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THE site on which Dunstaple, or Dunstable, now stands, was, in the time of Henry I. a wild and dangerous waste, much infested by thieves and outlaws. It being the most frequented way to the north, Henry, for the protection of travellers, ordered the woods, which afforded shelter for the banditti, to be cleared away, and built here a royal palace, called Kingsbury; and as an inducement to his subjects to settle near him, he granted them lands at a low rent, gave them the privilege of a market, and many other grants; by these means he shortly established a considerable town, and in the year 1191 founded a priory near his palace, which was dedicated to St. Peter, and consisted of black canons, This monastery was endowed by the king, with the whole manor of Dunstaple, and all the lands belonging to the town; and, among other privileges, the monks and their servants were exempted from all customs and secular exactions, and worldly service throughout the realm. Henry however reserved to himself his royal mansion and garden as a place of occasional residence; he kept his Christmas here in the year 1123, and received with great pomp and splendour an embassy from the earl of Anjou. The grants of this monarch to the Priory were confirmed by his successors, and in 1204 king John gave his palace of Kingsbury and gardens to the prior and convent, on condition that

he and his suite should be accommodated with lodgings in the monastery at every future visit to Dunstaple. This king lay here on his journey to the north in 1215, and the place was afterwards frequently honoured with the presence of royalty. In 1290 the corpse of queen Eleanor was deposited in the Priory for one night; on this occasion a cross was erected in the midst of the market-place; the ground was marked out with great solemnity by the chancellor and attendant nobility, assisted by the prior, who sprinkled the destined spot with holy water. This cross is supposed to have been destroyed by the soldiers of the earl of Essex, who were quartered here in the year 1643.

The prior of Dunstaple was invested with considerable privileges, having the power of life and death, with the right of sitting with the king's judges itinerant, when they came here on their circuits. The last prior was Gervose Markham, who was an active instrument in the divorce of Henry VIII. from his queen, Catharine of Arragon: much of the business relative to this important affair was transacted here; and, finally, the sentence of divorce was pronounced here in the chapel of Our Lady, by archbishop Cranmer. Markham, with Thomas Claybroke and many other of the monks of this Priory, subscribed to the act of supremacy in 1534. At the dissolution the prior received an annual pension of

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601. during the remainder of his life; he died in the year 1553, and was buried in the church. At the suppression the revenues of this Priory were rated, according to Speed, at the yearly value of 4021: 148: 7d. The site was given in 1554 to Dr. Leonard Chamberlayne. The estate is now the property of colonel Maddison.

Of this religious establishment scarcely any thing now remains, excepting the present parish church, which is merely the nave of the conventual church.

This exhibits a variety of architecture. The western front, which is principally in the early Gothic style, is singularly beautiful and picturesque. The grand entrance is under a semi-elliptical arch, containing a number of mouldings, ornamented with fanciful sculpture, human figures, foliage, and animals. A little to the north of this entrance is a lesser door, which is likewise highly enriched with various devices. Between the doors is a row of circular arches intersecting each other; these arches are composed of alternately greater and lesser joints, and are a remarkable feature among the decorations of this front of the church. Above the lesser door are a number of pointed arches, which formerly contained statues, as appears by the pedestals which still remain: over these are six other arches, besides three larger ones immediately over the great door. This range formed the front of a gallery

called the rood-loft, from which, on particular days, the holy cross was exhibited, and many monkish miracles performed. The church is supposed to have been first built in form of a cross with a tower in the centre: two large clusters of columns which supported it may be seen at what is now the eastern end.

At a short distance from the church, to the southwest, are the remains of the Priory gate, consisting of two arches, now much decayed; these led to the offices and lodgings belonging to the Priory.

The interior of the church is principally of Norman architecture; the columns are clustered and massive, supporting arches of a semi-circular form, with a zigzag moulding: in the south aisle, at the east end, the original groined roof of stone is still remaining. Over the altar is a picture of the Lord's Supper, painted by sir James Thornhill: it was presented to the, parish in the year 1720. Within the church are several monuments of the families of Aynescombe, Dickenson, Marsh, and Chew, who were great benefactors to the town.

The exorbitant privilege of the priors of Dunstaple, and their intemperate exactions, gave rise to frequent disturbances in the town: in the year 1229 the inhabitants were so incensed against the clergy that they withdrew their tithes and offerings, pounded the prior's horses, and scattered his corn;

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