Note 145 — Front matter (continued 2)

Gross, Gild Merchant, ii. 49; Toulmin Smith, Eng. Gilds, 231. In the return of 1389 it is stated that several messuages worth £37, 12s. 4d. a year are waiting for the licence of the King and the mesne lords to be given to the guild. No doubt the Statute of Mortmain was often evaded. The corporation records show that the guild held house property as early as 1353 (Corp. MS. C. 148).