BS/1/10/7

BS/1/10/7

File

Draft Petition to William III

Draft petition from Gilbert, Bishop

Mar-Apr 1689

1 sheet

"To the King's & Queen's ["Queen's" is crossed through] most Excellent Majesties And the Lords of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy Councill", "The humble Petition of Gilbert Bishop of Sarum Elect." By orders of council of 23 Oct 1678 and 5 Feb 1679 it had been ordered that before their consecration all Bishops should "instead of a [Customary?] [illegible] for Gloves & a Consecration Dinner pay an Hundred pounds [towards] the Building of the Church of St Paul, which had then noe settled Fund for its Erection". The Petition states that "the said Church hath now a certain and sufficient Fund settled by Act of Parliament" and that "the Church of Sarum . . . needs Many & Great Reparations". "May it therefore please Your Majesties to Order the said hundred pounds to be paid to Your Petitioner towards the Repairing of the Ancient & Magnificent Structure of the Church of Sarum". Construction of St Paul's Cathedral began in 1675; it was consecrated for use in 1697,and declared complete by Parliament in 1711. Sir Christopher Wren had reported on the fabric of Salisbury Cathedral in 1668. Chapter "seriously considered the absolute necessity of speedy repairs" (Chapter Act Book, 1660-1675, CH/1/18, 52) and started work in 1669 but, "The advisory nature of Wren's report and the slow pace of repair due to limited finance" meant that a report by Chapter in 1683 "showed almost every part of the Cathedral as needing repair" (Thomas Cocke and Peter Kidson, Salisbury Cathedral: Perspectives on the Architectural History, London: HMSO, 1993, p.22). In 1691 Thomas Naish, Clerk of Works, prepared a detailed report on the fabric with proposals and estimates totalling £5,431. Although "Queen's" is crossed through in the address, William and Mary are twice referred to as "Your Majesties" in the text of the Petition. For a full transcript see Historical Manuscripts Commission, Report on Manuscripts in Various Collections, Volume 1 (London: HMSO,1901), p.381.

English