12S.X. APRIL 1, 1922.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 245 silence as to Mary Seymour, this matter seems worth raising. I % What were Sir Edward Bushell' s arms ? I Was he any connexion of the BusheU family of Liverpool, to whose head, the late Mr. Bushell, there is a statue in that city ? HUBERT READE. Pontrillas, Hereford. OLD LONDON BRIDGE. THOSE who have read the recent able articles by Mr. W. D. Caroe, F.S.A., in The Journal of the London Society for November and January last or heard the equally valuable lectures on the same subject by Miss Davis, the Lecturer in History at the University of London, will be interested to hear that I have just found two references to this bridge half a century or so earlier than 1175, when Peter de Colkirk is said to have built the first stone bridge. The first is before 1123 and occurs in a charter of Henry I., printed by Stow in his ' London ' (ed. Kingsford, 1908), p. 22, directed to Ralph, Bishop of Chichester, who died in that year (which fixes its date between 1100 and 1123), and directs that certain lands given to Battle Abbey should be free (i.a.) from the works of London Bridge. This charter is witnessed by William de Pontlarche at Byrry, which I take to be Bury in Hunts, a mile from Ram- sey Abbey, of which place the chapel there was confirmed to Ramsey Abbey by Henry I. (' Chartulary of Ramsey,' i., p. 246).. It is very strange that fehis entry should have been missed by recent writers on the bridge, but this may be accounted for by the fact that the index to the reprint un- luckily omits reference to it. The other new reference is in 1130/1, and is to be found on the Pipe Roll of 31, Henry I., when Geoffrey, Ingeniator, was allowed 25 for two arches of London Bridge. I would hazard the conjecture that he may be the Geoffrey de Valoines, the brother of the Robert de Valoines who in 1165/6, 1168 and 1173 certified as to works at Orford Castle (Pipe Rolls). Geoffrey received a regular salary of 10 12s. lid., or Id. a day (see Pipe Rolls) till he was succeeded by Alnod or Alnoth, who received the same salary and was employed as "Ingeniator" to destroy Fram- lingham* Castle in 1174/5 (Pipe Roll, p. 108). These new and earlier dates bring us back to the same period as the building of Bow i Bridge over the Lea by Queen Maud before | her death in 1135. Probably both bridges were begun simultaneously. The connexion of William de Pont de F Arche with the grant of (ante ) 1 1 20 is interest- ing, for he was the part re-founder of South- wark Priory in 1 106, and such Priory had much to do with the erection of London Bridge. Pont- de-1' Arche is a place-name in Nor- mandy (Eure), or one might be tempted to think that he took his name from this arched bridge, the more especially as before 1134 he is called William de Ponte Archarum (Round's ' French Documents,' pp. 42 and 55). However, as I shall shortly be printing a pamphlet which deals (i.a.) with him and his family, I need not enlarge on it here. I am now trying to find out what may be in Blomefield's guess that Peter de Cole- church or Colkirk, the bridge -builder, may have been from Colkirk in Norfolk, and shall be greatly obliged if anyone can refer me to the first date on which the London parish of Colechurch occurs, and also tell me the surname of Richard, the Archbishop of Canterbury who succeeded Becket and who took a deep interest in the bridge. WALTER RYE.
- * The Memorials of Old Suffolk,' p. 57, adds
Bnngay, but T cannot find this in the Pipe Boll. JAMES FORT, ACCRA, GOLD COAST. THIS fort is now used as a Government prison. Having occasion to visit the place on business the other day, it struck me that the enclosed inscriptions, which I copied from three tombstones in the old court- yard, would interest the readers of ' N. & Q.' The stones are in excellent preservation and are carefully tended by the authorities. Sacred to the memory of H. SYKES Esq. second son of Sir Francis Sykes Bart of Basildon in the County of Berks. This truly accomplished youth departed this Life on the .14th of January 1786 in the 17th year of his Age. He was Midshipman on board the Grampus Commodore Thompson when at Anchor near Accra in which Fort he was buried with the customary Naval honors. Blest with a warm and Generous Heart Sincere in Friendship void of Art Undaunted Courage filled his Mind Where Sentiment and Truth combined His various virtues made him blest Most loved by those who knew him best.
