Page:History and characteristics of Bishop Auckland.djvu/144

 raSTOEY OF BISHOP AUCKLAND. 117 At a Court** held for the Manor of Bondgate, in Auckland, 11th of October, 3rd Car. L, Lindley Wren, Esquire, Francis Wren, Joseph Cradock, Henry Bayles, and Oswald Glover, governors of the school of Bishop Auckland, by special mandate of Richard NeUe, Bishop of Durham, were admitted to thirty acres of land, upon the waste called " Carr Nook," adjoining Escomb Carr on the east, and upon the park of William Lord Eure on the north and west, for the use and augmentation of the stipend of the master of the said school, and it was provided that the said lands should not be alienated or granted to any other use. At a Court held for the said manor, 20th April, 16 Car. L, Sir William D'Arcy was admitted to the above premises on the surrender of Lindley Wren, Henry Bayles, and Oswald Glover. Thus we find what would have proved the most valuable endowment becomes merged in the adjoining estate of a governor then resident at Witton Castle, as on this piece of ground now stands the Witton Park Ironworks From a report of the "Commissioners for Inquiring concerning Charities,'* instituted by Govern- ment in the year 1825, we extract the following, illustrative of the position and state of the school at that period : — The school property consists of 1st — ^The yearly rent-charge of X16, granted to the Qovemors in 1605, which is now paid by Thomas and Anthony Walton, of Eller^, in the parish of Stanhope, the owners of the property charged. 2nd — ^Eight acres of copyhold land, situate at West Mill Batts, in the township of Bondgate, which is let by the School- master, with the permission of the Governors, at a yearly rent of X2l. The Schoolmaster, also, receives annually 158., charged upon land, in the township of Bondgate, by the will of William Wall, bearing date 22nd September, 1679. l^e present master, the Rev. Robert Thompson, was appointed by the Qovemors in 1814. In respect of the income above mentioned, no children are taught free ; but all the children of the parish, who are able to read, are admitted and instructed upon the terms prescribed by an entry in the minute book of the Qovemors, dated lOth October, 1805, viz. : — on the payment of 7s. 6d. a quarter for reading English, writing, and accounts, and lOs. 6d. for the classics. For boys not belonging to the parish, the master is at liberty to make his own charge. There are, on an average, fifty-five boys in the school, about ten of whom are generally receiving instraction in the classics. There is an usher appointed and paid by the master. At the time of our inquiry, there were no scholars who did not belong to the parish. The following are the present governors ; there are two vacancies : — ^The Earl of Eldon, Sir Robert Eden, Baronet, Rev. Henry Hildyard, Robert Eden Buncombe Shafto, Esq., John Trotter, Esq., Richard Bowser, Esq.,Robert Surtees, Esq., Thomas Henry Faber, Esq., Rev. Robert Spencer, William Hodgson, Esq. It would appear, from previous records, that the old school-house, built or appropriated by Bishop Morton near the chapel of St Ann (or, as Hutchinson has it, the old chapel itself, which he set apart for that purpose), was pulled down in 17S1, when the chapel of St Ann was again rebuilt, and a portion of it was again devoted to the Grammar School of King James, and at the time when the above-noticed Commission visited the school it was held in that place. A residence for the master, with a garden attached, on the south side of the Market-place was presented by Bishop Barrington about the same tima In 1847, when St Ann's Chapel was again rebuilt, a building was erected for the especial use of the Grammar School at the south end of Newgate-street This was sold to the governors of Edward Walton's charity, at the request of several of the inhabitants, who presented the following memorial to the governors of the Grammar School : — To THE GoYssNOBs OF Eutg James' Bishop Auckulnd Qbammab Sohool. The memorial of the nnder-mentioned inhabitants of Bishop Auckland aheweth: — ^That the memorialists beg respectfully to represent to the Governors that the present school is built in a situation in many respects objectionable^ the site being on a low leTel, in a narrow street, and, even now, undesirably enclosed by other building* ; and that if Smith, ar. senescalla Bondgate, in Auckland. —Ad banc cor. yen. lindleas Wren sr. FranciBciis Wren ar. JoaephoB Cradock geik. Henrioiis Ballet §pai, et Oswald Qloyer Oobernat'ea schols de Auckland £pL Etjper special mandat Dni Bichi JSpi Dnnehn. oajper. de ▼asto Dm Tri^t aoras terra roper de ▼aato yooat le Carr Nook ad jacen roper EMomb Carr expurte oriental et aap paroam Willi d'ni Ewre ez partabns Boreal et oocidental He'nd Ac. et aeqnel boib in jure pro ora et aogmentatione stipendij M'ri ichole de Anokland preU Beddenl &c. fia. pioriao q'd precL paroell terre non alieo. neo oonvertet ad alinm Qsam sed xemaneat ad nsiun pred. impeq^etauiL Digitized by Google —
 * Haknot Rev'di p'ris in x^ Bichi E'pi Dnnehn. tent apad Aaokland Epi n*. die Octohris A'o B'ni Csrdl Ac. teiiio, ooram WiU'o