bishop. The advantages of this are, that it is not subject to the
archdeacon's jurisdiction; that the minister is not obliged to attend
his visitations; and that he has the privilege of granting letters of
administration to wills, when the property conveyed by them lies
within the limits of the vicarage.

"The value of the benefice, as rated in the King's Book, is 9 pounds
per annum, and the tenths are of course 18s. These the incumbent is
required to pay annually, but he is exempted from the payment of the
First Fruits. The land-tax with which the vicarage is charged is 14
pounds: 1: 2.5 per annum; and the procurations and diet-money
payable on account of the Bishop's Visitation amount to 12s. 9.5d."

The patronage of the living, when a rectory, belonged to the bishops
of Winchester, and afterwards, when reduced to a vicarage, was
expressly reserved to himself and his successors by William de
Edyngton; and so long as they kept possession of the Manor of Merdon,
they continued patrons of the vicarage. This Bishop Edyngton, the
same who began the alteration of the cathedral, is said to have built
the second church of All Saints at Hurley, the tower of which still
remains.

William of Wykeham, among his wider interests, seems to have had
little concern with Hursley or Otterbourne.

The bishops possessed numerous manors in the diocese, and these were
really not only endowments, but stations whence the episcopal duty of
visitation could be performed. Riding forth with his train of
clergy, chaplains, almoners, lawyers, crossbearers, and choristers,
besides his household of attendants, the bishop entered a village,