Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
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Chantry Chapel, Wakefield Bridge is in Wakefield Bridge [Map].
The Annals Yorkshire by John Mayall. 1357. Edward III, by a charter of this date, at Wakefield, granted to Wm. Kay, Wm. Bull, and their successors for ever, the anuual sum of £10, to perform divine service in the chapel of St. Mary [Map], on the bridge at Wakefield. The revenue was secured and made payable out of the produce of the towns of Wakefield, Stanley, Ossett, Pontefract, Purston-Jackling, and Water-Fryston. When this chapel and its two chantries were suppressed, its revenue was valued at £14 15s. 3 d.
1818. Samuel Prout (age 34). Drawing of the Chantry Chapel, Wakefield Bridge [Map]. Prout visited Wakefield in his tour to Yorkshire and Scotland.
1818. Samuel Prout (age 34). Drawing of the Chantry Chapel, Wakefield Bridge [Map]. Prout visited Wakefield in his tour to Yorkshire and Scotland.
2021. Photos of Chantry Chapel, Wakefield Bridge [Map].
