A very interesting circumstance in connection with the Thomas de Beauchamp we have just referred to, who had in 1351 a charter of free warren at Warwick, is that he “at the suit of his lady, and for the health of his own soul and his ancestors’ souls,” freed the traders resorting hither for the future from terrage, stallage, and all other sorts of toll. The petition having been made because the said traders had been, by the heavy exactions of previous holders of the title, driven away from the market at Warwick, to the great detriment of the town. The Municipal history of Warwick is unfortunately very obscure, although there seems little or no doubt that the town was anciently incorporated and had the privilege of returning members to Parliament, but when it was first incorporated, and whether such incorporation and privilege continued without interruption is not ascertainable. A record, however, exists that there was a Mayor in 1279, in the reign of Edward I., and that twenty–one years later the Mayor of the day and bailiffs were ordered to allow Phillip de Rout and William de Serdely reasonable expenses for their services as members of Parliament for that year. Afterwards, however, in the reign of Edward III., the King’s mandate for the same purpose was, strange to tell, addressed to the bailiffs only. The earliest known date of incorporation under royal charter with the designation of bailiff and burgesses occurs in the reign of Philip and Mary, but it is certain that letters patent were granted by Henry VIII. in 1546 to the borough under the Municipal title of “burgesses only.” This grant of letters patent was confirmed by one from James I. in 1613, and was again followed by another during the reign of William and Mary, bearing the date of March 5, 1694, which remains the governing charter of the borough down to the present time. The history of the town of Warwick has, as we have remarked in a previous chapter, been largely that of the county itself, and during the ages when wars and revolts swayed parties in England the town played its part in the romantic and tragic happenings of those times. The old stone cross, which stood at the intersection of the two ancient and principal streets as late as the reign of James I., has long ago disappeared, but in few towns in England are there more notable survivals of ancient times to be found than in Warwick. One of the most interesting buildings is the ancient Chapel of St. James, now known as the West Gate, and formerly as the Hongyn Gate, standing where the High Street terminates, on the crest of the hill, supported for its entire length by a lofty groined archway, itself placed on the bed–rock which rises several feet above the road surface. This structure anciently formed a defensive gateway to the old and fortified town.