COLLEGES
33. THE COLLEGE OF CHRIST AND ST. MARY, BURTON-UPON-TRENT
In 1541 the Crown reconstituted the dissolved abbey
of St. Mary and St. Modwen, Burton-upon-Trent,
as the collegiate church of Christ and St. Mary. (fn. 1)
It had a dean and 4 prebendaries, whose appointment lay with the Crown, (fn. 2) and by 1545 there were
also 6 'petty' canons, a gospeller, an epistoler, 5
singing men, 6 choristers, 2 deacons, a parish priest,
a schoolmaster, and 4 bedesmen. The 11 'common
servants' included a barber, the parish clerk, the
bridge-master, a laundress, a turnspit, and an
apparitor. The office of 'porter of the gates' was held
by Robert Bradshaw, gentleman, at a fee of 60s. and
was presumably honorary. The last abbot was
appointed the first dean, and three of the minor
canons and the epistoler were former religious,
presumably of Burton Abbey. (fn. 3) The site and all
property of the abbey except the manors of Abbots
Bromley and Bromley Hurst were granted to the
new college to be held of the Crown at a rent of
£63 2s. 4d. in lieu of tithes and first fruits, but the
estate was burdened with various pensions, stipends,
and fees. (fn. 4) The dean was also obliged to spend £20
a year on alms and £20 on highway maintenance. (fn. 5)
The gross value of the college's property in 1541-2
was £564 5s. 6d. (fn. 6)
The college was short-lived. In November 1545 it
was dissolved by Richard Goodrich and John
Scudamore who travelled from London for the
purpose and remained at Burton for four days. They
assigned pensions to the dean (£40, subsequently
raised to £66 6s. 8d.), three prebendaries (£12 13s.
4d., £15 and £16), the three petty canons who were
former monks (two at £6 and one at £6 13s. 4d.), and
the epistoler, also a former monk (£5). The other
members of the college and the servants received
their wages and in most cases a reward or new
appointment — one of the petty canons was made
curate of the parish church. The four bedesmen
received 'wages' of 25s. each. The bridge-master
had no reward presumably because he continued to
hold the same office. (fn. 7) Further pensions were later
awarded to the schoolmaster (at the rate of £20 a
year until alternative provision was made for him in
1546) and to another of the petty canons. (fn. 8) Goodrich
and Scudamore also paid debts owing by the dean
and chapter (£9 13s. 8d.) and collected others due
to the college (£48 2s. 4d.). They compiled an
inventory of the plate, vestments, and household
goods. The plate, consisting of 49½ oz. gilt, 24½ oz.
parcel gilt, and 93 oz. white, and some of the
vestments were taken back to London; the remainder was sold, assigned to the parish, or left on the
site. (fn. 9) The following January the college and all
its possessions, except Burton parish church, its
lead, and its bells, were granted to Sir William
Paget. (fn. 10)
Deans
William Edys, appointed 1541, died 1544. (fn. 11)
Robert Brokke, appointed 1544, dean at the
dissolution. (fn. 12)
The seal, as reproduced by Stebbing Shaw, (fn. 13)
depicts Christ, St. Mary, eleven figures probably
representing Apostles, another figure seated below
Christ, possibly Wulfric Spot, the Holy Ghost in
the form of a dove, and the coat of arms formerly
used by the abbey. Legend:
SIGILLUM COMMUNE DECANI ET CAPITULI
ECCLISIE (sic) COLLEGIATI CHRISTI BURTONIE DE
TRENT