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the Priory, I visited Sir Simon Archer, who lived then inWarwick ; at whose house I saw many rarities, especiallymany pieces of turned work in ivory, incredibly small andcurious ; also a letter patent of King William I ; a letterof the Pope with a leaden seal, to grant liberty to oneArcher to build a chapel; a plenary indulgence to anotherof that name by Pope Boniface IX . On one side of theseal, written in capital letters, “ Bonifacins VIII I,” onthe other side were two faces looking one towards another,and above, these letters “ S.P.A. S.P.E.” i. e. “ St.haulus, St. Petrus.” The like seal and inscription onthe forementioned grant. Also a patent of Edward III for free warren to another of the name of Archer, with aseal; on the one side of which was the figure of the kirnon horseback ; on the other, he was represented sittiron his throne.
August the 18th, I departed from the Priory, and rodtthrough Coventry to Ashby-de-la-Zouch . Coventry is awell-built city, and has a very beautiful market-cross, andone large church. The story of the Lady Godeva, whorode naked through this town, may be had at large, inDugdale’s ‘Description of Warwickshire, ” and indeedwhatever is remarkable, or worth noting in the wholecounty. At Ashby I saw the Earl of Huntingdon’shouse, now almost quite ruined; this was the principalstrength of the garrison at Ashby. Thence, the next day,I passed on through Derby to Ashburn in the Peak.Derby is a large town, but meanly built; there have beenin it five churches, but some of them are decayed, andready to drop down. Here I was told by a countryman,that there is a pool on the top of a mountain, reportedbottomless, near Leek, named Blackmeer. In myjourney this day I saw some coal-pits about two milesfrom Ashby, and passed the river Trent at Swarsonbridge, where is a caussey cross the meadows about halfa mile long, that deserves to be remembered, cast up withabundance of pains and cost at the first.
August the 19th, I got to Ashburn, where is a very fairchurch, built cathedral-wise.