Ruins and Romans, Fonts and Furrows. Anything Old in Lancashire

[Janette]

Oh Maggie,
I do love this thread,I can't contribute,but I am certainly learning heaps

[youngtug]

A third is the amount attributed to the black death maybe more, in Italy it was at least 50%. Also the killing of lepers, Jews and anyone with a skin complaint or abnormality must have contributed to the overall death toll

[Maggie.]

For some reason I'm not getting email notification of posts on here therefore I didn't know of any activity tonight, so I'm catching up a bit.

I agree with GS that, as I remember it, a third of the population of Europe died of Bubonic plague in the 14th century and that doesn't take into account the additional casualties that YT mentions.

The impact on communities was that the workforce diminished considerably so the remaining peasantry had more bargaining power to demand better pay and working conditions leading ultimately to a loosening of the ties of the old feudal system. 

Despite a law being passed in 1349  to try to ensure that labourers received no more than their wages before the plague, wages started to rise and workers had more freedom to move around between estates and were in a position to take on better quality small holdings, resulting in the poor quality land they formally farmed becoming abandoned.

[Greensleeves]

And another result of their release from serfdom was that people were no longer tied to the countryside; this meant that in some places there was quite an exodus to the towns.  People were led to believe that it was there that fortunes could be made: an example is the story of Dick Whittington and his cat, who travelled to London, where Dick became Mayor of London for the first time in 1397.   I'm not sure if history records what happened to the cat!   Clearly stories like this - of radical changes in fortune of country-boys - would have endured for a very long time and when the opportunity arose to leave the land, many people with a spirit of adventure would have jumped at the chance.

[Maggie.]

You may remember in the ‘ruined cottage’ thread that I posted a picture of a magnificent example of a yeoman farmer’s house with a date stone of 1593.  There was some discussion as to how farmers in Pendle Forest could afford to build themselves such fine properties.  This may help explain what was going on in Lancashire post Conquest.

Gradually the structure of the demesne (see next post) lands of the honour of Clitheroe – Blackburnshire or the Blackburn Hundred – changed.  In the west of the county more land was granted out to tenants, whilst more of the lands in the east (Pendle Forest) were retained.  These tenants in the west who rented from the De Lacy overlords had the opportunity to expand and eventually build themselves fine houses and this accounts for there being far more gentry houses in the west of Lancashire today than there are in the east (the area presently under discussion), as these eastern areas remained demesne.  This area could only boast 2 families with holdings in 1311.  However by the later 16th century east Lancashire began to see a rise in minor gentry and wealthy yeomanry, with a concentration around Burnley and Pendle Forest.  It would seem that in the east, as the under tenants started to become more successful, yeoman-class houses started to be built on the periphery of the estates of the gentry for example in Pendle Forest.  A principal reason for this rise of the yeoman farmer in this area was that in 1507 there was an official deforestation of Pendle Forest.

More of that in a following post……unless I’m becoming boring.   

[Maggie.]

To try to explain what demesne land is – in feudal law it was those areas of lands belonging to a manor but not granted to freehold tenants.  It was retained for the lord’s own use and occupation and any tenants were leasehold and therefore open to eviction at any time.

[Wiggy]

definitely nor boring Maggie!   Fascinating rather . .   so much to learn -

[groom]

I got to see some of your lovely countryside this afternoon when I turned on the television. A couple on "Escape to the Country" were looking for a house around Newchurch and Pendle Hill was shown and the witches mentioned. 

[Greensleeves]

There are some interesting markings to the north-west of the Upper Blackmoss Reservoir.  Evidence of strip cultivation perhaps?  Or burgage plots?  Or are we just talking modern drainage ditches?

Image removed.