r Th e D ownside to you , f om an interesting article in & Review called A seventeenth century West Country ” F w B Dr . R Jaunt , by ather N . irt , that this uben Sher ood 1599 died in , and that in the seventeenth century there

c ertainl ' a A was y Sherwood tomb and brass in the bbey , with the arms of the family and a latin inscription ;

this has of course since disappeared .

Dr Ru It is not improbable that . ben Sherwood , at ’ A b Fe c kenh am s the time of b ot visit , occupied a long

building , parallel to the west end of the abbey church 1 5 t 7 5 . on the south side , which exis ed till This had ’ probably been the Prior s quarters and was su b se qu entlv

A u known as bbey Ho se . Collinson says that the house was again rendered habitable some time after 14 Abbot Fec kenh am and Bath

the dissolution , and that parts of it , obsolete offices ” and obscure rooms and lofts , were left in their former state and had never been occupied after their desertion by the monks . The historian of Somerset also speaks of a find of old vestments and other ecclesiastical garments in a walled-u p apartment in this old house in 17 55 ; but unfortunately the things fell to dust and we have no s de cription of them . It strikes me , however , as more than possible that they were vestments for the use of priests , who were compelled to hide away during al Be pen times . that as it may , it would appear more Dr R than likely that . uben Sherwood lived in these old quarters and that it was here that he received A bbot Fec kenh am when he came to take the waters

1575 . in Certainly his son , John Sherwood , also a & ” physician and a recusant , had a lease of the house hi s 1620 and premises till death in , and used to receive m B patients who ca e for the ath waters . D hi w - uring his stay at t s renowned atering place , A bbot Feckenham was not wholly occupied with the cure of his own ills . It seemed impossible for him not e to think of others , and here in this city he f lt himself moved with compassion to see how the poor , deprived of their charitable foundations during the religious upheaval , were excluded from the use and benefit of the medicinal waters . He therefore built then ,

w . ith his own means , a small bath and hospital In

D esc r i tion o B ath his p f , written nearly two centuries ’ : after , a writer thus speaks of it The lepers hospital f n 6i . is a building of 8 t . in front towards the East

14ft 13ft. on the ground floor , . in front above and in d depth , but yet it is furnished with seven be s for the B most miserable of obj ects , who fly to ath for relief from the h o t waters . This hovel stands at the corner of ’ n Nowh ere Lane , and is so ear the lepers bath that the A bbot Fec kenh am and Bath 15 poor are under little or no diffi culty in stepping from ” one place to the other . A slight record of the abbot ’ s work in this matter is found in the accounts of the City Chamberlain for l red Mr Fek wand 1576 : De v e . e y to , late abbot of t e h T mb er Wes minst r , t ree tonnes of y and x foote to

s wh ote build the howse for the poore by the bath , iii iiiid h m iiiic xd xxx s . . To y more of lathes at the c , ” is 4d F ii . . eckenham placed his little foundation under

th e . the direction of hospital of St Mary Magdalene , and 1804 it seems that in , when the Corporation pulled & £200 & down the hovel , was paid to the hospital in

Holloway in compensation . The old bath itself was utilised by Wood as an underground tank when he built B the Royal aths . Besides this practical act of charity to the poor of B A F i ath , bbot eckenham drew up a book of rece pts and directions to help those who could not afford a physician to recover their health . This MS . is now in the British

Museum , and at the beginning of the volume the reader is told that , This book of Sovereign medicines against the most common and known diseases both of men and women was by good proofe and long experience D Fec kn am A Mr . collected of octor , late bbot of r Westminster , and that chiefly for the poo e , which h isitions h ath e not at alle tymes the learned p at hand . In these days a collec tion of simple remedies su ch m as those here brought together , is , of course , of s all value or interest . Many of these remedies are old family receipts and are said to be taken from my ’ ’ ” — & ’ D H s or s - n . H c ose s . book from Mistress no

B u t i s doubt one of the family of Howman . what

ul u of interest in this regard , is a set of r es drawn p by the A bbot for those who would profit by taking or bathing in the Bath waters . 16 A bbot Fec kenh am and B ath

PR &S RI TION S AN D R & &&S TO B & OBS &RV&D AT TH& ATH& & P B .

When you com to Bathe after you r j oyrnneing rest and q u iet you r bodie for the space of a daie or two and se the fac c ion of th e Bathe how and after what sort others that are there do use the same . If o b u t it be not a faire cleare daie to , g not into the open bathe , rather u se the water in a bathing v essel in yor own chamber as many men doe . Th e best time in the daie to go into the bathes is in the morning u u u s u an ho re or half an ho re after the s nne ris ing , or there abo t , in

u ou u stomac h e the most q iet time . And when y shall feel yo r well an d qu iet and that you r meet is well digested and have rested

B u t o u b ou u well the night before . before y goe into this ath y m st

u u walke an ho re at the leaste in yo r chamber or else where . &ou mu st go into you r Bath with an emptie stomake and so to remayne as long as you are in it except great nec essitie requ ire su l n the contrarie . And then to take some little pp g is not &et u ac c ordin e h urtefull . yo r tarrying be in the Bathe g as

ou b u t y may well abide it , tarry not so long in any wyse at the fyrst allth ou gh you may well ab yde it that yor strength att ou no tyme may fayl y . & ou may tarry in the crosse bathe an hou re and a halfe att t ath in K s ou a tyms after the firs e b ge . And in the ynge Bathe y may tarry after the first b ath e inges at one time half an ho u re

& u Bu t un t ll or 3 qu arters of an ho re . in any wyse tarry at no time y f ld o ou fa n t a u . y be y , or that yor strength y y And yf at any time you be faynt in the bath then you m ay d r nk e su in e y some ale warmed with a taste or any other pp g , i f u me th eridate or green g nger, or y need be aq a composita the bigu es of a n u t kernell at a time either by itself or mi xed with

u ale or other li q or . As longe as you are i n any of the Bathes you mu st cover you r a ou a head very well th t y t ke no oolde thereof, for it is very pe rilio u s to take any cold one you r head in the bathe or in

u u b ath in e any other plac e d ring yo r g tyms . When you forth of any of the Bathes as that you cover you r head very well and dry of the water of you r bodie with warme clothes and then p u t on a warm shert and a mantle or some warm gowns for taking of cold and so go straight way to warmed bed and sweat ther yf yo u can and wype off the sweat diligently and after that you

18 A bbot Fec kenh am and Bath

advice as to what is meetest to be done with Watson , F Har efi eld eckenham , p and others of that ring that are thought to be leaders and pill ars of the consciences ” of great numbers of such as be carried with the errors . A s l a resu t of the episcopal advice , Cox , the bishop ul 157 7 A of Ely , in J y , was directed to receive bbot F m hi s eckenha into house , and a stringent code of regulations was drawn up for the treatment of the Dr aged abbot . . Cox did his best to convert his hi s i prisoner to own rel gious views , but without success , and in A ugust 15 78 was fain to write to Burghley that his efforts had failed and that Feckenham was ” a gentle person , but in popish religion too , too obdurate .

Nothing was done at that time , and the abbot remained n 1580 w B s r on u til , hen in June i hop Cox w ote to say

ul that he co d put up with him no longer ; so in July , 1580 , the late abbot of Westminster was once more

Wisb eac h moved , this time to Castle , the disused and indeed partly ruinous dwelling place of the bishops of Ely .

Wi b ac h fu h as s e was not a cheer l abode . It been well described in the following words & During the winter the sea mists drifting landwards almost always hu ng B over and hid the castle walls . road pools and patches n of stag ant waters , green with rank weeds , and wide marshes and sterile flats lay outspread all arou nd for

m u d v miles . The d y river was constantly o erflowing its

- broken down banks , so that the moat of the castle constantly flooded the adjacent garden and orchard .

Of foliage , save a few stunted willow trees , there was little or none in sight ; for when summer came round the sun ’ s heat soon parched up the rank grass in the d courtyar , and without , the dandelion and snapdragon ” i s b u which grew upon t massive t dilapidated walls . Su ch w as the prison in which A bbot Fec kenh am was A bbot Fec kenh am and B ath 19

hi s destined to pass the last few years of life . Even the rigours of his detention and the dismal su rroundings of his prison-house were unable to extinguish his benevolent feelings for others . His last public work was the repair of the causeway over the fens and the erection of 15 4 . 8 a market cross in the little town He died in , and on 16th of October he was buried in the churchyard h of the parish of Wisb eac .

. t I have very little more to add S evens , the con

n t r D A F ti u a o of ugdale , describes bbot eckenham as man - a of a mean stature , somewhat fat , round faced , ff beautiful and of a pleasant aspect , a able and lively l in conversation . Camden cal s him a man learned th e f and good , who lived a long time and gained a fection of his adversaries by publicly deserving well of the ” poor . To the last he never forgot the poor of West ’ minster . In the overseer s accounts of the parish of ’ & 1590 : v St . Margaret s it is recorded in O er and

u Fec knam besides the sum of forty po nds given by John , sometime abbot of Westminster , for a stock to buy wood for the poor of Westminster , and to sell two nn faggots for a pe y , and seven billets for a penny , which sum of forty pounds doth remain in the hands of the churchwardens . He also left a bequest to the poor of his first monastic home of Evesham .

u S ch is a brief outline of a man , who in his day d delighted in doing good to others . In spite of iflic u ltie s which would have crushed out the energies of most men ' A h e persevered in his benefactions . mongst other places that b enefitted by hi s love for the poor is this great city of Bath which may well revere his memory and inscribe his name upon the illustrious roll of its worthi es .

F A A S &&T . . G & .