was then consecrated bishop in 1215. He had been
Dean of Old Sarum. But after occupying the see for no more than two
years, he was translated to Salisbury.

#Ranulf of Warham# (1217-1224) bequeathed some property to the
see [33]; but otherwise he did little, except as a fortunate collector
of cattle, for the support of which his successor provided pasturage.

[33] Stephens, p. 57.

#Ralph Neville# (1224-1244) was a bishop of more than local
celebrity. Like Langton, the archbishop, he withstood the demands
which the papacy and Henry III. made in their endeavours to impoverish
the Church in England. For this opposition the king removed him
temporarily from the post of Chancellor of the Realm, a position he
held from 1226 to 1240. His "fame rests more upon his repute as a
statesman faithful in many perils, and a singular pillar of truth in
the affairs of the kingdom." [34] He succeeded in procuring the payment
to the Church of tithe from some royal properties which had been
withheld, and left provision for the supply of twelve quarters of
wheat annually to the poor in Chichester. Some, notes preserved in the
cathedral records lead to the supposition that the portion of the old
central tower above the roof and up to the parapet at the foot of the
spire was built, or at least begun, during Ralph's tenure of the see.
One of these memoranda shows that he released from twenty days'
penance those who should visit the cathedral and contribute to the
maintenance of the fabric. The others state that he expended one
hundred and thirty marks upon repairs, and his executors paid over one
hundred and forty marks to the dean and chapter for the purpose of
finishing a stone tower which it had been found necessary to
repair. [35] Three years after his death it was nearly completed.
Bishop Neville died at his house by Chancellor's Lane, now Chancery
Lane. His property later passed into the hands of the Earl of Lincoln,
and was known then as the inn, or hospital, of Lincoln. The estate is
now covered by the buildings of Lincoln's Inn, [36] and that portion
which is still the property of the see is known as "The Chichester
Rents."

[34] Matt. Paris.
[35] See Walcott, p. 15, note _c_.
[36] See Stephens, p. 61, cf. Murray's "Chichester."

Ralph's successor was Richard of Wych (1245-1253), generally called
St. Richard. He had studied under Edmund and Grosseteste at Oxford,
and also in Paris and Bologna. Returning from Europe, he