_John Clarke_, 25th and last abbot (omitting Hyphile and Marshall), was elected about the year 1537. He had the good fortune to comply with the wishes of his sovereign at the dissolution, and accordingly was suffered to retain the government of the dissolved abbey of St. Werburgh, under the character of dean of the new cathedral, which King Henry established within its walls. At the dissolution, the clear yearly value of the abbey was £889 18s. {21} The monks had also the patronage of several rich unappropriated rectories. Their lands extended over various parts of Cheshire and other counties, but in Wirral created an overwhelming influence, and extended in almost an unbroken ring round the city of Chester. Many considerable families held lands by the tenure of various offices in the abbey. The manorial lord of Burwardsley was their champion; and a valuable rectory (Ince) was appropriated to the uses of the almoner. The Earl of Derby was seneschal at the time of the dissolution. By a charter of one of the earls of the name of Randal, the abbots were directed at any period to have their mansion-houses fitted up in a state fit to receive the abbot’s retinue and to be the seats of the courts; and by licence from the bishops of Lichfield, oratories were also established in these manor-houses. Irby, Bromborough, Sutton, and Saighton, appear to have been the principal ones at an early period. The three first were the original seats of the courts held for the Wirral manor, and Saighton occurs in a licence for fortifying by Edward I. noticed in the chartulary. By a subsequent licence for fortifying, 19 Richard II. it appears that Sutton, Saighton, and Ince, had then become the principal manorial residences, and these continued such to the dissolution. On the general dissolution of the monasteries, Chester was erected into an independent bishoprick, and St. Werburgh’s was converted into a Cathedral Church, which it has ever since remained. It was dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary; and a dean and six prebendaries installed in it, Thomas Clarke, the last abbot, being appointed the first dean.