London (England) -- Description and travel; London (England) -- History -- 16th century -- Sources; London (England) -- Surveys
Sir Thomas Audley offered the great church of this priory, with a ring
of nine bells well tuned (whereof four the greatest were since sold
to the parish of Stebunhith, and the five lesser to the parish of St.
Stephen in Coleman street) to the parishioners of St. Katherine Christ
church, in exchange for their small parish church, minding to have
pulled it down, and to have built there towards the street; but the
parishioners having doubts in their heads of after-claps, refused the
offer. Then was the priory church and steeple proffered to whomsoever
would take it down, and carry it from the ground, but no man would
undertake the offer; whereupon Sir Thomas Audley was fain to be at more
charges than could be made of the stones, timber, lead, iron, etc. For
the workmen, with great labour, beginning at the top, loosed stone from
stone, and threw them down, whereby the most part of them were broken,
and few remained whole; and those were sold very cheap, for all the
buildings then made about the city were of brick and timber. At that
time any man in the city might have a cart-load of hard stone for paving
brought to his door for six pence or seven pence, with the carriage. The
said Thomas Lord Audley built and dwelt on this priory during his life,
and died there in the year 1544; since the which time the said priory
came by marriage of the Lord Audley’s daughter and heir unto Thomas,
late Duke of Norfolk, and was then called the Duke’s place.
The parish church of St. Katherine standeth in the cemetery of the
late dissolved priory of the Holy Trinity, and is therefore called St.
Katherine Christ church. This church seemeth to be very old; since the
building whereof the high street hath been so often raised by pavements,
that now men are fain to descend into the said church by divers steps,
seven in number. But the steeple, or bell-tower thereof, hath been
lately built, to wit, about the year 1504; for Sir John Percivall,
merchant-tailor, then deceasing, gave money towards the building
thereof. There be the monuments of Sir Thomas Fleming, knight of Rowles,
in Essex, and Margaret his wife, 1464; Roger Marshall, esquire; Jane
Horne, wife to Roger Marshall; William Multon, alias Burdeaux, herald;
John Goad, esquire, and Joan his wife; Beatrix, daughter to William
Browne; Thomas Multon, esquire, son to Burdeaux, herald; John Chitcroft,
esquire; John Wakefielde, esquire; William Criswicke; Anne and Sewch,
daughters to Ralph Shirley, esquire; Sir John Rainsford, knight of
Essex; Sir Nicholas Throkmorton, chief butler of England, one of the
chamberlains of the exchequer, ambassador, etc., 1570, and other.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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