Burgage Plots at Burton-in-Lonsdale C.T.J. Dodson Visible Evidence Grenville defines a burgage plot as a long narrow plot of land running at right angles from the street frontage in a town (Ref [1] p198).two fields of such characteristically long rectangular shape, perpendicular to High Street, are still clearly visible, both bounded to the north by the beck at the foot of Breastfield Hill. One is to the north of The Manor House/The Cross (originally a single building believed to be that referred to as the Earl of Derby s Courthouse cf. [2], [3],[15]) and the other to the north of Bull Farm House. These are, respectively, field 0734 (about 30 metres wide of 1 acre) and field 0934 (about 18 metres wide of 2/3 acre), as shown on the 1:25000 OS SD67 map and the current Conservation Area map. Both fields have persisting old hedges, apparently marking precisely the width of the original two properties in line with the persisting old walls of the present gardens. On the 1952 1:25000 SD67 Ordnance Survey map these fields are clearly indicated, and the original track of the footpath can be seen to have been just to the east of field 0934 before being moved to lie in Manor Close.
Burgage plots behind The Cross/The Manor House, November 1973, before the development of Manor Close and use of smaller burgage plot in gardens.
At the time of allocation of burgage plots it is likely that there were more in Burton but now most traces seem to have been lost to later developments with some possible exceptions on the north side of High Street. These are field 0132 (4.5 acres) behind the old barn of Castle Hill Farm and associated presumably with the old Burton Hall which is believed to have stood there, and two strips of land visible on the 1952 OS map and on the 1896 OS map, behind what is now 51 to 57 High Street and encompassing The Croft and Twine Walk developments. As with the other fields mentioned above, these latter two strips seem in 1896 to have been of simple rational sizes, about 2/3 acre and 1 acre, respectively. Finally, field 9034 (6 acres) to the west of field 0132 but with the same northern boundary line as 0132, 0734 and 0934, would seem to be part of the same delineation of fields. Historical Evidence A detailed study of Burton in the post-conquest period was provided in the PhD thesis of Mary Higham [4] and it seems that Burton had an Anglo-Saxon burh when it was acquired by Roger de Mowbray from William the Conqueror, though the old settlement was to the east of the present village. Stephens [5] discusses the evolution to the 17 th century of the village and its field system; the probable Saxon location of Old Burton is indicated in his map: The motte and bailey castle was built at the beginning of the 12 th century and by 1130 housed a knight and 10 men; according to Stephens [2], it was more of a support base than a stronghold. It is fortunate that there are in existence charters and other documents referring to Burton from the medieval period. Indeed, (cf.. [4] p 302 from [5]) when John de Mowbray succeeded to his father s estates in 1306/7 he was confirmed in the right to hold `a market every Monday at his manor of Burton in Lonesdale, and fairs there yearly on Whit Sunday and the two following days, and on the eve, the day and the morrow of St. James the Apostle (ie 24-26 July) which fairs included the patronal festival of the church. This may be when Burton was re-planned as a new borough, though that could have occurred a century earlier according to Higham s (p 299) interpretation of an Assize Roll of 1208. Observe that in [6] the date for the charter is mentioned as 1274. Now, Higham (p 300) found [7] that in a document dated 8 Edward II (1314/15) we have mention of the existence of a burgage when a: `feoffment by John de Burton to Thomas de Thornton and Isabel his wife and heirs, of two burgages in Burton in Lonsdale. Evidence of location of burgages is given in [8]: ` feoffment by John de Holm, of his whole burgage in
the town of Burton, between the highway and the ditch of Briseselmyre and this latter is presumed to be Breastfield on present maps. Higham and Stephens are of the view that one of the present fields 0734 and 0934 behind The Manor House/The Cross and Bull Farm House is the burgage plot transferred to John de Holm in 1316. It seems therefore, that these two burgage plots may be one of the oldest remaining signs of medieval Burton, apart from Castle Hill itself. The motte and bailey castle of the Mowbrays seems to have been allowed progressively to decay from about the middle of the 14 th century but the natural defensive location had presumably already secured importance as a settlement on the Lancaster to Richmond road, as it must already have done much earlier by its proximity to the Roman road passing north through Cantsfield. Records exist of the continuing manor of Burton through the Mowbrays to the Earls of Derby. Further mention is made in Tudor records of `a burgage and a half, and 3 separate `burgages and land at Burton are noted from [9] by Higham (p 301). In 1596 Burton included 100 messuages, 20 cottages, 2 watermills and a windmill with lands. From the middle of the 17 th century there exist documents concerning rents and fines collected through the Earl of Derby s agent. Hearthtax documents for Burton in 1672 listed 44 taxed individuals, rising to 60 in 1674; by this latter time, there was mention of both Burton Hall, taxed for 4 hearths, and the Earl of Derby s Courthouse, empty but taxed for 1 hearth. The survey for sale of the estate in 1652 [10] reported that the Courthouse was in poor repair. Stephens transcribed the survey of 1682 [11] and deduced from the field names and sequence of the survey that it had identical bounds to the Inquisition of 1307 into the bounds of Burton Chase in de Mowbray lands. From the 1682 survey, the Courthouse was the only house held by the lord in the manor and was `now out of repair the reparations wereof will cost four pounds and upwards over and above one pound? shillings and six pence already expended by the present steward towards the reparations thereof. In regard to attached land, `his Lordship hath only one parcell of Demesne lands belonging to this house wherein here to fore his lordships ansistors had one water Corne mill which is now totally demolished and hath been so above forty years past Moreover, `George Overend hath at the will of the Lord one parcell of ground taken of the wast or Comon whereupon the north pte of the front of his now dwelling house standeth save by the length of about fower yeards and in breadth one under the yearly rent of one penny which said house is parte of the freehold and inheritance of the heirs of Mr Cansfield. And also one parcell of grounds adjoyning upon the Court House formerly a garden belonging to same contaigning about two perches under the yearly rent of one penny and payable `And the same George in consideration of the? of the said Courthouse and stable there to belonging at such times as by the Stewards of this manor shall be thought meete and convenient doth agree to sustagne and keep the said Court House in good and sufficient repaire the same being first well repaired. Thus, from the 1652 and 1682 surveys, according to the view of Stephens, the Courthouse and its ancillary corn mill were in disrepair from around the time of the Civil War and the Courthouse was recorded as having been held by the ancestors of the Earl of Derby. Now, the date on the rear door lintel of Bull Farm House is 1669, and this property may well have been that belonging in 1682 to George Overend. The wear on stonework of The Cross and its massive stone fireplace seem to indicate that this is the surviving part of the old Courthouse and the rebuild of its eastern side the result of the commission to George Overend. The manor was sold in 1746 which is likely to have given rise to that date on a stone over the door to The Manor House. The parcells of ground mentioned in the survey seem possibly to have included the burgage plots. This view is reinforced by evidence found by Gregory [12] in the Lawpage family history, which gives their family tree in Burton from 1451 to 1651. In particular, it traces Edward, yeoman in 1638 who then held a `messuage and Tenemt of John Canfield Esq back to Richard of 1461, through Christopher of 1501 and Easter of 1537 who held a burgage. Since Edward s son left Burton during the Civil War, the property must thereafter have been taken over by someone else, which we know had happened in the person of George Overend who held his house as part of the freehold of Mr Cansfield by 1682. Burgage Plots Elsewhere In Richmond, the earliest burgage plots were probably those laid out around the outer bailey, according to Fieldhouse and Jennings [13] p14 et seq; between 1136 and 1145 for an annual rent of 29 the occupiers of burgage houses were free of interference from their overlord and virtually free of feudal obligations. Indeed, in Richmond only the owners of the ancient burgage houses were included in the electorate right through until 1832 ([10] p412). Grenville [1] defines a burgage plot as a long narrow
plot of land running at right angles from the street frontage in a town (p198). She reports on p161 that there is archaeological evidence from excavations in Chester of the existence of such plots in the 12 th and 13 th centuries but not the 10 th, while some plots in Coppergate at York and at Worcester were laid out in the 10 th century. Post conquest town charters specified the dimensions of burgage plots as 3 or 3.5 perches (16 or 18 metres) by 12 perches (60 metres) which amounts to about one quarter of an acre and until the 13 th century, at least, this was the primary unit of rentable property though subdivision of these units for subletting was becoming commonplace. The capacity to build parallel to the road in a town indicated access to an undivided burgage plot or perhaps acquisition of more than one ([1] p165). The Bishop of Salisbury in 1225 laid out the new town of Salisbury with uniform burgage plots of size 3 perches by 7 perches whereas at Sherborne in Dorset three burgage plot sizes were used in 1227-28: 4 by 20 perches, 4 by 24 perches and 2 by 4 perches, according to the size of tenement, from Hoskins [14] p90. References [1] J. Grenville. Medieval Housing. Leicester University Press, London 1997. [2] T. Stephens. The Earl of Derby s Manor, Yorkshire History Quarterly, 6, 1 (2000) 42-51. [3] L. Reynolds. The Cross, Yorkshire Buildings, 28 (2000) 94-97. [4] M.C. Higham. The effects of the Norman Conquest on north west England with particular reference to the honors of Hornby and Burton-in-Lonsdale, PhD, Lancaster University 1992. [5] Preston Records Office Cal. Charter Rolls, Vol. 3, 1300-1326 (1908) 84. [6] Craven District Council Appraisal of Burton-in-Lonsdale Conservation Area, 1998. [7] Lancashire Records Office A 7685, Descriptive Catalogue of Ancient Deeds, Vol. 4 (1902) 200. [8] Lancashire Records Office A 11157, Descriptive Catalogue of Ancient Deeds, Vol. 5 (1906) 101. [9] Lancashire Records Office A 12803, Descriptive Catalogue of Ancient Deeds, Vol. 5 (1906) 307. [10] Lancashire Records Office DDK 1461 1, Survey of Burton in Lonsdale, for sale,1652. [11] Lancashire Records Office DDK 1541 7a, The Earl of Derby s survey of Burton in Lonsdale,1682. [12] S. Gregory. Comments on Lapage Family Roots and Regions, Peter Lapage, 1995. [13] R. Fieldhouse and B. Jennings. History of Richmond and Swaledale. Phillimore, London 1978. [14] W.G. Hoskins. Local History in England. 2 nd edition, Longman, London 1972. [15] C.T.J. Dodson. The Earl of Derby's Courthouse at Burton in Lonsdale Hudson History, Settle, North Yorkshire, 2003. Revised enlarged edition 2007.