story communicated with the body of the church by the beforementioned doorway and staircase, which have been recently stopped up. The roofs of these apartments were vaulted, and traversed by cross-ribs of stone, ornamented with bosses at the point of intersection* This chapel antiently opened upon the cloisters, and formed a private medium of communication between the convent of the Temple and the church. It was here that the papal legate and the English bishops frequently hail conferences respecting the affairs of the English clergy, and in this chapel Alinaric de Montfovte, the pope's chaplain, who had been imprisoned by king Edward the First, was set nt liberty at the instance of the Roman pontiff, in the presence of the archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishops of London, Lincoln, Bath, "Worcester, Norwich, Oxford, and several other prelates, and of many distinguished laymen; the said Almeric having pre viously taken an oath that he would forthwith leave the kingdom, never more to return without express permission.-!- In times past, this chapel of St. Anne, situate on the south of " the round about walles," was widely celebrated for its productive powers. It was resorted to by barren women, and was of great repute for making them " joyful mothers of children !" J There were formerly numerous priests attached to the Temple church, the chief of whom was styled custos or guardian of the sacred edifice. King Henry the Third, for the salvation of his own soul, and the souls of his ancestors and heirs, gave to the Templars eight pounds per annum, to be paid out of the ex * See trie plan of this chapel and of the Temple Church, in the Tettoia monumenta of the Society of Antftpiariea. t Acta tueront hare in capella juxta ecclesiam, apud Novum Tcraplum London, ex parte Australi ipsius ecclesie sita, coram reverendis patritms domino archiepiscopo et episcopi», Ac. ic Acta Humeri, torn. ii. p. 193, ad arm. 1282. ί Anecdotes and Traditions published by the Camden Society. Ko. clxxxi. p. 110.