Note 11b — Front matter

Simon Ripley, who was Abbot of St. Werburgh’s, 1472 to 1479, is stated to have rebuilt the Nave, Tower, and South Transept; but in Webb’s portion of the Vale Royal it is distinctly recorded that, in 1506, in the abbacy of John Birchenshaw “The old steeple of St. Werburgh was taken down,” while two years afterwards the same record states that “the foundation and the first stone of the Abbey laid, the Maior being then present.” This record has been hitherto connected with the western tower, but Rickman’s argument seems to be conclusive, unless indeed, which is quite probable, both were in progress at the same period.