Manors

A manor is an area of land under the control of the lord of the manor. 

 

The Anglo-Saxons

There were manors in Anglo-Saxon times and the names of the Anglo-Saxon lords of the manor in 1066 before the Norman Conquest  were recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086.

  

The size of manors varied, but a manor had to be large enough to generate enough income for the lord to live comfortably. Many lords owned more than one manor; some owned many. The lord rented out his farmland to the peasants who paid him with money (uncommon at this time) or in farm produce (wheat, beans, cheese, wool, etc), or by service (working on the lord's farmland). 

  

The title of 'lord of the manor' was not and is not a noble hereditary title like earl of duke. It is the title of the person who owns the land and rights of a manor and a title that can be bought and sold and bequeathed. Manors often changed hands. After the death of lord of the manor of Langar, Admiral Lord Howe in 1799, his daughter Sophia sold the hall and its farmlands in 1818. The new lord of the manor was John Wright, a wealthy banker and the owner of a major iron-producing company in Derbyshire. 

   

The Domesday Book

We know a lot about Anglo-Saxon and Norman lords of the manor from the Domesday Book of 1086. The names of the Anglo-Saxon lords before 1066 are recorded and the amount of land they owned and other information about the value of the manor. Then the name of the new Norman lord of the manor and the manor's current value. 

 

Before 1066, two lords owned land in the manors of Langar and Barnstone. They were Anglo-Saxons called Godric and Hemming of Branston. Godric was a wealthy and powerful man, the lord of 26 manors in this area. As well as Langar and Barnstone, Hemming of Branston also owned Cropwell Butler, Granby, Hickling, Kinoulton and Wiverton in Nottinghamshire and seven manors in Lincolnshire. 

  

The Normans

At the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Anglo-Saxon England was taken over by William the Conqueror. Many Anglo-Saxon lords were killed at Hastings and most of the rest had ther lands taken from them. Their manors were given to William's loyal Norman followers as a reward for their support. 

 

Both of Godric and Hemming lost their manors after 1066; their lands were given to one of King William's close followers, William Peverel who became the lord of 55 manors in the East Midlands. Godric was one of the luckier Anglo-Saxon lords. Many lords had been killed at the Battle of Hastings or they were sent away and never heard of again. But King William gave Godric a small amount of land at Kingston-on-Soar. It was enough to live on, but Godric was no longer a wealthy lord. Hemming however, does not appear in the Domesday Book - he had no manors after 1086. 

 

 

 

Under the feudal system, the King owned all the land in the country.

 

The King owned all the land in England which was divided into manors, 9000 of them. The King 'rented' the manors to the lords who had come with him from Normandy and fought at the Battle of Hastings. 

 

Most lords had manors scattered across England. William made sure that the lords could not easily plot against him by giving them land in different parts of the country.

However, the King gave William Peverel more than 150 manors, most of them close together in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Langar and Barnstone were two of these manors.

 

Why? . . .   Because the King trusted him.

An early Norman motte and bailey castle

A Royal Visit

 

In 1068 King William came to Nottingham. Some of the Anglo-Saxon lords were causing trouble, because William had taken their lands from them. The King reacted quickly. He brought his soldiers from London and met violence with greater violence.

 

King William trusted William Peverel. So he put him in charge of Nottingham Castle and gave him manors close by, including Langar and Barnstone. If there was trouble, he could call on them for soldiers, food or money at short notice. 

 

So William Peverel became the first Norman Sheriff of Nottingham.

William Peverel was lord of the manors of Langar and Barnstone, but he probably never came here. He paid a bailiff to look after the manors for him. 

 

 

William Peverel kept a third of the land here for his own use (known as the demesne). There was arable land for growing crops, meadows where the cows and sheep were kept and woodland. The bailiff also had his own land. William rented out other arable land to the peasants to grow their own crops. But they also had to work on the lord's land as well as on their own.

 

The main crops were wheat, beans, barley, peas and oats, though people grew other food crops in the gardens of their houses. They might also have a few hens or geese at home.

  

The woodlands and the fishponds belonged to the lord; so peasants had to pay for the right to let their pigs feed in the woods, to hunt animals, collect firewood and catch fish. 

At harvest time the peasants had to pay to use the lord's mill to grind their corn and use his oven to bake their bread. William Peverel owned two mills in Langar.

 

Peasants knocking acorns off the oak trees to feed their pigs.

Peasants had to have their lord's permission and pay him if they wanted to get married. When a peasant died, his family had to pay the lord to keep the land they farmed.

And peasants were not allowed to leave the manor where they lived.

In addition to this, peasants

also had to pay one tenth of what they produced to the Church whether it was corn or wool or milk or animals.

 

The laws of the manor ruled everything about a peasant's life.

 

 

the Baron had complete control of the running of the medieval manor provided he met certain obligations set by the King.

 

The Middle Ages

Castles

Most of the Barons who were given land by William the Conqueror, following his invasion and conquest of England in 1066, were French. They knew that many Saxons would be hostile to them and so they had to make sure that they could defend themselves. Many chose to build castles on their land and fill them with knights who, under the Feudal System, were bound to protect the Baron and his family. Others established large manor houses.

 

The Church

The church was another central feature of the medieval manor. The religion of the whole of Europe was Roman Catholic and it was law that people went to church on a Sunday. The leading churchmen of the land, Bishops and Archbishops were very wealthy and helped to govern the country. The local priests, however, were much poorer and were often uneducated. It was the priest’s job to look after the sick of the village as well as preaching in the church

 

The Manor House

The medieval manor house was the home of the Baron. Manor houses were large, reflecting the wealth and status of the Lord. They often comprised several buildings and were mainly self-sufficient, growing their own food and keeping animals in the grounds surrounding the house.

 

Peasants

 

The largest amount of land on the medieval manor would be used by the villeins. Their house would be surrounded by a yard called a ‘toft’ and a garden called a ‘croft’. This land would be used for growing crops and vegetables, a percentage of which would be given to a knight as ‘payment’ for their land. Villein’s houses were one-roomed and the family shared the space with the animals.