Bottisham Second Millennium
Page 10 of 69
land to Bishops and Abbots - about half as much as given to the
lay barons. By 1080 very few bishoprics were held be a native
Englishman.
Evidence of this early religious activity is still
apparent even at the end of the second millennium. The remains
of Anglesey Priory and, the style of the Norman nave of Holy
Trinity Church, Bottisham, both point to the power of the
Church at these early times. An ‘advowson’, held by a patron
and subject to civil law, gives the right to nominate, or present,
the ecclesiastical benefits of the parish. That the advowson of
Holy Trinity caused argument at an early date indicates that the
area produced a living of consequence. The right to the
advowson of Holy Trinity, Bottisham, was a source of much
dispute between Walter Giffard, together with Ermengarde his
wife, against Richard De Clare. The importance of this grant of
the advowson is shown by a charter from Giffard to King Henry
I, and later approved by his son King John, only to be finally
overturned to the favour of De Clare by John’s son, King
Henry II in 1222. Thus the Augustinian Prior and church of
Saint Mary of Anglesey earned the right to the advowson and
appurtenances of Bottisham. Saint Mary of Nutley had been
promised the advowson, but did not miss out entirely because
the Prior of Anglesea (sic) was required to render an annual
payment in silver. Henry VIII ordered the final changes as will
be explained in a later chapter of this account.
Further evidence of the importance of Bottisham is of
equal interest in that several dignitaries, most likely from the
Abbey, were buried in tombs close to the Norman nave. It
appears that when a new nave was built in 1307 the tombs were
moved to make space for the south aisle. The five tombs were
of such importance that they were laid in a straight line beneath
the new foundation of south wall of the new aisle - not unusual