Welsh Journals

Some time around November 1542, Thomas Stradling, executor of William Stradling, chancellor of the cathedral from 1511 to 1539 and master of the works, was suing the precentor and chapter of St Davids at the court of Chancery. Thomas maintained that William 'had layed forthe and bestowed of his owne money aboute the ffabrycke of the said churche foure score and ten poundes vis. viiid. above the issues and revenues belongyng unto the ffabrycke of the said churche He had done so at the request of the chanter and chapter 'by cause the said churche was ruynous 2 Now we may take that des- cription as somewhat of an exaggeration, since the east end of the building had received attention, as we noted above, not long prior to this period. It would seem, however, that what Stradling had to lay out extra monies for was the same piece of work as that complained about by Barlow in 1538. Further, it is clear that the same works were not complete at the time of his death in 1539 since Thomas Stradling his executor had been re- quested by the chapter to carry on the works. This no doubt resulted in the fact that he was claiming rather more than ninety pounds six shillings and eightpence; he was asking that the chapter honour their obligations in the sum of ninety-seven pounds, eight shillings and ninepence. 3 Although the king's writ of subpoena survives, together with the reply of the chapter, the documents in the case are badly mutilated, and the outcome is unknown. The chapter appear to have argued that the dean of the Arches, Richard Gwent, (who was a member of the chapter) 'dyd by the consent of the sayd Chapter sett and ordeyn a certayn Rate (?) or tax of certayne dygnytes and prebendes 4 Whatever the otcome was, a very large sum of money was involved; and that over and above the usual sources of income available to the chapter for the repair of their cathedral church. We may suggest that if the nave was 'ruinous' it was very probably due to incompetent or 1 PRO, Early Chancery Proceedings, bundle 1071, no 55, line 13. 2 Ibid, line 12. 3 Ibid, line 21. 4 Ibid, no 58, line 12.