_Arch-priest in the Diocese of Exeter_ (Vol. ix., p. 105.).--Haccombe is
doubtless the parish in the diocese of Exeter, where MR. W. FRASER will
find the arch-priest about whom he is inquiring. Haccombe is a small
parish, having two houses in it, the manor-house of the Carew family and
the parsonage. It is said that, by a grant from the crown, in consequence
of services done by an ancestor of the Carews, this parish received certain
privileges and exemptions, one of which was that the priest of Haccombe
should be exempt from all ordinary spiritual jurisdiction. Hence the title
of arch-priest, and that of chorepiscopus, which the priests of Haccombe
have claimed, and perhaps sometimes received. The incumbent of Bibury, in
Gloucestershire, used to claim similar titles, and like exemption from
spiritual jurisdiction.