In 1317, a royal licence was issued, granting permission to the Priory to build lodging houses for men crossing the river at Woodside. King Edward II visited Liverpool in 1323, and the royal accounts show that he used local ferrymen to sail up the river to Ince. In 1330, his son Edward III granted a charter to the Priory and its successors for ever: ""the right of ferry there… for men, horses and goods, with leave to charge reasonable tolls"". At the time, there was only a small hamlet at Birkenhead, and a slightly larger village at Liverpool.