(St.) Paul's Prebends

A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.

The property belonging to the Chapter set apart for the maintenance of the Prebendaries. A considerable portion of it lay in and round London.


Henry I. gave a charter to the canons granting them relief in respect of their twenty four hides of " sceolanda" from geld, etc. (H. MSS. Com. 9th Rep. 45).

There are some interesting notes as to the property in these prebends and how it was acquired in Lansdowne MS. 364, date 1684.

A list of the prebends is given in MSS. D. and C. St. Paul's, Lib. L. f. 63, 13th cent., and in W.D. 9, fo. 5.

The Prebendaries were thirty in number and their prebends as follows: Brondesbury, Brownswood, Cadington Major, Cadington Minor, Chamberlainwood, Chirwick, Consumpta per Mare, Ealdiand, Ealdstreet, Harlesden, Holborn, Holywell alias Finsbury, Hoxton, Islington, Kentish Town, Mapesbury, Mora, Neasden, Newington, Oxgate, St Pancras, Portpool, Reculverland or Tillingham, Rugmere, Sneating, Tottenhall, Twyford, Wenlakesbarn, Wildiand, Willesden.

The extent and condition of the prebends in 1649 are set out in the Parliamentary Surveys taken at that date, when it was proposed to confiscate the property of the Canons (MS D. and C. St. Paul's), but as the corpus of the prebends lay outside the City boundary they cannot be dealt with in this work.

It may be possible to deal with the property comprised in these prebends in a separate work.

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