But at
length the days of the Priory were numbered, and it changed masters.
The old gateway wept to see the cowled Black Canons depart when Henry
VIII dissolved the monastery; its heart nearly broke when it heard the
sounds of axes and hammers, crowbars and saws, at work on the fabric
of the church pulling down the grand nave, and it scowled at the new
owner, Sir Richard Rich, a prosperous political adventurer, who bought
the whole estate for L1064 11s. 3d., and made a good bargain.
The monks, a colony of Black Friars, came in again with Queen Mary,
but they were driven out again when Elizabeth reigned, and Lord Rich
again resumed possession of the estate, which passed to his heirs, the
Earls of Warwick and Holland. Each Sunday, however, the old gate
welcomed devout worshippers on their way to the church, the choir
having been converted into the parish church of the district, and was
not sorry to see in Charles's day a brick tower rising at the west
end.
In spite of the changes of ownership the fair went on increasing with
the increase of the city. But the scene has changed. In the time of
James I the last elm tree had gone, and rows of houses, fair and
comely buildings, had sprung up. The old muddy plain had been drained
and paved, and the traders and pleasure-seekers could no longer dread
the wading through a sea of mud.
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