Bequest to the Anchorite at the church of St. Peter de Cornhulle and to every other Anchorite in London, in will of Henry de Causton, 1350 (Ct. H.W. I. 638).
Richard de Elmham, Canon of St. Martin's le Grand bequeathed to every anchorite in London a penny, 1228 (Arch. Journal, XXIV. 341).
These bequests are typical of many made by the London citizens to the various anchorites and anchoresses in London, recorded in the Ct. of Hustings Wills, etc.
These Anchorites formed a very numerous body throughout the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, and were held in high honour on account of the austerity and devotion of their lives.
The "Ancren Riwle," an English treatise of the 13th century, gives the most elaborate rules for the conduct of an anchoress and throws much light on their mode of life.
There is an interesting account of the Anchorites of London in the Churchwardens' Accounts of the parish of All Hallows, London Wall, by Charles Welch, published by the London and Middlesex Archeological Society.