Documents of the Ralph Allen Estate and Other Papers

DOCUMENTS OF THE RALPH ALLEN ESTATE AND OTHER PAPERS Edited by Mike Chapman With additional material by John Hawkes and Elizabeth Holland Records of Bath History Vol.1 2008 Published by the Survey of Old Bath with assistance from B&NES Grants to Voluntary Societies Records of Bath History: Series Editors: Mike Chapman, Chairman, Survey of Old Bath Elizabeth Holland, Secretary, Survey of Old Bath Vol.1, Documents of the Ralph Allen Estate and Other Papers, first published 2008 Published by the Survey of Old Bath – 16 Prior Park Buildings, Bath BA2 4NP Graphics: Mike Chapman and John Hawkes Typesetting and Layout: Mike Chapman Printed in Great Britain by Illustrations and text by John Hawkes copyright Mary Hawkes 2008 Illustrations and text by Mike Chapman and Elizabeth Holland copyright 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Survey of Old Bath. Printed by MLD, 105 Midford Road, Combe Down, Bath ii CONTENTS Introduction Elizabeth Holland v 1. A Guide to the Estates of Ralph Allen around Bath Mike Chapman 1 2. Prior’s Park from the Dissolution to Ralph Allen John Hawkes 12 3. Interrogatories Longe Clk.v.Fisher 1656 15 4. Schedules to the Ralph Allen Estate, and Widcombe Vestry Survey 40 i. The Manor of Hampton – guide to the Ralph Allen map 41 ii. Widcombe and Combe – guide to the Ralph Allen map 46 iii. Vestry Survey 1737 56 5. The Ralph Allen Estate Map, the Missing Numbers. John Hawkes 65 6. Panorama based on Thomas Robins John Hawkes 67 7. Some of the Major Estates John Hawkes 68 8. Abstract of Ralph Allen Deeds 69 9. 1788 Account of Quit Rents 89 10. The Life of Richard Jones 94 Plan of Principal Boundaries Mike Chapman 101 Acknowledgements 102 Reading 102 Index John Wroughton 103 The map of Ralph Allen’s Estates (insert) iii iv INTRODUCTION Elizabeth Holland Volumes of historical ‘Records’ usually concentrate on one complete document, such as someone’s diary, or one complete collection, as in the first volume produced by the Somerset Record Society which in 1923 published the Bath Chamberlain’s Accounts to 1603. In 1921 the Rev.Shickle also brought out the collection of Ancient Deeds belonging to Bath, ‘translated and epitomised’, in a volume ascribed to ‘The Bath Records Society in co-operation with the Bath City Council’. Nothing else seems to be known of the ‘Bath Records Society’. 500 copies were printed and where circulated proved to be extremely useful, though there were some mistakes in transcription which occasionally misled people. 2-300 remaining copies were discovered by the present Archivist, Colin Johnston shortly after his arrival, in a dusty cupboard, bound but not gilded. They are available from the Archivist at £5 each. Just short of a century later, the Survey of Old Bath is bringing out its first volume of Records of Bath History, again with support from the authority, this time Bath and North East Somerset Council, or B&NES. Most of the records presented are held in Bath Record Office; they comprise a selection of what the Record Office can offer rather than one complete collection. In Ralph Allen’s time the outline of the ancient hunting park was well known, in fact there are references to the wall still surrounding it. Ralph Allen deliberately set out to purchase it and to set his house and garden within its bounds. Legend later on took over. However, when he was engaged in tracing the Ralph Allen Estate Map, Mike Chapman pointed out that the outline of the park could be clearly seen on it. He then wrote the Guide to the Estates of Ralph Allen around Bath, which was published by the Survey as a booklet, with the tracing of the map. This Guide, slightly revised, forms the opening chapter in this collection. The map is also republished, modified from the booklet of 1996, and re-orientated. Mike Chapman touched on the medieval origins of the park in the Guide. John Hawkes then published in The Survey of Bath and District No.10, 1998, a study of the evolution of the park after the Dissolution, until the time when it was purchased by Ralph Allen. His essay forms the second chapter here. The Bath Record Office’s copy of ‘Interrogatories’ in the court case of Longe v.Fisher follows. This case, which centres round the payment or non-payment of tithes in Widcombe and Lyncombe in the Interregnum, was part of the conflict between Royalists and Puritans in the Civil War and the Interregnum which Dr.John Wroughton has dealt with in his publications, such as A Community at War. It reveals how Widcombe and Lyncombe existed then as an appendage to Bath, with farms and market gardens existing to serve the city and its inns, with Aldermen and Mayors involved, and craftsmen such as weavers turning out to help with the harvest. Three schedules bound together in one volume at the Record Office come next. Two belong to the Ralph Allen estate, Hampton (Bathampton), and Widcombe and Combe (Monkton Combe). Part of his Lyncombe holdings is omitted, and the Claverton schedule is missing. The third schedule is a Vestry Survey of 1737 for the church of St.Thomas à Becket. There follows a transcript of a document from the Ralph Allen papers at the Record Office, an Abstract of Title to the Leasehold Estates of Ralph Allen, an example of what is available. The extent of Allen’s estates within Lyncombe and Widcombe can be seen in John Hawkes’s diagram based on the J.Charlton map, with the Bennet, Maltby and Magdalen estates as well. Also reprinted is his diagram of the missing v numbers on the Ralph Allen Estate map (which have been included in the new version of the map) and his panorama of some of the chief buildings, based on a drawing by Thomas Robins. Ralph Allen’s will has already been published by Peach in The Life and Times of Ralph Allen, and its monetary provisions are summarised in Richard Jones’s Life, so it is not included in this collection. Some schedules of 1788 give examples of the sale of certain properties after Ralph Allen’s death. The volume ends with The Life of Richard Jones. In his rather roundabout way, he tells who Ralph Allen was, how he came to Bath, how much money he made and how, and recounts some of his notable works. Richard Jones was Clerk of Works to Ralph Allen for many years. He laments the passing of his great and good master, and has some sharp things to say about the treatment of his property after his death. However other writers have suggested that without the income from Allen’s Post Office appointment, his mansion and grounds were too expensive to maintain, and the sales were a necessity. As already indicated, there are many more documents which could be transcribed and published, both at Bath Record Office and Somerset Record Office, and elsewhere. They may one day throw some light on the relation between the Colles - Colthurst - John Hall- Kingston estate in Lyncombe and Widcombe, some of which was sold by the Duke of Kingston to Ralph Allen in 1744, and the Hugh Sexey Estate or Bruton Hospital, which inherited the Manor of Lyncombe and Widcombe from Hugh Sexey. On the J.Charlton Map of 1799, published by the Survey in 1998, one can see lands like ‘Sidenham’ and the Hayes fields marked ‘Miss Allen’ and omitted from the brief Key on the map, which seems straightforward - one could presume that being part of the old Colthurst estate they were not under the Sexey Estate. This seems to be confirmed by the fact that in the sale of certain lands by the Duke of Kingston to Ralph Allen in 1744 (not transcribed here) ‘Odwood Down’ is described as being in the Parish or Lordship of Lyncombe and Widcombe, whereas Sidenham, the Hayes and other former Colthurst properties are referred to only as being in the Parish of Lyncombe and Widcombe. However there are still the lands in the park, sold on in the late 16th century by the Colthursts as described by John Hawkes. In a letter of 1613 from Robert Chambers of Bath to Hugh Sexey (SRO), informing him of John Hall’s claims in Lyncombe and Widcombe, there is included, besides the pasture for 12 beasts in ‘the lawne’, the ‘Title to old parke parke lawne and Combe house’. The park was included in the sale agreement of 1612 from the Colthursts to John Hall. So why are some of these lands listed in the brief Key to the J.Charlton Map of 1799 as “Hp”, Lord Hawarden (Lord de Montalt), Fee Farm Estates, which presumably would pay the fee to Bruton, Hugh Sexey’s successor? In the Abstract of Title here published, the Lodge and its grounds within the park, also marked “Hp” on the map, are included as being leasehold. The ground rent of leasehold property is not the same as the reserved rent of a fee farm estate, sold in fee simple in perpetuity subject to a reserved rent. The Charlton Map does contain a number of mistakes, particularly pointed out by John Hawkes and Allan Keevil. We instigated a search for the Bruton terrier but it could not be discovered, even though its existence is referred to in the 1940s.

Load more