The disbursements made by the churchwardens in the year 1678 were but £46. 15s. 8d.; in 1685 they amounted to £357. 14s. 8d. owing to extra assessments for the repairs of the church; but after that period they usually reached to upwards of £100 per annum. This increasing expenditure occasioned a movement for economy and a suspicion against the men in office, who were repeatedly tied down by the vestry to spend no more than 20s. on the perambulation day, or the excess would not be allowed them. No practical result however followed, as the injunction seems to have been regularly disregarded, and four or five times that sum not unfrequently spent. The outlay was of course popular with the people, and hence the impunity. Five shillings were generally spent in cakes for the boys, and 6d. given to the person who "carried the bush." As late as 1798 an order was made for the usual perambulation, but "no dinner at the parish expense." Holy Thursday was the day for this processioning, or going over the parish boundary, and the "holy" day was usually terminated either at the Fish, the Green Dragon, the Falcon, the George, the Talbot at the Cross, or the Crown and Sceptre "near the Foregate." A transcript of one of these processions may not be uninteresting: "Holy Thursday, May 5, 1692, the minister, chwdns and p'ishioners of ye p'ish of St. Nicholas did goe ye perambulacon, and did remarke ye p'ticular places and bounds of ye said p'ish, viz., from the church to Mr. Stirrop's parlour window in Angel Lane, over against a stone in Mr. Savage's wall, from thence back again round by the Cross to Mrs. Powell's house, widd., now inhabited by Nichs. Nash, mercer, at the hithermost part of the shop where the ground-sill of the house will show an old passage or dore case, at which place there was formerly an entry, and the p'ishioners in ye yeares '61-2-3 and 4 did passe throw ye said entry, at which time one Mrs. Cooksey lived there, to Mr. Huntbatche's, farther parte of ye house, then to that parte of ye house next the Crosse, being the back parte of Mr. Millington's house, then to the hithermost parte of the White Harte, then down the Trinity to the marke in a wall neare ye old goale, from thence throw Mr. Blurton's garden, then to the joynt in Mr. Blurton's malthouse, then up Sansonie Field from that joynt, and soe throw to ye liberty post, then downe ye Salt Lane to the stile at Marten's workehouse and soe back to the church." Besides the large sums spent on the processioning day, the day of accounts, the election of officers, and assessing the rolls, charges were constantly made which would sound oddly enough in the ears of the present generation, for even services in the cause of charity and religion were not deemed complete without the unction of large quantities of drink swallowed at the parish expense. Here are specimens: