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Introduction

Hampton Manor, Hertfordshire. Engraving by Joannes Kip from Britannia Illustrata, (1720).

Hampton Manor, Hertfordshire. Engraving by Joannes Kip from Britannia Illustrata, (1720).

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"A little common wealth, whereof the Tenants are the members, the Land the bulke and the Lord the head " John Norden, 17th century writer and surveyor

The manor was one of the most important structures of local administration for the vast majority of people living in rural England and for a significant proportion of those living in Wales(1). One of the main concerns of the manor courts was the regulation of the common fields and the waste or common pasture. By the beginning of the 18th century the manor had lost much of its importance due to the enclosures and legislative changes of the 16th and 17th centuries. However, the records of the manor courts can provide you with a wealth of information regarding landholding and land use well into the 18th and in some cases into the 19th century.

For the record:

We maintain the Manorial Documents Register, the official register of the location of English and Welsh manorial documents. The Manorial Documents Register for the whole of Wales, Yorkshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Norfolk can be searched on the website, and other counties will follow. The remaining parts of Register can be consulted in the Opening Reading Room here.

We also house a vast collection of court rolls, court books, accounts and surveys. Most of them are connected with the administration of Crown estates, lands in government hands or material submitted as evidence in legal cases. They are widely scattered across several record series.

Even from the 18th century onwards, when the influence of the manor as a force in local government was on the wane, the records can still tell you a great deal about the way rural England and Wales was run. Especially where common fields and common pasture prevailed. You can expect to find amongst the court rolls and books:

  • Details of people holding lands in the manor
  • Regulations of the common fields and common pasture
  • Rights of tenants to wood, peat and other fuels
  • Levels of rents and entry fines
  • Lists of the customary obligations of the tenants

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Like today, there were various types of terms of tenure which people had with their local Lord of the Manor.

These terms appear in the records:

  • Freehold - although not technically the same as today, freeholders had security of tenure and were 'free' from any restrictions concerning their right to dispose of their lands as they wished
  • Copyhold - copyholders were customary tenants who took their name by virtue of their holding a 'copy' of the appropriate entry, recording them as tenants, made in the manor court book or roll
  • Leasehold - was land let for a specified time (often 21 years). Because this allowed for the revising of rent levels, leasehold tenure increased as numbers of copyholders fell
  • Tenant at will - often the poorest and most vulnerable. Tenants at will held their land at the will of the lord of the manor
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As well as the rules and regulations of the manor, you can expect to find details of any transgressions and punishments in the manorial records.

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Useful links

Footnotes

1. Not all land in England was regulated through the institution of the manor. Furthermore, the manorial system appears not to have been popular in North Wales and subsequently you should not expect to find many manorial records for this area.

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