In the seventeenth year of the reign of Henry the sixth, a licence was obtained from that monarch, directed to Ralph Cromwell, Knight, Henry Bishop of Winchester, Cardinal of England, William Alnewick, Bishop of Lincoln, John Scroope, Knight, Walter Hungerford, Knight, Walter Talbois, Esquire, and William Paston, patrons of the parish church of Tattershall, in the county of Lincoln, empowering them to convert the said church, into a collegiate church or college, in honour of the Holy Trinity, the blessed Virgin Mary, St. Peter the Apostle, St. John the Baptist, and St. John the Evangelist. The establishment was to consist of seven chaplains, one of whom to be custos or master, six secular clerks, and six choristers. The licence further authorized them to erect a perpetual alms-house on their own ground, being parcel of the castle and manor of Tattershall, next to the church-yard, containing ten acres, for thirteen poor persons of both sexes; with mansion houses and buildings for the said master, chaplains, clerks, choristers and their servants; with cloisters, enclosures, gardens, orchards and all other conveniences; and to assign the same to the said master and chaplains; who were to be a body corporate, and have a common seal for the execution of all business, with power to sue and be sued, and to purchase, receive and hold lands, tenements, and other revenues, ecclesiastical or secular, to the value of £200. per annum, over and above the advowson and yearly value of the said church of Tattershall, and the houses and ten acres of land aforesaid, without fine or fee to the king or his heirs. The Lord Treasurer, in pursuance of this licence, began to convert the parish church into a college; but it appears that he died before it was finished, as, by his will, dated a short time previous to his decease, he bequeathed his body to be buried in the collegiate church of Tattershall, until the whole fabrick should be rebuilt, and then to be removed into the midst of the choir. The church was afterwards finished nearly as it remains at this time; and mansion houses and other necessary buildings were erected for the use of the foundation, as well as the alms houses mentioned in the licence. Among the inscriptions in the MS. of Lincolnshire Church Notes, taken by Mr. Gervase Holles, are the names of several persons who belonged to this establishment. This college received several benefactions, and its possessions progressively increased to a considerable magnitude. In the thirty-sixth year of Henry the eighth, the whole was granted to Charles, Duke of Suffolk, who at that time was possessor of the castle and manor.