Next Meeting – An Airman's Tale
An illustrated biography of an airman, Mr McNamara,
the son of a local man, who 'did it all' and was killed before he was 21.
At 8pm on Wednesday 18th March in Hadleigh
Town Hall. In response to requests from those who find the stairs difficult,
on this occasion we will be downstairs in the Dining Room; entrance off the
Market Place. Free to members of the Society; for others there is a charge
of £2.
by Margaret
Woods
The 1306 Extent of the Manor of Hadleigh
Translation of the Latin manuscripts relating to the
medieval manor of Hadleigh (part of a project1 under the auspices
of Hadleigh Archive) is revealing interesting information on our town in the
late 13th and early 14th centuries. Court rolls were
considered in the first article ‘Life in Medieval Hadleigh’ in the
February 2008 newsletter, in this issue the extent of 13062 is
introduced. Translations of two almost identical, handwritten copies3 &
4 of the document have informed this article.
The extent is a survey of the manor of Hadleigh in
1306. It specifies the size and value of the manor as well as giving the
names of the tenants and the lands they held from, and rents and services
they owed to, the lord(s) of the manor – the Prior and Convent of the Church
of Christ of Canterbury. The steward John le Doe/ Doo5 conducted
the proceedings, William the Clerk of Felsham was scribe and either 12 or 11
5 presumably upright men of Hadleigh swore on their oaths to the
accuracy of the information.
In considering some of the significant aspects of
this extent we’ll start with the demesne i.e. the land held for the lord’s
use and not rented out. The total demesne acreage was around 384 acres plus
the communal pasture. This acreage is not inconsequential when we read in
Mark Bailey’s recent publication6 that the average medieval
Suffolk demesne was 30 - 60 acres. The Hadleigh demesne comprised:
- 4 acres of messuage (i.e. a house
with its outbuildings, garden & often land);
- 31 acres of woodland in 3 woods (Bonhey/Bouhey5;
Edolvestone & Estleyle);
- 6 acres of aldergrove (Muchelfen);
- 327 acres of arable land;
- 8 acres of meadow (Corsford &
Benton meadows);
- approximately 8 acres of pasture (The
Tyefield; The Herst; that owned by Nicholas of Lafham & that at Bradfield
brook; also bracken at Muchelfen);
- communal pasture (size unspecified
but 80 sheep were grazed there).
The 4 acres of messuage were located more or less
where Hadleigh Hall is today standing ‘between the river & the king’s
highway’ and enclosed by walls and ditches. Included were a manor house
described as ‘well and regularly built’ and ‘adequate for the
revenue of the manor’, outbuildings such as barns & stables, a
courtyard, a garden with ‘apples, pears and grapes of the vine’ and a
dovecote.
Important were the two watermills, one for fulling
cloth, the other for grinding corn; both were leased out. Tenants whose
lands were adjacent to the river were permitted to fish in their part of the
river while the lord was permitted to fish anywhere along the river except
by the manor of Toppesfield Hall.
The additional acreage owned by the manor was divided
into ‘lands’ i.e. areas leased out to tenants. The size of these holdings
varied, a few were held by individuals, most were shared tenancies. Tenants’
rents naturally provided additional revenue for the prior and monks in
Canterbury.
There were 3 types of tenants:-
a)
Free tenants
– Over 70 tenants held lands or parts of
lands freely. They paid rent and were obliged to attend court.
b)
Customary tenants
– There were around 150 customary or
unfree tenants. They also paid rent but in addition had to perform specified
labour services in accordance with the size of their holding e.g. ploughing,
harrowing, sowing seed, reaping, threshing, spreading, lifting and stacking
hay and carting corn and dung. Court attendance was compulsory and they had
to request, and pay for, the lord’s permission for their daughters to marry.
c)
Mondaylanders
– Eight Monday lands were leased to 37 ‘Mondaylanders’, also of customary
status. They were required to perform labour services only on Mondays
because it was obligatory for them to be the lord’s reeves of the manor - an
unpopular post because of the associated administrative and organizational
responsibilities, the most dreaded probably being accountability for manor
produce. They did, however, receive an annual stipend of a half acre of
wheat, rye and oats.
It is worth noting that a small number of tenants
actually held land in more than one type of tenancy e.g. Hugh of
Wethersfield, chaplain, held Heron’s land and Bekken acre freely, he was a
customary tenant for part of Hyches land and held all of Dores land and part
of Bridge land as a Mondaylander. Similarly Osbert of Aldham held parts of
Gloucester’s land, Togeles land, Bikes land and Rickbrook field as a free
tenant and parts of Aldham land, Hill land and Gloucester’s land as a
customary tenant.
The final section of the extent identifies ‘New
Rents’. This lists new tenancies and existing tenants extending holdings or
embarking on business opportunities. For example Vincent the Fuller appears
to become a tenant for the first time taking on a messuage, a dye-house,
part tenancy of 3 cottages and a plot of land in the Tyefield. The
above-mentioned Hugh of Wethersfield, chaplain, adds a cottage to his
holdings as does Henry Mareschal who does so in partnership with Richard the
Reeve and Emma Mareschal. Richard Faber [the Smith] leases a road near to
his messuage, perhaps facilitating access to his smithy, William Gyber
extends his courtyard, while William Geffrey abuts a new dye-house onto an
unspecified building and brothers Adam and Thomas Pyg become the tenants of
2 cottages, paying extra for ‘a new acquisition to join the 2 cottages
together’.
So what was the overall value of Hadleigh manor to
Canterbury? A break down of the manor income can be seen in Table 1. Mark
Bailey6 tells us large manors around 1306 were valued about or
in excess of £100 and small manors between £7 and £15 so Hadleigh manor, at
£40.7s 3¼d plus the poultry, plough shares and horseshoes, would seem to
have been of moderate size.
Notes & references
1.
This translation project has been funded by grants from Hadleigh
Archive, Hadleigh WEA, Hadleigh Charity shop, David Grutchfield’s locality
budget & the East of England Museums, Libraries & Archives Council.
2.
Dating is 1306 in the new style dating system & 1305 in the old.
3.
Canterbury Cathedral Archives reference: CCA-DCc-RegisterB [ff
183v-192v]
4.
British Library reference: Harley 1006 [ff 41v-58v]
5.
Different in the 2 Latin versions
6.
Bailey, M.[2007] ‘Medieval Suffolk’. Woodbridge: Boydell &
Brewer Ltd.
Table 1: Income from Hadleigh manor in 1306
Aspect of the manor |
£ |
s |
d |
Rent in kind |
Demesne lands |
28 |
2 |
7 |
|
Total rent from free tenants |
4 |
5 |
6 |
2 hens |
Total rent from customary tenants |
4 |
11 |
4¼ |
|
Total rent from Monday lands |
|
13 |
4½ |
|
Total of new rents |
2 |
14 |
5½ |
2 capons, 3 hens, 3 plough shares & 4 horse
shoes for shoeing the lord’s palfrey |
Total |
40 |
7 |
3¼ |
5 hens, 2 capons, 3 ploughshares & 4 horse
shoes for shoeing the lord’s palfrey |
Report
of a talk by Sue Andrews in October
Hadleigh’s Guildhall-Town Hall Complex is currently
held in trust for the town by the Market Feoffment Charity. On 15th
October Sue Andrews gave a talk to the Society which explored the origins
and history of Hadleigh’s two main charities; the Market Feoffment Charity
and the Grand Feoffment Charity.
Sue began her talk with a picture of the 1432 Charter
which is held in Hadleigh Archive. This confirmed the market rights
which were passed, together with a piece of land called Churchcroft, to the
people of Hadleigh in 1438 by the Cloptons who were lords of the manor of
Toppesfield. This led to the establishment of the Market Feoffment
Charity which was responsible for the running of the market and fairs and
for the management of the market buildings. A two-storey Market House
had been constructed just before 1438 (overlooking the churchyard to the
west of the existing Guildhall buildings), and the ground floor was used as
almshouses. The origins of the Grand Feoffment Charity lie in the
endowment left by William Pykenham in 1497 for the upkeep of twelve
almshouses in George Street.
The first feoffees were the chief inhabitants of the
town, such as the wealthy clothiers and merchants, who served for life.
320 acres of land on which stands Maskells Farm was acquired, and is still
owned by the Grand Feoffment Charity today. In 1555 John Raven Jnr.
established four almshouses in Benton Street which were endowed by land at
Noaks Farm in Holton St Mary.
By 1573 the feoffees had purchased the Guildhall
which, together with the Market Hall, formed a civic centre for the town.
At this time 7% of the local population were supported by poor relief or
‘doles’ from the charities. Many perpetual charities, which were all
administered by the feoffees, were established over the years. The
feoffees were also responsible for the day-to-day running of the almshouses.
However, by 1798 the number of feoffees had dwindled from fifteen to one, so
John Hall, the sole remaining feoffee, resigned from his post and took up
residence in one of the almshouses.
In 1849 the two feoffment charities were officially
separated, and by the end of the 19th century were operating at a
loss. Over the next decades the Grand Feoffment Charity sold much of
its land and many properties. The fairs had been abolished and
Hadleigh Urban District Council took over the management of the marketplace
and the market rights.
When the Market House and land were granted to the
town by William Clopton in 1438, the rent was one red rose per annum, ‘if
it is demanded’. In 1984 the rent was ‘demanded’ by one of
Clopton’s descendants and every year since then the Mayor of Hadleigh has
placed a red rose on the tomb of William Clopton in Long Melford Church.
Could this be the oldest rent still paid anywhere in the country today?
Last December the History Group presented the results
of its latest research. In 1841 Reverend Knox became the Dean of
Hadleigh and Bocking until his death in 1869, and maintained a diary.
The diary which has been the subject of the current research finishes in
1844, recording a total of 700 days. The Group has found this to be a
treasure trove of information about Victorian Hadleigh and entertained us
with a sample of the stories that they had gleaned. The Deanery had
recently been rebuilt and he occupied it in some style, having a good
stipend and a private income. He took his duties conscientiously,
visiting all his parishioners, exerting a strong influence over the life of
the town with a very active social life as well. His views of the people he
dealt with were recorded remarkably candidly.
His activities touched on many establishments, for
instance the Silk Mill which provided employment for young people from 5
years old up to 20, some coming from villages some distance away. He
ensured the dismissal of any who fell short of his moral standards but
argued for more education and less beating. Its gas works provided
light to some of the town and to the church as well. Weddings featured
in the diary but much more time was spent with the sick and dying. He also
had a major responsibility for the accounts of several charities, and for
collecting tithe money. As well as managing the finances these duties
also required his attendance at a lot of dinners.
The diary is a mine of information about life in the
town and the range of occupations. Sitting alongside other local rectors,
he was a magistrate. In this capacity he imposed short imprisonments and
fines, although he would occasionally then loan money for the fine. He
would swear in the newly established County Constabulary, and was also a
Commissioner of Taxes.
Our History Group really brought to life how his
values and judgements governed how he performed the ways that the Dean
touched the lives of the town’s people at so very many points.