ceived from Queen Isabella a small piece of land called
Babbelak on which to build a chapel in honour of God and St. John, two
priests being required to sing masses daily for the souls "of her dear
lord Edward," John, Earl of Cornwall and others. Did she seek to
satisfy her conscience thus for the woes she had brought upon her
_dear lord_? The site thus given measured 117 feet from north to south
and about 40 feet from east to west giving room for the chancel only
of the present church, this being dedicated in 1350. But in 1357
William Walsheman, valet to the Queen and now her sub-bailiff in
Coventry gave further land, added a new aisle and increased the number
of priests while the Black Prince in 1359 gave a small plot on which,
perhaps, the tower and transept now stand. Within the next ten years
Walsheman and Christiana his wife gave to the Gild certain tenements,
called the "Drapery," in the city to build a chapel in honour of the
Holy Trinity, St. Mary, St. John, and St. Katharine "within the Chapel
of Bablake." William Wolfe, mayor in 1375, is mentioned as a "great
helper" in the work at the church, the original nave and aisles being
probably built at this time, and some reconstruction of the choir.
Records are wanting of the subsequent alterations which gave it its
present form. The north clearstory of the nave shows the original
design while that of the choir and the south side of the nave belong
to the fifteenth century as do the tower and the cruciform arrangement
of the building. Leland's "Itinerary" gives the following description:
"There is also a Collegiate Church at Bablake, hard within the West
Gate (Spon Gate) alias Bablake Gate, dedicated to St. John.... It is
of the foundation of the Burgesses and there is a great Privilege,
Gild or Fraternity. In this College is now a Master and eight
ministers and lately twelve ministers." Stowe adds that there were
twelve singing men and extant deeds mention "Babbelake Hall" in which
the warden and priests lived.

Many interesting entries of expenditure are to be found in the gild
accounts showing how the Eve of St. John (Midsummer Eve) and other
festivals were celebrated before the suppression of the gilds by
Edward VI. In 1541 we have the following (the spelling is somewhat
modernized):

Expenses on Midsummer Even and on the day,--Item, 2 doz. & a half
cakes, _2s. 6d._; spice cakes, _12d._; a cest' ale and 4 gals.
_4s._; 2 gals, claret wine _16d._; 2 ga