In 1553 the following sisters were still living, and in the receipt of pensions:—Sibilla Nudigate, per annum, L _li._; Elena Claver, per annum, liij _s._ iiij _d._; Alicia Marteine, per annum, iiij _li._; Alicia Goldwell, per annum, iiij _li._ vj _s._ viij _d._; Beatrica Fitzlewas, per annum, Lxvj _s._ viij _d._; Agnes Bolney, per annum, Liij _s._ iiij _d._ In 1544 Queen Catherine Parr asked for the site for Henry Webbe. His daughter brought the place to her husband, Sir George Peckham. The Church and House being pulled down, houses were built on the site “for the lodgings of noblemen, of strangers born and other.” In 1785 the last fragment of importance, a stone gateway, was pulled down: there still continued to be shown some walls, a small arch, and part of a doorway in a cellar of a tavern called “The Old King John.” On the site of the ground belonging to the House were built two of the early theatres—“The Curtain” and “The Theatre.” CHAPTER XII BERMONDSEY ABBEY The absolute oblivion into which this once noble House has fallen, so that there is no longer, among the people living on its very site, any memory or tradition of its existence, is not without a parallel in the case of other London Houses. Yet it is remarkable for the reason that its site and its gardens remained open and unbuilt over until a hundred years ago, while, almost within the memory of man, many ruins and portions of the former buildings still remained. The internal history of the Abbey is naturally without interest. The list of Priors and Abbots has been preserved: there were sixty-nine from the Foundation of the House in 1082 until the Dissolution in 1538. The duration of each Prior’s rule was therefore an average of six years and a half; but many of them died very shortly after their election, a proof that the election went, as a rule, by seniority; or, at least, that the brethren chose for their chief one who was well stricken in years and of long experience. The House was at first, and for three hundred years, an alien Priory dependent on that of Cluny. It was founded by a citizen of London named Aylwin or Æthelwine Child, in the year 1082. The Cluniacs were brought into this country by William, Earl of Warren, who, with Gunhilda his wife, stayed at Cluny, and was greatly impressed with the sanctity and the devotion of the brethren. He persuaded the Abbot to allow some of the monks to come to England, and in 1077 established a Cluniac House at Lewes. Another followed at Wenlock, and, in 1082, this House of Bermondsey.