"Pew"....leading to.....
Little Jack Horner (a political supporter of King Henry VIII)
Sat in a corner (Cornwall, to be exact)
Eating his Christmas pie (Glastonbury, site of the Christmas Holy Thorn)
He stuck in his thumb
And pulled out a plum (the abbey)
And said what a good boy am I. (I supported the king)
Indeed. Among the institutions dedicated to Thomas Becket that were abolished were: the large annual pilgrimages to Canterbury Cathedral, the Church of St. Thomas in London, the monastery of Sende in Surrey, the Hospital of St. Thomas in Southwark and many other similar institutions all over England. Tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in Canterbury during his feast.
The tomb of St. Thomas Becket was of particular beauty as it had been adorned by previous monarchs and rulers with gold and many jewels as a sign of their devotion.
An interesting side note: along with the repatriation of the monasteries and associated land and industries so too were church hospitals, orphanages, schools and all of the basic welfare institutions that were run by the church at the time. In nationalizing these assets (for the sake of the crippled command economy, most of all), Henry created the first state welfare system in Europe.
Hooray!