The writing down of the value of the tithes of Grasmere was the subject of correspondence between the author and myself, and she writes: "The so called taxation of Pope Nicholas IV. was acknowledged to be too high for the Northern Counties; but the reduction of Grasmere, when the alteration was made in 1318, from £16 to five marks (£3 6s. 8d.) is unaccountable to me." It had stood at this figure previously but had been raised to £16, and, as will be seen in the text, as early as 1301 in the reign of Edward I., when the abbot of St. Mary's, York, was allowed to appropriate "the chapels of Gresmer and Wynandermere," Gresmer is described as being worth £20. In 1344, at the Archbishop's Visitation, it is described as worth 5 marks; only to be again raised in 1435. In that year upon the death of John, duke of Bedford and earl of Kendal, to whom they had been granted by his father, Henry IV., we find among the items of his property "the advowsons of Wynandermere and Gressemere each of which is worth £20 yearly." After this the tithes again reverted to 5 marks and in the reign of Henry VIII. the "pension" paid to the abbey is put down as only half of that sum, viz. £1 13s. 4d. at which it still remains. The terms "pension" and "advowson" may not always mean the same thing, thus advowson seems to be used sometimes as synonymous with tithe. Hence Miss Armitt writes "The parish churches, such as Kendal, Grasmere, etc., were "taxed" from the twelfth century onward at a certain figure--ten marks (£6 13s. 4d.) £16 or £30. What did this taxation represent? The absolute sum to be paid by the rector from the tithes to king, pope, archdeacon, court, or feudal lord? or was it a valuation only of the tithes, from which was calculated the amounts of the various 'scots' or annual payments to ecclesiastical or temporal authorities?" It seems not unlikely that the rise from £3 6s. 8d. to £20 in the reign of Edward I. may be accounted for by the fact that the "Old Valor" which was granted by authority of Innocent the fourth to Henry III. in 1253 was superseded in 1291 by the "New Valor" granted to Edward I. by Nicholas IV., so that when Henry IV. granted the chapels of Grasmere and Windermere to his son John they were valued in 1435 at £20 each. They were only being put back to the sum named in the "New Valor" of 1291 which had been allowed in 1344 to drop to the 5 marks at which they had stood in the "Old Valor." The tithe taxation as established by the "New Valor" remained in force until Henry VIII. But a "Nova Taxatio" which only affected part of the province of York was commanded in 11 Edward II. (1317) on account of the invasion of the Scots and other troubles. These various taxings will account