Landowners and their Estates in the Forest of Arden in the Fifteenth Century

16 Pages·2006·1.46 MB·English

1
i.
Landowners and their Estates in the Forest
of Arden in the Fifteenth Century*
By ANDREW WATKINS
tcartsbA
This paper seiduts the evolution of the lairongies economy in forest of Arden during the fifteenth .yrutnec
This saw a wood pasture area, whose resident landlords were mainly lesser peers, gentry, dna rellams
suoigiler houses. In contrast to other saera in the later Middle Ages, where direct demesne noitatiolpxe
by the lord saw abandoned in favour of the gnisael out, the Arden demesnes dna their management were
adapted to the ralucitrap secnatsmucric of the fifteenth century to create home ,smraf while other sronam
were involved in laicreamnoc cereal cultivation, livestock ,gnisiar dna generating hsac from the woodland
dna lairtsudni resources of the .etatse
H
ow did English landowners tive on the experiences of the seignorial
respond to the economic con-
class is furnished by the study of the for-
ditions of the fifteenth century?
tunes of the gentry and smaller religious
The better documented estates of the
institutions from more marginal areas.
higher nobility and greater religious insti-
Postan was among the first to believe that
tutions suggest that the seignorial class
the smaller landowner found the fifteenth
experienced considerable reduction in rev-
century less uncomfortable than his social
enue from their lands. Very few were able
superior, while from his work on Owston
to innovate or modify their estate manage-
Abbey in Leicestershire Hilton observed
ment to restore lost incomes, and their
that smaller scale religious houses often
response was to abandon direct manage-
fared better than their larger, wealthier
ment and put their estates out to farm.
counterparts. Dyer has described how a
However, income from this source
small landlord, John Brome, who lived in
declined sa the fifteenth century pro-
such a mar~nal area, the forest of Arden
gressed, and many N'eater lords, both lay
in Warwickshire, was able to thrive in
and ecclesiastical, encountered hardship
economic conditions of the fifteenth cen-
through lost revenues. I A different perspec-
tury through astute and rigorous manage-
ment of his lands. Other work on
* I should like to thank Jean Birrell, Christopher Dyer, and P.odney
Hilton for their advice and support in the preparatiou of this paper. Warwickshire has shown that although
'J M W Bean, ehT Estates of eht Perq, Fanlily, 1416-t537, 1958, Brome may have been the most dynanfic,
pp ,71 26-7; C C Dyer, Lords dna stnasaeP ni a ~nignalIC ,yteicoS
198o, pp I64-72; Ik H Hilton, ehT cimonocE tnempoleveD emos.o he was far from being the only member of
erihsretsecieL setatsE ni eht htneetruoF dna htneetfiF ,seirutneC 1947, the fifteenth-century Warwickshire gentry
pp 85-8; J A Ikaftis, Ramsey Abbey, Toronto, I957, pp 292-5;
E Searle, pihsdroL dna Community: Battle Abbey dna sti ueilnaB still utilizing their manors, while recently
,835~-66or. Toronto, I974, pp 324-37; J Hatcher, Rural ynlonocE Miller has suggested that many smaller
dna yteicoS th eht Dually of llawnroC I3oo-I5oo , 197o, pp 148-71;
J M W Bean, 'Landlords' in E Miller, ed, The nairargA yrotsiH of landlords throughout the country main-
dnalgnE dna Wales, III, 1348-i5oo hereafter Ag Hist I1i, 1991 , tained some parts of their estates to feed
Pp 568-74; F k1 H Du Boulay, 'A rentier economy in the Later
Middle Ages: the archbishopric of Canterbury', Econ Hist Reu, 2nd their households.'-
set, XVI, i963-4, pp 427-38; B J Harris, 'Landlords and tenants in
England iu the later Middle Ages', Past dna ,tneserP XLIII, I969,
~M M Postan, 'Medieval agrarian society in its prime-England,' in
pp 146-7; C C Dyer, sdradnatS of glhuiL ni eht Later elddiM ,segA M M Postan, ed, egdirbmaC cilnonoeE Histoq, of ,eporuE I, 2nd ed,
I989, pp 27-48; Z'I A L Smith, ,qubretnaC lardehtaC ,yroirP i943, I966, pp 595-6; Hilton, erihsretsecieL ,setatsE p t21; C C Dyer, 'A
pp I2-3; C Rawcliffe, The ,sdroffqtS slraE of droffatS dna Dukes of small landowner in the fifteenth century', Midl Hist, ,I 1972,
,mahgnikcuB ~394-z52x, I978, pplo, 53, 07, 5, H3; .II H
pp I-I4; A D Watkins, 'Cattle grazing in the forest of Arden in
Britnell, The noitasilaieremmoC of hsilgnE yteicoS zooo-Jsoo, I993, the later Middle Ages', AHR, XXXVII, 1989, pp x7-23; A D
pp 197-8.
Watkins, 'Society and ecouomy ill the northern part of the forest
Ag Hist Rev, 45, I, pp I8-33 81
J 'I
/
FIFTEENTH-CENTURY LANDOWNERS IN THE FOREST OF ARDEN I9
This study seeks to contribute to our the course of the fifteenth century the
appreciation of the fifteenth-century seign- pastoral economy of the area encouraged
orial economy by focusing upon the for- an increasing acreage to be given over
tunes of the landowners, both peerage and to fodder crops, such sa legumes and hay.
gentry, lay and ecclesiastical, in the forest The carefully managed woodlands of the
of Arden in Warwickshire, and their area allowed the pursuit of timber
response to the particular circumstances of by-occupations, the manufacture of wood
the fifteenth century. The Arden was a based fuels and much gathering of
well-defined pays during the later Middle underwood, fruits, game, wax, and honey,
Ages. The enclosed landscape of woodland while within villages and hamlets resources
and pasture described by Leland in the early were swelled through brewing, butchery,
sixteenth century had already been estab- flax soaking, and the cultivation of hemp)
lished at the beginning of the previous Although its pastoral and woodland
century. The area did not experience the economies may have kept the local econ-
same degee of econolrfic and social distress omy of the fifteenth-century Arden com-
sa those areas where over dependence on paratively buoyant, the area was not
cereal production had often been super- isolated from the hardships which afflicted
seded by the profitable, but socially many parts of champion England. Within
destructive, gazing of sheep. Instead, the the Arden land no longer tilled by the
local economy of the Arden was based on plough became frisc, that is to say it lapsed
cattle grazing and the exploitation of its from arable land into pasture, holdings
woodlands, while the nature of its social were abandoned, buildings became ruined
institutions allowed the opportunity for and gassy tofts took their place. Rents
economic individualism. In the twelfth and plunged in value on many estates, while
thirteenth centuries the Arden had been arrears accumulated on a number of manors
colonized and substantially cleared through during the m_id-fifteenth century, and
assarting, and such newly claimed land was decays and allowances are testimony to the
usually given over to arable cultivation. By decline and abandonment of holdings. In
the fifteenth century pastoralism had 1411 Coventry Cathedral Priory had 2o
become increasingly significant, while the acres in Keresley waste 'which divers
importance of arable cultivation declined. men...wont to hold All which now lie
The landscape which had developed during unoccupied'. Seignorial buildings, especi-
the dynamic colonization of the area, of ally sllit-n and barns, were allowed to fall
small, enclosed fields, whose regulation lay into disrepair, some deteriorating so badly
beyond the scope of the village com- by the mid-fifteenth century that they
nmnity, proved advantageous in livestock passed into the lord's hands. However, not
rearing. Cattle were widely kept by both all these trends had detrimental effects on
lord and peasant, while many sheep were the Arden's rural economy. The movement
also pastured within the Arden although towards pasture was especially beneficial,
not on the same scale sa in the and by the 143os demesnes at Middleton,
Warwickshire Feldon. Both demesne and
peasant producers cultivated ,Lw eat, barley,
J L Touhnin Smith, ed, Leland's Itinery )ti England and Wales, I9O8,
oats, &age, and peas and beans, and during P 47. For the fifteenth=century econonry of the Arden see: Dyer,
'A small landowner in the fifteenth century', pp I-I4; C C Dyer,
Wanvickshire Fanning t349-c xSe0, Dugdale Society Occasional
of Arden, Warwickshire, 135o-x54o', unpublished PhD thesis, Paper, XXVII, I98I, passim; Watkins, 'Catde grazing in the forest
Binningham University, I989, pp 124-68; C Carpenter, Locality of Arden', pp 17-.o3; A D Wattdns, 'The woodland economy of
and Polity, 1992, pp 153-95; C Carpenter, 'The fifteenth-century the forest of Arden in the later Middle Ages', Midl Hist, XVIII,
English gentry and their estates' in M Jones, ed, Gentry dna Lesser 1993, pp 19-32; Watkins, 'Society and economy in the forest of
Nobility ni Later Medieval Europe, Gloucester, 1986, pp 36-6o; Ag Arden', pp ;992-4._oi A D Watkins, 'Merevale Abbey in the late
Hist IH, pp 23-4, 575-6. ,'SO94I Wanvickshire Hist, IX, t994, pp 87-Io4.
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20 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW
Lea Marston, Maxstoke Castle, and manor was retained while the remaining
Tanworth-in-Arden were all pasture, and estates were leased. 6 This paper seeks to
substantial lands at Kingsbury and Sutton determine to what extent the fortunes of
Coldfield were also given over to grazing. the landowners living within the forest of
This is mirrored by the conversion of Arden during the fifteenth century corre-
arable land to pasture on many peasant spond to the traditional view of the for-
holdings. The greater fluidity of the land tunes of the landlord during this period,
market, coupled with a relaxation of which is characterized by adverse econ-
already weak tenurial status, allowed for omic conditions, and sa a consequence
the rise of peasant entrepreneurs/ In the reduced incomes. Many lords chose to
aftermath of the Black Death many abandon direct expolitation of their lands,
demesnes continued to function more or while many resorted to leasing out manors
less sa before, with the emphasis very much to farmers. In order to do this it will be
on arable cultivation, until at least the necessary to examine the nature of the
I38os, if not until the end of the fourteenth pastoral, arable, and woodland activities
century. Those in the Arden at Astley, which existed on some of the Arden estates,
Kingsbury, Maxstoke Priory, and the levels of investment by landlords into
Nuneaton Priory, continued under direct the buildings and other productive
management until the beginning of the resources of the lands, and how estate
fifteenth century/ From then on many management evolved in response to the
estates were put out to farm. In many particular economic circumstances of the
instances landlords often retained an inter- period.
est in the lands on their home manors,
often initially farming out their more dis-
tant estates, such sa the Bracebridges, who I
leased out their manor at Bracebridge in One of the most obvious features of the
Lincolnshire by 1392, whilst retaining in seignorial economy in the fifteenth-century
hand their cluster of estates around forest of Arden was the development of
Kingsbury. Nuneaton Priory also farmed the home farm on those manors where the
out its more distant glebes and tithes in the lord was resident. These were to provide
fifteenth century, whilst retaining the the household with grain, meat, dairy pro-
manors closer to the nunnery at Horeston duce, fruit, and vegetables, and often made
and Eton. Often sa in the case of the use of &mesne and pasture land within
Mountfords and Willoughbys, the home hunting parks. This frequently involved
the rationalization and reorganization of
lands through enclosure and investment
4 Watkins, 'Society and economy in the forest of Arden', pp i27- 3 I,
I40-45; Queen's College, Oxford, Warwickshire Mss No 7; into the productive resources of the estate.
Nottingham University Manuscripts Department hereafter
Livestock was grazed and cereals cultivated,
NUMD, MiM I67, MiM I75, MiD 4227; Birmingham Reference
Library hereafter BRL, Norton Mss ;35 Staffordshire Record with most of the tasks being undertaken
Office hereafter SRO, D 64I/I/2/269; Shakespeare's Birthplace
by wage labourers. To establish such a farm
Trust Record Office hereafter SBT, DR 37//o7/I; N UMD, MiL
;5 SBT, BRT t/3/I8o. For social structure of the Arden see R H landlords often had to expand and consoli-
Hilton, laicoS erutctntS of Rural Wam&kshire ni eht Middle Ages,
date their estates by takang up leases of
Dugdale Society Occasional Paper, IX, x95o. For rising seilianaf
see Dyer, Wam&kshirc gninnaF z349-c zSe0, pp 3o-~; Watkins, lands in adjacent manors. Often this was
'Cattle grazing in tile forest of Arden', pp 17-9; Watkins, 'Society
characterized, sa at Baddesley Clinton in
and economy in the forest of Arden', pp 265-93.
5Warwick County Record Office hereafter WCRO, KIC the ,SO44I by building up a compact block
H6/cHo-cI53, CR H6/cI43; NUMD, MiM ;261 Public Record
Office hereafter PRO, SC 6/xo4o/8-I I; British Library hereafter
BL, Add Rolls 49752-4, ,75794 495759, 49764. The Freville estates
at aeL Marston had already been put to farm by H77: NUMD, ~NUMD, MiM i62; ,LB Add Ch 48o34, 48o35, 48o44/6, ,75o84
MiM I65. 84874, 84875, ;45~94 SBT, DR 37/73.
ii(
I
FIFTEENTH-CENTURY LANDOWNERS IN THE FOREST OF ARDEN 2I
of leased lands of mixed tenurial status. was made in improving the ground by
During the same decade the Willoughbys hedging and ditching. Often such work
were similarly able to increase the extent was quite specific in terms of length of
of their pastures in Middleton by leasing hedging, and occasionally in depth of ditch-
from the Botillers, while the gentleman, ing, sa in 1491 when a new ditch dug next
William Lisle of Moxhull, rented consider- to the 'great pool' in the park was speci-
able lands from the Binghams in Middleton fied sa being sa 'depe sa the old dych'.
in 1456. Maxstoke Priory was sinfilarly able The priory also improved and reclaimed
to expand its resources through the acqui- land through stocking, a process of clear-
sition of Hermitage farm in Little ing trees and bushes from land which had
Packington and by leasing pasture for its become overgrown. By the fifteenth
horses in Kingsbury Park from the century such clearances on Arden estates
Bracebridges, while towards the end of the were common, and were usually of
century Merevale Abbey leased the wood demesne land which had fallen out of
pastures and coppices of Bentley Park from cultivation, suggesting landlords were find-
the Lisles. 7 ing it necessary to recover lands which had
Maxstoke Priory was a typical example been allowed to lapse. At Maxstoke Priory
of such a seigaaorial home farm. The earliest in 1433 two mattocks were purchased for
surviving account roll of the priory from stocking, presumably to break and grub up
1345 suggests that from its creation in the the roots of the undergrowth. In 1443 a
previous year, the priory had been almost new stocking was created, while in 1449
self-sufficient in foodstuffs, and even in the eleven labourers were paid 43s 4d between
fifteenth century, when considerably them for extending part of the lord's park
reduced in numbers, the canons were still to create a pasture, to fell trees, and repair
trying to live off their lands. By the mid- the ditch under the park pale?
fifteenth century the priory was surrounded Some of the courtyards within the priory
by hedged and ditched fields of arable, resembled a modern farmyard, containing
pasture, and meadow land, while above the barns, animal sheds, stables, an ox house,
house on the eastern side of the hills of and stone sties built along the outer wall
the Blythe valley were extensive woodlands of the priory. Ubiquitous throughout the
composed of coppice and great timber. site were poultry: for example, in 1449-5o
Their lands had been further extended by when the kitchener listed some 12 capons,
the acquisition of a large, compact farm, 124 geese, and 172 hens in his care. There
Hermitage, in Little Packington, which lay 8 were also large numbers of pigs within the
adjacent to the priory manor in Maxstoke. walls, with the cellarer reporting in 1442 6
Considerable efforts were made to fol- boars, 39 sows, and 18 piglets/° The priory
low good agricultural practices. Investment also maintained a dairy herd, and in 1442
this consisted of a bull and 91 cows, with
26 calves, which produced 36 stone of
7 For honte smrlif on estates in the fifteenth century ees gA Hist III,
pp 23-4: Dyer, sdradnatS of Living, pp68-9. For those in cheese, 671 gallons of milk, and OI gallons
Warwickshire ees Carpentcr, ytilacoL dna Polity, pp t76-8o; Dyer, of butter. ~' The canons also maintained
A' small landowner in the fifteenth century', pp 4-5; NUMD,
MiM 3t t/33, MiD ;2644 Bodleian Library hereafter Bod Lib, sM
Trinity ,48 p ,22 ,05 ,89 to8; Watkins, 'Merevale Abbey', pp 94-7. 'JBod Lib, sM Trinity ,48 pp ,8 ,41 ,4z ,33 ,93 ,25 ,26 ,27 ,99 Ioo,
SPRO, SC 6/t258/7; airotciV County yrotsiH of erihskcivnaW here- ,7OI iio, 125, I',8, I34, I39, 213, 2t9, 225, 227, 228, 232, ,93o.
after VCI-I, ,VI p 184; Watkins, 'Society dna econo,ny in the 259, 263. For the recovery of overgrown lands on other Arden
forest of Arden', p 5I. The topography of the priory estate ni setatse see: Dyer, A' small landowner in the fifteenth century', p ;5
Maxstoke sah been reconstructed using evidence drawn from the NUMD, 5/t67/toI (i-tit); Dyer, IYanvickshire Fanning
:yralutrac Bod Lib, Ms Trinity ,48 pp ,2 ,o2 ,33 ,93 ,o5 ,25 ,38 ,99 z349-c iSeo, pp to-tt.
Ioo, Io2, m7, to9, I34; J .R Holliday, 'Maxstoke Priory', snarT t°Holliday, 'M~xstoke Priory', pp 64-5; Bod Lib, Ms Trinity ,48
mahgninniB Arch Soc, V, t878, pp64-8o; SBT, DR. 67t/3o-t pp I5, ,42 ,33 ,99 244, it3, .341
(Survey of Lord Leigh's lands at Maxstoke, I776). "Bod Lib, sM Trinity ,48 pp 129, ,-"-31 t34; SBT, DR 37/114.
22 THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW
beef animals, having a herd of 46 steers, estate at Maxstoke Castle, the park and
kine, bullocks and heifers in 1442, which parts of the demesne had been converted
by 1449 had expanded to 69 store beasts. into grazing for cattle and sheep, and also
Although some were sent to market, most deer and horses.
animals were slaughtered to feed the house- In a number of instances a wider estate
hold, which by the mid-fifteenth century was integrated into such a system, *x Beasts
numbered some 3o brethren, servants, were fattened on the earl of Warwick's
guests, and children. ~ pastures of Wedgnock Park during the first
(
It is well known that members of the half of the fifteenth century, a dairy herd
gentry were involved in maintaining home maintained on his estate at Claverdon,
farms. The Mounffords of Coleshill kept whilst animals were grazed on other
(
small herds of cattle and flocks of sheep in Beauchamp manors at Lighthome and
their parks at Coleshill, Kingshurst, and Moreton Morrell. Elsewhere on the earl's r
Hampton-in-Arden to feed their house- lands grains were cultivated at Budbrooke,
hold. The careful management of demesne while the large manor at Tanworth-in-
p.asture and meadows at Middleton in the Arden housed a horse stud and provided
late I44OS enabled the Willoughbys to the rest of the estate with timber and
reorganize their lands for grazing, while underwood. Underpinning this whole
the Ferrers of Tamworth seem to have operation was the profitability of pastoral
created a home farm around their castle at farming. In 1418 Wedgnock Park sup-
Tamworth. Maxstoke Priory was not the ported over 2oo cattle and dairy cows and
only religious house to be involved in a flock of over 4o sheep. The earl's agents,
cattle grazing. Towards the end of the sa well sa travelling to buy Welsh animals
century Merevale Abbey owned consider- from the market towns of the Severn valley,
able numbers of cattle, with a dairy herd, often dealt directly with drovers from
store beasts, and a beef herd. Incidental Wales. A herd of animals accompanied the
references suggested that other families household of the countess of Warwick on
such sa the At'dens, Bracebridges, Clintons, her travels in 1421. Wedgnock was the
Ferrets of Tamworth, and Harewells may central manor of this wider estate, and its
also have kept animals on their demesnes pastures not only supported many cattle
during the fifteenth century.~3 Members of and sheep, but its woodlands yielded faggots
the peerage also established home farms. and timber. These manors in Warwick-
At Astley Castle the Greys maintained a shire were in turn only part of a much
small dairy herd, usually of about a dozen wider estate economy, which saw the
cows, and a small store herd to supply Beauchamp's demesne managers transfer
meat. There was another herd of beef cattle from their lands at Barnard Castle in
animals on their manor of Weddington, County Durham, to their Midland
near Nuneaton, and beasts were inter- residences. ~ s
changed between the two manors. Grey
was not the only member of the peerage
'4WCRO, CR 136/ci52; Watkins, 'Cattle grazing in the forest of
to create a home farm with animals grazing Arden', pp 15-6; SILO, D 641/1/2/269-276; BR.L, DV2 168236;
PRO, SC 6/xo4o/I5; Maxstoke Casdt, Fetherstone-Dilke Mss I(
amid his parklands. By the mid-fifteenth
am greatly indebted to Captaiu C 31 Fethertsone-Dilke for making
century on the duke of Buckingham's this document available to me); Rawcliffe, The ,sdroffa& pp 69-7o.
,s Dyer, erihskcivnaW ~ninlraF I349-c ,o25~ pp 4, ;02 WCR.O, CR
1886/484-88, DR 895/8/1I-2o; Watkins, 'The woodland econ-
omy of the forest of Arden', p ;22 SBT, DR. 37/xo7/I-29, DR.
~ SBT, DR. 37/II4; Bod Lib, Ms Trinity 84, pp lag. 37/1o8/3o-52; Watkins, 'Cattle grazing in the forest of Arden',
3, SBT, DR. 37/73; NUMD, 5/I67/Im (i-ill); Watkins, 'Merevale pp 13-5; C D Ross, 'The household accouuts of Elizabeth
Abbey', pp 95-7; Watkins, 'Cattle grazing in the forest of Arden', Berkeley, countess of Warwick, I42o-I', Trans Bristol and
pp 96-7; Dyer, Lords and ,stnasaeP p 215; Carpenter, Locality dna erihsretsecuo!G Arch Soc, XXXIV, 195t, p 9o; K B McFaflane, The
Polity, p 172. Nobility of Later Medieval England, I973, p I94.
t-
FIFTEENTH-CENTURY LANDOWNERS IN THE FOREST OF ARDEN 32
It was not only the earls of Warwick better price before sale. Similarly peas,
who were able to integrate their estate. As barley and oats were cultivated at Astley,
we have seen the Mountfords of Coleshill mainly for livestock fodder. Cereal pro-
made direct use of their demesnes at duction was also revived at Moxhull and
Coleshill, Kingshurst, and Hampton-in- Middleton during the late I44OS, and at
Arden. Maxstoke Priory continued to the latter location seed grains were pur-
make use of its glebe rectories at Tanworth- chased, and payments made for ploughing,
in-Arden, Aston Cantlow and Long harrowing, hoeing, reaping, binding,
Itchington, while Merevale Abbey con- threshing, and winnowing. Interestingly, sa
tinued to exploit its lands at Pinwall and at Baddesley Clinton, only somewhere
Seal, growing grains on its Leicestershire between OI and 20 acres were cultivated
estates, and grazing cattle on its woodland out of a total demesne of around 3oo acres.
Arden manors. 6~ Less common was the Even so sufficient grains and legumes were
landlord who was raising livestock for the gathered at Middleton in 1446-7 to employ
market. The cattle grazing of John Brome R.ichard of the Lee for four days to cart
of Baddesley Clinton si well documented, them from the fields to the manor's barns.
and he often raised herds of seventy or so Small acreages of wheat and oats were
beef animals for sale to butchers. Other cultivated at Wedgnock, again usually well
landlords were also selling beasts at market. under 2o acres. 8~ Cereals and grains were
In 1449-5o Maxstoke Priory sold 61 steers, grown at Maxstoke Priory during the
6 calves and 51 sheep, while the size of 144os, with quantities of grain and legumes
herds at Merevale Abbey clearly suggest held back for seed. In 1442 nearly o41 acres
that the monks were involved in commer- were sown with peas, wheat, and barley,
cial grazing. At the Beauchamp's estate of but this would appear to be an unusually
Wedgnock, cattle grazing generated a good large acreage, sa details from the late 144os
cash income. Sales of cattle and sheep to suggest that more often only about 6o acres
butchers from Warwick, Birmingham, was sown, with wheat usually composing
Coventry, and occasionally London, were at least two-thirds. Payments made to
worth £68 S2I ,d3 while in 1424 such sales labourers indicate that Merevale Abbey was
generated £53 2s ,d5 whilst in an excep- still cultivating its arable lands in the late
tional year, 1431, the sale of 261 cattle .so941 ~ 9
brought the estate £ioo S7I .d4 '7 An important supply of crops to both
the religious houses and the gentry house-
holds came from tithe. Merevale Abbey
II continued to collect tithes in kind. Local
On a number of home farms cereals and officials were paid sa collectors, while the
legumes were grown. At Baddesley Clinton monks invested in maintenance of barns
only about 3o acres, out of a demesne of to store tithe produce at Moorbarn,
some 3oo acres, were sown with wheat, Woodbarn, Witherley, and Twycross,
along with crops for animal feed. Much of
the harvest was consumed by Brome's
,s Dyer, 'A small landowner in the fifteenth ceutury', p ;6 WCIkO,
household, but some was preserved and
CIL H6/c15o-ct$2, ci54; NUMD, 5/167/1oi (i-ill); wcrzo,
stored in barns while Brome awaited a ZFC 1886/484.
:'~Bod Lib, Ms Trinity ,48 pp 98, Io9, H3-4; Watkins, 'Merevale
Abbey', pp 94-5; WCIkO, MR i. The calculations of acreage
sown is based upon information 1,o yields given in J Z Titow,
'°SBT, DR 37/73; Bod Lib, Ms Trinity 84, pp ,11 Io5, I27, 136, retseldniW Yields, I972, p H; W O Auk, dleiF-nepO Fanning ni
137, 142; Watkins, 'Merevale Abbey', pp 94-5. laveideM ,dnalgnE I972, pp 2o, 38; B M S CampbeU, 'Agricultural
"Dyer, 'A small landowner in the fifteenth century', pp 6-to; SBT, progress in medieval England: some evidence from eastern
DR 37/I ;41 Watkins, 'Merevale Abbey', pp 94-5; WCILO, CP. Norfolk', nocE tsil-l Rev, 2nd ser, XXXVI, I983, p ;o3 D Oschinsky,
1886/484, 486, 488. retlaW of Henley, I97I, pp 323-5.
J
24
THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW
while a tithe barn was constructed by the sown, sa well sa industrial crops, such sa
abbey towards the end of the medieval hemp and flax, while the infirmarer made
period at Newhouse. In some years a liquor, acetum or verjuice, from the apples
Maxstoke Priory collected grains and leg- from his orchard. The true value of the
umes from two glebe rectories at Aston garden lay in providing the household with
Cantlow and Tanworth-in-Arden, which honey, fresh fruit, and vegetables, and
were a mixture of crops harvested from although produce was sold it never
the glebe lands and of tithe from their amounted to a significant element in the
parishioners. In some years grains and leg- income of the house. ~2 In 1458, for
umes from both estates were sold, such sa example, the sale of one quarter and six
in 1441 when 15 quarters of wheat, 54 bushels of apples and eight gallons of acetum
quarters of barley, and one rick of peas, only brought in 2IS, and sales of six bushels
collected at Aston Gantlow were sold, or of apples, two pipes, and two gallons of
at Tanworth-in-Arden the following year acetum and garlic, only yielded s81 I I .d
when 54 quarters of wheat and 3 quarters Kitchen gardens provided the countess of
of peas were sent to market, while in others Warwick with flesh vegetables in 142o-1,
such sa 1442 some 71 quarters of wheat, while money was invested in the convent
47 quarters of barley, and 47 quarters of garden wall at Merevale Abbey in 1498.
peas were carted to Maxstoke to be con- At Middleton investment was made in the
sumed by the household. °~ Members of gardens and orchard of the manor house.
the gentry also made good use of tithe A garden gate was constructed in 1446 and
grains. The Willoughbys leased tithes of in the same year hedges around the Hall
parishes that neighboured Middleton and Orchard were repaired, and extended by
the Mounffords similarly farmed the tithes 41 rods in 1451. In this year John Degan
of Bickenhill and Coleshill. It is interesting was paid d½7 for three days work grafting
to note that when John Brome purchased an apple tree. By the time of the more
seed for his estate, he not only patronized detailed Willoughby household books of
the grain merchants of Warwick market, the 51 ios and 152os the garden and orchard
but also went to the rector of Lapworth were a flourishing and integral part of the
and vicar of Rowington presumably buying estate economy. Payments are recorded for
from them tithe grains for seed. ~'~ seed, while in 152o the orchard, which
Limitations in surviving documents have presumably contained many of the same
meant that the role of the kitchen garden fruit trees sa in the mid-fifteenth century,
in the seignorial economy si better yielded crab apples for which payments
imagined than recorded. At Maxstoke were made for 'gryndyng of crabbys' to
Priory there were two walled gardens, that make verjuice. 3"
of the sacristy, and that of the infim~ary.
The latter was much the larger, and the
wall saw regularly maintained and its dit-
ches kept in a good state of repair. It
contained an orchard of apple and pear :" For a discussion of seignorial gardens see J Harvey, 'Vegetables in
the Middle Ages', Gardelt Hist, XII, 1984, pp 89-99; C C Dyer,
trees, lawns mown to provide herbage for
'Jardins et vergers en Angleterre au moyen Age', inJardi.s et sregrev
livestock, a fishpond, and many hives. au moye. ,e@ Centre Culturel de I'Abbaye de Flaran, 9e journ6es
intemationales d'liistoire, x987, pp 14.5-64; Bod Lib, Ms Trinity
Garlic, leeks, onions, and cabbages were
84, pp 245-89; TJ Hunt and I Keil, 'Two medieval gardens', Proc
erihstesremoS Arch and Nat Hist Soc, CIV, I959-62, pp 9X-lOI.
:3Bod Lib, Ms Trinity 84, p 258; Ross, 'Household accounts of
~°Watkins, 'Merevale Abbey', pp 94-5; Bod Lib, Ms Trinity 84, Elizabeth Berkeley', p x o2; PIKO, E 315/283, los 2o-2o ;v NUMD,
pp H, ~27, 137, 134-6, Io5. 5/I67/Ioi (i and iii); Report o. the Manusc@ts of Lord Middleton,
~: NUMD, 5/I67/ioi(iii), MiA9 los 7 ,v 33-33 ;~ SBT, DR. 37/74, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 19II, p 33o; NUMD, MiA
DR. 3/8o5. 9, fo 5 ,v MiA 14, fo I4 ,v MiA I5, fo I, MiA 81 fo 4,
i:
/ vl
i;
FIFTEENTH-CENTURY LANDOWNERS IN THE FOREST OF ARDEN 52
III I43I-Z when this yielded £3. 5'- On a
The economy of many Arden demesnes number of manors, notably Maxstoke
was further stimulated by the exploitation Priory, Middleton, and Sutton Coldfield
of woodland resources, sa trees and underwood was leased out by the acre. On
underwood took the place of livestock and some occasions larger sums of money could
grains sa cash generators on many estates. be generated from woodlands. A survey
r Woodland pasture and browse wood were made of Middleton in 1419 revealed that
also of value and provided fodder for cattle leases of woodland were worth £28 s6 8d
r at Maxstoke, Merevale, Middleton, and a year, and at Wedgnock sales of faggots
Wedgnock, while game birds and rabbits generated £19 4s in 1417-8 and
supplemented the larders of many Arden £17 S6I d8 in 1425-6, while at Fillongley
manor houses. The value of these resources m 1471 sales of woodland brought in
S
f was clearly realized by the landlord and si £17 S6I ,d8 well over a third of the estate's
demonstrated by the high standard of their income. Maxstoke Priory received £29 in
f : management on many estates. These were 145o, while in an exceptional year, on the
carefully exploited assets, with new growth Beauchamp manor of Tanworth-in-Arden
carefully preserved until it reached in 14o4, wood sales generated £IOO out of
maturity. This is reflected in investment in an estate income of£IoSf 6
ditching and enclosing woodlands, and In areas with mineral resources, landlords
in the zealous way in which they were were able to contribute to their income by
guarded and protected.-'* Direct exploi- developing industry on their manors. A
tation by the landlord in the Arden was number of Arden manors were associated
7 not common, with most leasing out whole with industrial processes during this time.
1 woods, or contracting for either specific By the mid-sixteenth century the Arden's
numb ers of trees or acreages of underwood. abundance of wood-based fuels encouraged
At Coleshill, the Mountfords entered into some lords to establish blast furnaces on
f a number of such agreements. In 14o2 they their lands, notably at Middleton and
t leased 'the whole of the wood of Beltesley' Furnace End in Over Whitacre. However,
to a collier, or charcoal burner, for these projects required iron ore to be
£6o S3I 4d over four years, while in 1482 imported from the Black Country to be
I they sold 66o trees in Coleshill Park and in smelted by Arden charcoal, for although
1487 621 oaks in Kingshurst Park. A some medieval woodland areas, such sa the
number of other estates made specific sales forest of Dean and the Sussex Weald, were
of great timber from their parks, such sa at rich in mineral deposits they do not occur
Maxstoke Priory, Nuneaton Priory, and in the Arden, and no such blast furnaces
the Beauchamps at Tanworth-in-Arden, are recorded before the reign of Elizabeth.
where in I4O9-IO o21 ashes were sold. At It si well known that coal seams outcrop
Baddesley Clinton such sales brought along the eastern end of the Arden plateau,
in over £5 a year, or nearly a sixth of and coal had been mined in the Nuneaton
the manor's revenue in the I44OS, while area since Roman times. Nuneaton Priory
elsewhere demesne woods at Sheldon, had coal workings on its manors, and
Middleton, Maxstoke, and Merevale
yielded annual sums ranging from £5 to ,L.RB~: A 433, A 519, A 589, A 629, A 635; Bod Lib, Ms Trinity
£15. At Maxstoke Priory money was also ,48 pp ,,-1 ,41 ,92 I2i; ,LB ddA Rolls ,55794 ,75794 ,85794 ,06794
,36794 ;46794 SBT .RD 37/lo7/I-2, ,31 ,22 ,42 .RD 37/Io8/3I,
raised through tithes on woodlands sa in ,23 ;43 Dyer, A' small landowner in the fifteenth century', p ;9
,O.,PS 26/D53/1/~25; NUMD, MiM I39-I42; Bod Lib, Ms
Trinity ,48 pp I4, ,o2 ,92 Io2, 115, i18, 12I; Watkins, 'Merevale
4: For a general noissucsid of the woodland economy of the area dna Abbey', pp 97-9.
sti impact on the seignorial economy ees Watkins, 'The woodland ,DMUN6~" MiM I75, MiM 214; WCR.O, CR. I886/484, 487;
economy oftbe forest of Arden', pp 19-25. Coventry Record Office, E Io; SBT, DR. 37/IO7/13.
26
THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW
during the last few years of the fourteenth output, firing sa in I499 some 20,000 tiles
century these had yielded about so5 a year. and 20,000 bricks. s~
By the early fifteenth century these were The most common industrial activity on
no longer generating cash, probably Arden estates by the later Middle Ages was
because the easily-nfined, outcropping the manufacture of wooden building mate-
seams had become exhausted. The priory rims. Great timber for the frames of build-
was not the only landlord to have coal ings was felled, and spars, rods, laths, and
workings on its estates. Towards the end joists were cut and dressed within many
J
of the fifteenth century an area near to demesne woodlands, such sa at Middleton,
Merevale Abbey was known sa 'le Colputt', Nuneaton Priory, Tanworth-in-Arden,
probably a pit where coal was extracted, Maxstoke Priory, and Merevale Abbey. For
although no material has survived to sug- example, at Middleton in I449-5o, several
gest how this was exploited. 7~ men were paid for twenty-seven days work
There were also some stone workings cutting and dressing oaks in the park and
within the Arden. Within her extensive in an enclosure called Woodhurst, to pro-
woodlands the prioress of Nuneaton owned duce timber for laths, joists, and spars for
a number of quarries. By the later Middle building work within the manor. Demesne
Ages, these seem to have been leased, coppices provided underwood to be used
generating such sums sa just under £2 for the in fill of buildings, sa well sa a
towards the end of the fourteenth century. multitude of other purposes, at Sutton
The stone quarry at Baddesley Clinton was Coldfield, Nuneaton Priory, Tanworth-in-
considered by Brome to be among his Arden, Middleton, and Maxstoke Priory.
most important assets. Over the years he It is well known that building materials
invested some £4 7s 2d in refurbishment from the Arden served a wide area, includ-
of the quarry and the acquisition of equip- ing the Avon valley, Feldon, south
merit, and in return received £7 s8 Iod Staffordshire, and parts of Leicestershire. In
through sales of stone, while Maxstoke I434 the Mountfords of Coleshill sent
Priory and Merevale Abbey also had quar- timber to be sold at Henley-in-Arden on
ries. Tiles were fired on a number of the verge of the receding woodlands of the
estates. In I457 .John Brome refurbished a south Arden and the Avon valley, while
tile works on his demesne, enlarging the the Beauchamps similarly sold timber from
tile house and furnace, the pit for storing Tanworth-in-Arden at Warwick, Knowle,
water, and the drying place, while part of and Coventry. Arden timber was also find-
the demesne at Coleshill was known sa ing its way to Leicester, and wood from
Kilnmeadow towards the end of the fif- Sutton Chase was sold widely around the
teenth century. Merevale Abbey had a fully immediate area. 9=
functioning tile kiln at Pinwall, which also
fired bricks. This was capable of a large
IV
One of the most obvious features of the
fifteenth-century rural economy are the
:~S M Wright, Tire erihsybreD Ge.tr}, ni tire Fifteenth ,yrutneC s= Wat ,snik- 'The woodland economy of the forest of Arden', pp 28-9;
Derbyshire Record Society, VIII, t983, pp ",1-22; KI A Pelham, Dyer, 'A small landowner in the fifteenth century', p m; PRO,
'The establishment of the Willoughby ironworks in north SC t 1/68t; Watkins, 'Merevale Abbey', pp 98-9.
Warwickshire in the sixteenth century', U.iv Binni.gham Histj.I, '~Watkins, 'The woodland economy of the forest of Arden',
IV. 1953- 4, pp ;92-81 WCRO, )B(RD ,2/3/83 p 29; Watkins, pp3o-3l; NUMD, 5/167/1oi(iii); SBT, I)R 37/73; DR
'The woodland economy of the forest of Arden', p 29; VCH, If, 37/1o8/3I; T H Lloyd, So.re stcepsA of eht Building l.dustry of
pp 219-2o; Watkins, 'Merevale Abbey', p 98; J Hatcher, The laveideM ,novA-.opu-droftartS Dugdale Society Occasional Paper,
yrotsiH of eht hsitirB Coal lndustq,, h erofeB ,oo7x I993, pp I35-6. XIV, I96I, pp 16-22.
FIFTEENTH-CENTURY LANDOWNERS IN THE FOREST OF ARDEN 27
reports of the dilapidated and ruinous money was spent on buildings of a dom-
condition of many buildings, on both estic nature, such sa in the castles at
demesnes and on peasant holdings. Maxstoke, Astley, and Tamworth, the con-
Landlords did little to alleviate this, fail- ventual and appropriated churches and
1
ing to put capital into their estates. glebe buildings on the Maxstoke Priory
Contemporary treatises on estate manage- and Merevale Abbey estates, and the hall
ment did not expound the virtues of and other domestic buildings at Middleton.
re-investing profits into new building, live- Most expenditure was put into repairing
stock, or equipment, while many of the existing structures rather than creating new
aristocracy preferred to spend their profits ones. The most obvious form of capital
on ostentatious personal display, and on investment into the productive resources
patronage to retain the support of their of their manors for landlords was in
retinues. Studying records of the larger demesne buildings such sa barns, stock-
religious houses and the peerage, Hilton houses, and mills) ~
estimated that frequently they spent less At Merevale Abbey demesne properties
than OI per cent and often sa little sa 4-5 such sa the Old Storehouse, the Carters
per cent of their manorial profits on capital barn, the Abbot's stable, the 'hyndehouse',
investment. Although the later Middle the Abbot's barn, and the storehouse barn
Ages are usually seen sa a period of falling were repaired. The abbey also sought to
investment, he did notice a trend for a maintain buildings on its properties in good
slight increase in expenditure, both in states of repair. Work was undertaken on
demesne buildings and also on tenants' barns at Moorbarn, Woodbam, Witherley,
houses. °3 Between 1437 and 15o8 the and Twycross, and on dovecots at Orton-
Buckinghams re-invested only slightly over on-the-Hill and Mancetter. Money was
4 per cent of their total manorial receipts spent on the upkeep of a rabbit warren at
into the demesne at Maxstoke Castle. The Orton-on-the-Hill, while at PinwaU the
Astleys seem to have spent a comparatively arches of a tile kiln were repaired. At
low sum at Astley Castle, while Hilton has Maxstoke Priory stables, barns, the sub-
estimated that in the SO74I managers of the prior's mill, the forge, the ox house, and a
earl of Warwick's manors spent up to 9 woodhouse located within the southern
per cent on the estates. The Willoughbys courtyards of the priory all had work car-
invested well above these figures in build- ried out upon them. There was also a
ings, the repair and extension of enclosures, bakehouse, with its own attached water-
and in the purchase and maintenance of wheel which was repaired along with the
equipment. In 1446-7 some £5, or about roof and furnace in 1433. 33 The canons of
51 per cent of the income of the estate, Maxstoke carefully monitored their expen-
was spent in these areas, while in 1431-2 diture both in these areas and on their
almost 82 per cent of the manors' income conventual buildings. During the SO54I a
was spent on maintaining manorial assets, list was drawn up detailing all the monies
mainly on this occasion in the construction that Prior Green had expended on build-
and repair of enclosures) ~ However, most ings for each year that he was prior. Over
a period of some seventeen years the priory
£314
invested in its buildings, with the
~°P, H Hilton, The ,e(~E lish Peasantry in the Later Middle Ages, t975,
pp 174-214; Dyer, Standards of ,,e(liviL p ;o8 Dyer, 'A small majority of this going into the conventual
landowner in the fifteenth century', pp ,5 8-m; Watkins, 'Society
and economy in the forest of Arden', pp 147-8; Carpenter, Locality
and Polity, pp 165-6. s:SR.O, D641/I/a/269-279; WCRO, L1C 136/ci5o-c157; BILL,
~3 Watkins, 'Society and economy in the Forest of Arden', p 165; DV 295 437894;NUMD, 5/167/Ioi.
/ Hilton, The English Peasantry, pp I74-214; NUMD, 5/167/1ol i( 33Wat'kins, 'Merevale Abbey', pp 93-4; Bod Lib, Ms Tnnity 84,
and iii). pp 6, ,8 ,51 22, 24, 26, 33, 4 o, ,27 99, IO6, II9-2o, I39, 244, 247.