Page:White - The natural history of Selborne, and the naturalist's calendar, 1879.djvu/342

320 of Gurdon, till he made his grants to the convent, since which some belongs to the successors of Gurdon in the manor, and some to the college; and this is the occasion of the strange jumble of property. It is remarkable that the tenement and crofts which Sir Adam reserved at the time of granting the Plestor should still remain a part of the Gurdon Manor, though so desirable an addition to the vicarage, that is not as yet possessed of one inch of glebe at home; but of late, viz., in January, 1785, Magdalen College purchased that little estate, which is life-holding, in reversion, for the generous purpose of bestowing it, and its lands, being twelve acres (three of which abut on the churchyard and vicarage garden) as an improvement hereafter to the living, and an eligible advantage to future incumbents.

The year after Gurdon had bestowed the Plestor on the Priory, viz., in 1272, Henry III., King of England, died, and was succeeded by his son Edward. This magnanimous prince continued his regard for Sir Adam, whom he esteemed as a brave man, and made him warden, "custos" of the forest of Wolmer.*