Lieutenant-Colonel J W Molyneux-Child (below) has had a varied career as a professional Army REME Officer, mechanical engineer and chairman of eleven electronics companies of the Surrey Group based at Staines (see) also in historical research, he inherited the Lordships in Surrey of the Manors of Dedswell and Papworth, near Guildford, and lives at Croxteth Hall, Ripley in Surrey. He now spends the summer six months on his estate in South West France, more details are here.......click.

His presentation was supported by very well produced slides illustrating a series of sections covered in “The Evolution the English Manorial System.

First he clarified the word “manor” (more below...here) which may be defined as a landed estate run as a single administrative unit containing sections of land held by various tenants, primarily in the Middle Ages; the term was also used at a later date to describe the residence of someone in the middle ranks of the landowning classes, a property of, say, the size of a large farmhouse today.

From the Norman Conquest, the manor developed as an economic unit supplying its owner, usually a knight rewarded with land by the crown, with sufficient income to live on. By the early 12th century, this was commonly divided into two parts: the lord’s lands, under his immediate control, and tenanted land, whose residents provided the services needed to cultivate the tenanted land and his lands as well. These tenants usually held their land freely, or owing the lord a mixture of services and money rent. In the 13th century the practice of the payment of money in lieu of services, had become widespread.

By the 15th century, the lord of the manor commonly exercised rights of jurisdiction over his tenants in his private court, the ‘court baron’, this type of farming continued in some places until the early 20th century with continuing strong ties between lord and tenant, the growth of the influence of the parish in local government under the Tudors and the break-up of many manors eroded the system throughout the post-medieval period.

Important elements in the running of a manor were its officials. These might include a steward, the lord’s chief administrator and bailiffs both responsible for farm management. Another major element was manorial custom: particular rights and practices which became part of the law of a local manor after a certain period of existence, often 20 years. These customs included widespread practices such as the payment of a ‘heriot’ or ‘best beast’, claimed by the lord on the death of a tenant, or ‘tallage’, a fine on a tenant’s goods and chattels, and local rights such as the right to draw water from a certain well or to use a piece of land for common pasturage.

The essence of the feudal system, which originated in the military policy of the tribes of northern Europe, was that the ultimate title to all land in a kingdom vested in the King but that it could be held by sub-proprietors (vassals) in exchange for a commitment to the provision of arms and men in times of war. It was introduced by William soon after the Conquest after a threat of invasion from the Danes.

The Doomsday Book (left) or rather books, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk were recorded in a smaller supplementary volume is housed in the Public Record Office and has recently been re-bound undoing poor work carried out in Victorian times. It is an inventory created to form a basis for taxation. It was completed in a year and its purpose was clearly well understood because local jurors were active in disputing values attributed. Its second but very important use was as a record of the extent and ownership of land. As such it was a definitive authority which could not be disputed. It was also the best indication we now have of the population of the country (of England: Scotland, most of Wales and parts of the far north were excluded). Only men were counted – excluding clergy, monks and nuns, women and children. Modern estimates are constructed by applying a multiplier of 5.4 to the count. By this method the population covered by Doomsday was 1,687,500

Almost all of the legal functions of the Manorial System are now defunct but they were once considerable. Most important were the Courts Baron. These were supposed to be held every three weeks although the frequency was variable from the 15^th Century onwards. The judgements were made by the assembled body of the tenants; later by juries drawn from the same group. The business was minor cases of debt, contract, trespass and assault, breaches of custom, enforcing the rules of open field husbandry and offences of nuisance. Major theft and violence were the prerogative of the Crown. Punishments were by fines, the stocks or enforced work. The courts were customarily presided over by the Steward or sometimes the Lord of the Manor.

There was a hierarchy of officials in a manor the most important of which was the Steward. Farm management was the responsibility of the Bailiff who was accountable for the collection of rents and dues, the exaction of fine and the seizing of  ‘heriot’ or ‘best beast’, on the death of a sub- tenant. In many manors there was an ale taster whose job was to assess the quality and price of bread and alcoholic drink produced for sale. He had the power to exact fines on behalf of the Lord but the mechanism acted more as a licensing fee system than as a way of maintaining quality standards.

In his own manors Molyneux-Child likes to “revive” customs for purely entertainment purposes, the Ale taster being a popular character as the centre of jollifications, much of this is in aid of Charities especially Macmillan Cancer Research.

After question time, which raised some interesting questions and very detailed explanations, Frank Rae on behalf of the membership thanked Lieutenant-Colonel J W Molyneux-Child for a most informative and very interesting presentation with which the membership concurred in our normal manner.

Report with thanks to Brian Jackson

Suggested Further Reading:-

The Evolution of the English Manorial System, J W Molyneux-Child, 1987

 EMC Shielding Materials. A Designer's Guide, Molyneux-Child, J W

What is a Manor? A manor may be defined as a landed estate run as a single administrative unit containing sections of land held by various tenants, primarily in the Middle Ages; the term was also used at a later date to describe the residence of someone in the middle ranks of the landowning classes, a property of, say, the size of a large farmhouse today. From the Norman Conquest, the manor developed as an economic unit supplying its owner, usually a knight rewarded with land by the crown, with sufficient income to live on. By the early 12th century, this was commonly divided into two parts: the lord’s ‘demesne’, under his immediate control, and tenanted land, whose residents provided the services needed to cultivate the ‘demesne’. These tenants usually held their land freely, or as villeins owing the lord a mixture of services and money rent. In the 13th century the practice of ‘commutation’, the payment of money in lieu of services, had become widespread. By the 15th century, the lord of the manor commonly exercised rights of jurisdiction over his tenants in his private court, the ‘court baron’. However, although demesne farming continued in some places until the early 20th century with continuing strong ties between lord and tenant, the growth of the influence of the parish in local government under the Tudors and the break-up of many manors eroded the system throughout the post-medieval period. Important elements in the running of a manor were its officials. These might include a steward, the lord’s chief administrator, and reeves and bailiffs, both responsible for farm management. Another major element was manorial custom: particular rights and practices which became part of the law of a local manor after a certain period of existence, often 20 years. These customs included widespread practices such as the payment of a ‘heriot’ or ‘best beast’, claimed by the lord on the death of a tenant, or ‘tallage’, a fine on a tenant’s goods and chattels, and local rights such as the right to draw water from a certain well or to use a piece of land for common pasturage.