73. THE HOSPITAL OF ICKBURGH
In the reign of Edward I William Barentun
granted to Henry Scharping and his heirs, for
the health of his soul and the souls of his
parents, 145 acres of land, and a fair on
St. Lawrence's Day, for the maintenance of a
chaplain to celebrate in the chapel of St. Mary
of ' Newbrigge.' This chapel stood on the
north side of the River Wissey, in the parish of
Ickburgh, by a bridge that led to Mundford.
This considerable grant was confirmed in 1323
by John, son of William Scharping, cousin and
heir of Henry, at which time there was in conjunction with this chapel of St. Mary a leper
hospital for a master and brethren. (fn. 1)
A lazar-house, dedicated to St. Mary and
St. Lawrence, was, in all probability, in existence long before the founding of the chantry in
the adjoining chapel in the reign of Edward I.
The patronage of this house and chapel was
transferred by John Scharping to John de la
Bokele, who in 1373 became a considerable
benefactor to the extent of upwards of 59 acres
of land with other rights and privileges. (fn. 2) Pope
Gregory XII in 1409 granted to this lazar-house
exemption from tithes for all their lands. The bull
was addressed to the master and brethren of the
'domus leprosorum de Novo Ponte de Ykeburgh.' (fn. 3)
This privilege of exemption from tithes was
confirmed by Pope Nicholas V in 1449, by
which date the rule of the house had apparently
been conferred on the Friars Eremite, or Austin
Friars. This latter bull was addressed to the
master, wardens and ' fratribus heremitis domus
olim leprosorum de Novo Ponte de Ykeburgh.'
In this case, however, it seems scarcely possible
that ' fratribus heremitis' can be understood as
implying the Austin Friars, for they were a mendicant order, and incapable of holding property
such as belonged to this house.
The confusion that caused this equivocal expression to find a place in a papal bull (or its
transcript) and which has led writers to make
mention of a priory of Austin Friars at this
place, probably arose from the fact that there
was an old hermitage attached to this bridge.
The hermit of ' Newbrigge,' Ickburgh, was
doubtless, as elsewhere, responsible for the repairs of the bridge and its ' causeys,' and sought
alms from travellers for the purpose, undertaking
to pray for a safe journey.
In course of time, during the first half of the
fifteenth century, the office of bridge hermit became united to that of chantry chaplain of the
hospital. Leprosy was extinct in the neighbourhood, and therefore the duty of the inmates in
general became connected with the wayfarers
using the route which led them over the bridge
from Suffolk into Norfolk. Hence, as seems
probable, came the somewhat misleading phraseology of the bull of 1449, wherein they are
termed ' hermit brethren,' which did not imply
in this instance any kind of friars.
The diocesan registers of the fifteenth century
record several institutions to the joint office of
' hermit and chaplain of Newbrigge,' as is expressed in each appointment. Richard was instituted as hermit and chaplain in 1446; John
Batti a few years later; William Dane in 1481;
John Canon in the time of Henry VII; and
John Lyster in the days of Henry VIII. (fn. 5)
John Lyster, hermit, by will of the year
1526, left his body to be buried in the neighbouring church of Mundford, bequeathing 16
acres of land and the West Close to that parish
—an impossibility if he had been any kind of
friar. (fn. 6)
The Valor Ecclesiasticus enters the annual
value of what the commissioners termed the
Free Chapel of ' Newbrigge' as only £3 7s.
This estimate, however, could merely have
applied to some special part of the endowment
of the chapel, as separate from the house or
hospital. In 1548 the whole estates were
annexed by the crown and sold for £900 to
Osbert Montford of Feltwell and Thomas Gawdv
of Shotesham. (fn. 7)