Researching the history of commons Some important sources Frances Kerner Mary Webb
The origin and history of common lands in England is inseparably bound up with the history of the manor Sir Thomas Edward Scrutton Commons and Common Fields 1886
Questions The manor Definitions Court Records Maps Other records
Questions What was the extent in the past ? – – What were its physical characteristics ? – Can common rights be identified? – How was the common’s sustainability managed ? – Is there a scheme of management ? Has it changed hands ? – – What settlement, if any, developed ? – Who used the common ? – How was it used post 1860s ? – What memories can be collected ? What photographs have survived ? –
The manor a single administrative unit of a landed estate manor distinguished by court various size VCH: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/
Common A profit that a Man hath in the land of another person Giles Jacobs 1744
Common Rights (Appurtenant to property for use of dominant tenement) Pasture Pannage Estovers Turbary Piscary Rights in soil
Waste Waste those lands which are not in any Man’s occupation, but lie Common; which are so called, because the Lord cannot make such Profit of them as other Lands, by Reason of that Use which others have thereof in passing to and fro, etc but upon this none may build, cut down Trees or dig without the Lord’s Licence Giles Jacobs 1744
Manorial Records Court Rolls Court Books Surveys Orders Pains Bylaws Admissions and Surrenders
Manorial Documents Register The National Archives Buckinghamshire Hertfordshire Bedfordshire Oxfordshire
Encroachment Who is presented at court for encroachment ? What are encroachers fined for? Property & landholding
Wm Sharpe of the parish of Fingest for digging Clay in the Lord of this Manor’s Waste
The decline of the manorial court Who manages the common ? Schemes of regulation Minute books Committees
Other sources Title deeds Valuations, Sale Plans, 1910 IR Letters Maps/Sketches/plans Wills Parish Records Newspapers Census Photographs
Maps • Ordnance Survey • County and Estate • Tithe Maps and Apportionments • Enclosure Maps and Awards
Stokenchurch
Ordnance Survey Historic maps Surveyors Drawings 1789 - c 1840 2”to mile
1805- 1874 1 st edition 1” to a mile (1:63 360)
1850-1880 1 st ed. 6” to 1 mile 1:10560)
1860- 1870 25” to a mile (1:2,500) Part of Cadmore End Common (1881)
County maps Late 18 th and early 19 th century Oxon 1797 Richard Davis Bucks 1770 Thomas Jefferys Bucks 1824 Arthur Bryant Herts 1820 Arthur Bryant Beds 1794 John Carey
Estate Maps • Maps made for land owners at various dates • Less easily accessible than other types, often held by owners • Fairly accurate; more detail than county maps • West Wycombe Estate Maps c1700 & 1767 private
Tithe Maps & Apportionments c1840 • Tithes – originally payment in kind to the Church (a tenth of produce) • Disarray by early 19 th C; resentment from Non-conformists, towns • Tithe Commutation Act 1836 • Surveys and Valuations of 75% of parishes in England and Wales
Tithe Maps & Apportionments c1840 • Maps : vary in appearance and size; show numbered plots • Apportionments : record plot number and name; land owner and occupier; land use; acreage. • Commons and ponds recorded
Stokenchurch Tithe Map 1842
Parliamentary Enclosure • Most Chilterns common land enclosed under the 1845 (General Enclosure Act). • Maps show numbered plots for enclosure; new roads; ponds; allotments for the labouring poor and for recreation. • Awards record roads to be laid out or stopped up; ponds; plot number and land owner. Allotments for individuals, the labouring poor, for recreation
Extent of Commons Stokenchurch
Stokenchurch Enclosure Map 1861
Field work • Remnant vegetation: Bracken, gorse, woodland plants such as bluebells, dog’s mercury or wood anemone • Enclosure hedges: straight lines; hawthorn; little ground flora • Old hedges (non-enclosure): mixed hedge species; old stumps or evidence of hedge laying; varied ground flora including woodland plants
Further Sources: • Victoria County History (VCH) • Local writers relating to parish or village • Old floras may provide some clues to appearance of commons e.g. Druce 1886 • Agricultural histories and comment e.g. Arthur Young 1813 • Early travellers around England e.g. Daniel Defoe 1724, John Leland 1535-43.
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