You are not logged in.
Login | Register
In NHBG Newsletter No 28 (Autumn 2014), Diane Barr described some of the sources she had found most useful when exploring the documentary history of Walsingham and, in particular, who owned the properties the Group were examining. These are sources that are useful for anyone researching historic buildings. Over the coming months Diane will examine these sources and many more not used for the project. Each piece will describe what the sources are and how to use them, how you access them, their usefulness, and what the pitfalls are in using them. Here is a brief reminder of the sources used in the Walsingham survey. The most valuable historical documents for the study of Little Walsingham were the two surveys or terriers carried out to record the holdings in the tenure of the lord of the manor.
1. Tithe Apportionments & Maps;
2. Enclosure Awards and Maps; 3. Land Tax Assessments.
1. Tithe Apportionments and Maps
A useful set of records for discovering the history of a property are the documents associated with the Act of Enclosure or Inclosure as it is referred to in a legal context. These records often predate tithe records by 40 years or more making them a useful source for houses built before the survey. Enclosure is the consolidation or extension of land-holdings into larger units by putting a hedge or fence around them. This can include the merging of communally farmed open fields into small fields farmed by individuals, and the occupation of commons by large landowners resulting in the exclusion of other users. The legal documents recording the ownership and distribution of the lands enclosed are called Enclosure Awards.
The history of enclosure spans many centuries and is too complex for the purpose of these articles. Briefly, the enclosure of land developed into three methods:
Henry Burcham
Messuage or tenement, buildings, yard and garden
Late Augustine Knocker now untenanted
Messuages or tenements, near above with buildings, yard and gardens
Himself, John Burcham, William Yaxley, William Scott Hall, William Doddea and widow Baldwin
3 Messuage or tenements
Robert Durrent, Thomas Bangy and John Barrett
Elizabeth Codham
Messuage and barn with buildings and yard
Own occupation
4 messuages with buildings and yards
William Lambert, Bridget Utting, John Creed and John Bangy
Messuage or tenement with buildings and yards
Widow Browne
William Loades Rix
Messuage,buildings, yard, garden and plantation
Messuage, buildings, yard and garden
Miss Winifred Rix
Cottage with stable, yard and garden, adjoining above
Richard Miller
Two cottages under one roof with buildings, yard and gardens
Edmund Buscall and Elizabeth Scott
Messuage called the Exchange Inn with buildings, yard and garden
Clement Jacob
William Wetdrill
2 Messuage or tenement,buildings, yard, garden and orchard
Own occupation and Robert Leeder
William Haythorpe