As the Canons, or at any rate many of them, had other churches, they had each his deputy, who said the service in the Cathedral.  Each Prebendary had his own manor, and there were other manors which belonged to the common stock, and supplied the means of carrying on the services and paying the humbler officials.  The Canons, it will be remembered, were secular, not monks; but they had a common “College,” with a refectory, kitchen, brewhouse, bakehouse, and mill.  Archdeacon Hale computed that the manors comprised in all about 24,000 acres, three-eighths of which were managed by the cathedral body, and the rest let to tenants, who had protecting rights of their own.  In addition to these were the estates attached to the Deanery.

But with the changes which Time is always bringing, it came to pass that some of the Canons, who held other benefices (and the number increased as the years went on), preferred to live on their prebendal manors, or in their parishes; to follow, in short, the Bishop’s example of non-attendance at the cathedral.  And thus the services devolved on a few men who stayed on and were styled Residentiaries.  These clerics not only had their keep at the common College, which increased in comfort and luxury, but also came in for large incomes from oblations, obits, and other privileges.  At first it seemed irksome to be tied down to residence, but as time went on this became a privilege eagerly sought after; and thus grew up, what continues still, a chapter within the chapter, and the management of the cathedral fell into the hands of the Residentiaries.

[Illustration:  A PONTIFICAL MASS.  ‘Ad te levavi animam meam.’ From a Missal of the Fifteenth Century.  British Museum, 19897.]

The Treasurer was a canon of very great importance; the tithes of four churches came to him.  He was entrusted with the duty of providing the lighting of the cathedral, and had charge of the relics, the books, the sacred vessels, crosses, curtains, and palls.  The Sacrist had to superintend the tolling of the bells, to see that the church was opened at the appointed times, that it was kept clean, and that reverence was maintained at times of service.  Under him were four Vergers (wand-bearers), who enforced the Sacrist’s rules, and took care that bad characters were not harboured in the church, and that burden-bearers were kept out.  We have seen that these duties fell largely into abeyance at certain times.  Every Michaelmas Day the Verger appeared before the Dean to give up his wand, and to receive it back if his character was satisfactory.  The Verger was bound to be a bachelor, because, said the statute, “having a wife is a troublesome and disturbing affair, and husbands are apt to study the wishes of their wives or their mistresses, and no man can serve two masters.”

The Chancellor kept charge of the correspondence of the Chapter, and also superintended the schools belonging to the cathedral.