Title
INTRODUCTION
The documents listed in the L1 section of the
catalogue onwards had already lost any original pattern before
work on them was commenced; their sequence below is there-
fore artificial, designed to regain a coherent order while
separating certain clearly defined properties from the general
run of leases. As the de Grey family had held their Blunham
manor since just before 1400, it is not surprising that the
documents calandered below, few of which date from before 1600,
are chiefly interesting for the admirable series of 17th and
18th century leases which it contains; but a few of the other
notable items are best indicated first.
``The release of pasture rights made in 1604 by the
tenants of Blunham manor to their lord is not only an example
of the small scale modification of the open field system of
agriculture with its common pasture rights, but a valuable
list of 41 tenants, and with its seal, in way of being a
curiosity diplomatically. (1/14).
Several of the documents (1/3, 1/71 - 1/80, 1/106,
1/107) concern the land which before the Reformation had
belonged to the Fraternity of the Holy Trinity in Blunham.
Some was sold by the Earl of Kent in 1605 (1/3), but lease
of the rest during the remainder of that century and perhaps
for much of the 18th century survive (1/71 et seq.). From
the earliest of these leases made in 1562 emerges the fact
that the manor court was at that date held in 'Brotherhood
Hall'.
One or two of the properties dealt with in the leases
deserve special mention. Two documents deal with fishing
rights in West Water, Blunham (1/101, 1/102), and another
with the impropiate tithes of Moggerhanger and the other
hamlets (1/100). The last contains reference to the provision
made for the relief of the poor out of tithes, in wheat, malt,
hay and barley straw, and also mentions the layout of part of
the tithe barn.
The series of leases of Blunham mills covers more than
three centuries from 1538 to 1843 and contains several
detailed descriptions of the property and inventories of its
contents. The documents calendered by Mr. Jeayes throw
additional light on these mills; in 1553 the de Greys added
by purchase the mills which had belonged to St. John's College
Cambridge to those which they already owned in Blunham (Jeayes
Catalogue No: 249). The two sets of mills were apparently
adjacent; and in 1558 both were leased at a combined rent
of 12 a year, those which formed the original property of
the de Grey family having, it seems, been recently rebuilt
(Jeayes Catalogue No:251). In the lease of 1550/1 (1/82),
is a list of timber which the lord is to provide for repairs;
it includes oak, elm, maple and crabtree. In that of 1662
(1/88) the tenant is allowed one year's rent for the repair
of considerable delapidation. Most of the leases contain
provisions for the replacement of any willow trees on the
river banks which died.
The main series of leases concerns 'parts' and 'half-
parts' of land, that is, 25 (or 12.1.2) acres of arable with
their appurtenant strips of pasture, probably identifiable
with either the medieval virgates or the holdings produced
when the original demesne was divided up in the 15th century.
The series is best during the first half of the 17th century,
becoming less comprehensive in its closing decades, failing
altogether in the first 40 years of the next century, though
a number of leases for the period 1740 - 80 have survived.
Nearly all those made in 1615/16 (cf. 1/14) are extant and
most of those made in 1628 and 1655. Misfortune does not
account entirely for subsequent decline; even before 1700
there is evidence that on occasion more than one holding was
being leased to a single tenant, while after that date what
evidence there is shows that this trend had proceeded much
further ( 1/63, 1/64, 1/80).
The period for which leases were made fluctuated from
decade to decade.In 1615 they were for 15 years, in 1628 for
21; in 1655 for no more than 9 (is the solitary surviving lease
for a term of only 12 years from 1634 a pointer to this change?).
During the rest of the 17th century no period longer than 9 years
has been observed, though a short one as 6 occurred. In 1742
the term was 21 years, though later in the century it was shorter.
The size of the rents paid was in part related to the
incidence of carriage services required from the tenants.
These continued to be inserted in leases right up to the time
when the series fails in about 1780, and for the land taken
with the mills right up to the dawn of the railway era (1/99):
to what extent they were exacted would have to be determined from
other sources, but the variation in detail in their incidence
1. The entry in Jeayes' Catalogue implying that 'New Mills' was
an alternative name for those bought from St. John's College
appears to be erroneous; the document seems to refer to
two separate sets of mills.
and form from decade to decade suggests that the inclusion
of a carriage service covenant in leases was no formality of
legal verbiage. At the beginning of the 17th century their
purpose seems to have been to transport goods, including coal,
from St. Ives and Stourbridge Fairs to Wrest. In 1615 the
work as far as Blunham was provided for by a deed poll
subscribed to by all the tenants (1/14); and that from Blunham
to Wrest was stipulated in the leases (1/15 et seq.). The
extension of navigation of the Ouse to St. Neots may have
rendered the first part of this carriage superfluous by 1628;
certainly no document similar to the deed poll of 1615/16
survives for that year and there is a considerable rise in
the entry fines demanded in 1628 compared with 1615/16,which
may have been in lieu of the part of the carriage services
from the fairs to Blunham which was now no longer so vital.
The later extension of navigation to Bedford in the second
half of the century and up the river Ivel in the middle of the
next century affected what carriage was required from Blunham
tenants. The number asked also fluctuated; it dropped from 7
with an additional optional 2 (for which the lord paid) in
1615/16 to 2 in 1628 for which the tenant was to be paid 3s.4d.
each. In 1655 the number was 4 and in addition the period when
they were due, April to November, was also specified. In 1674
the number was the same, but the tenant was further protected
as it was stipulated that they were not to be performed in the
harvest period. In 1742 the number had dropped to 2 but the
tenant was not paid for his labour.
The increase in entry fines coinciding with a reduction
in carriage services in 1628 has been mentioned - they trebled.
Probably just after this date (see 1/39) and certainly by 1655
entry fines had been abandoned and rent stepped up: thus land
with an entry fine of 36 and a yearly rent of 2.10s. in 1628
paid a rent of 8. 10s. in 1655. Even with as short a term as
9 years the lord gained 18 by this change, though the spreading
of the greater burden over a period of years, where the lesser
had represented a single payment - in theory - may have been for
the tenant not so burdensome an imposition as it first appears.
Rents remained stable for the rest of the century but between
1692 and 1742 increased by 75%.
The topic of agricultural improvements remains for
discussion. The formal covenants for good husbandry have not
been noted in the calendar below but those mentioning the new
rotation of crops and manuring have been summarised; these
occur first in 1779 (1/79). While it would be unwise to
equate the absence of covenants in leases for the use of
clover and so on earlier in the 18th century with indifference
on the part of the landowner and his agent to developements
in what is now termed the Agricultural Revolution, their
appearance in 1779 at least shows that an attempt was being
made to enforce its tenets on these estates at Blunham.
The parish was not enclosed until after the failure
of the series of leases.
SCHEME OF CATALOGUE
I. Various purchases and sales (1598-1839) - L1/1-13;
II. Leases of Yard Lands etc. (1616-1775) L1/14-70;
IIA. Leases made 1615/6 - L1/14-27;
IIB. Leases made 1628 - L1/28-38;
IIC. Leases made 1634 - L1/39;
IID. Leases made 1655 - L1/40-50;
IIE. Leases made 1674 - L1/51-56;
IIF. Leases made 1682 - L1/57-58;
IIG. Leases made 1692 - L1/59-62;
IIH. Leases made 1742 - L1/62-65;
IIK. Leases made 1763, 1775 - L1/66-70;
III. Leases of Brotherhood House etc. (1562-1763) L1/71-80;
IV. Leases of Blunham Mills (1538-1843) L1/81-99;
V. Miscellaneous leases (1570-1769) L1/100-125;
VI. Additional documents (1654-1743) L1/124-126
There are further documents relating to the above proeprties in the calendar of Lady Lucas' muniments complied by I.H.Jeayes