A Fourteenth-Century Court Roll of the Manor of Ambree, Rochester
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Notes on former Owners of Newlands Chapel
The Cobhams and Moresby's of Rundale and Allington
( 89 )
A EOURTEENTH-CENTTJRY COURT ROLL OE
THE MANOR OE AMBREE, ROOHESTER.
BY A. A. ARNOLD, P.S.A.
EX-CHAPTER CLEEK.
AMONG the possessions of the Prior and Convent of the
Monastery of St. Andrew at Rochester was the manor or
reputed manor of Ambree. It derived its name, no doubt,
from the circumstance that the rents were collected, the
Courts of the Manor assembled, and all their business was
done at the Alms-bench or Almonry of the Monastery.
"Apud le Ameribenche"* occurs in some law pleadings,
3 Henry VII. (A.D. 1487), as referring to the Courts of this
manor, and on the outside cover of the book containing the
Court Roll or extracts, which is the subject of this Paper,
it is styled "The Manor of the Church of Rochester vocata
Le Almerye." There may have been other variations in the
name, but in the end it came to be simply " The Manor of
Ambree." It is more than once so referred to in Fisher's
History of Rochester (1772),f and in the records of the
manor for the last few centuries that name only is used.
The building known as the " Almonry," in which these
Manor Courts were held, stood near the south-west corner
of the Cathedral against the south wall of the western end
of the nave, and had adjoining to it on its western side the
Porter's Lodge and Gatehouse. After the dissolution of
* The Prior claimed that one Patrick Stanes wrongfully withheld a house
which he held of him hy fealty, at a certain fixed rent, and by the service of
making suit in the Priors' Court. The words are: " per fidelitatem et reddi turn
viginti denariorum et servicium faciendi sectam ad curiam ipsius Prioris
vocatam Celeres Court tenendam apud le Ameribenche infra prioratum Ecclesie
predicte." (Thorpe's Registrum Roffense, p. 585.)
_t See Pisher's History of Rochester, pp. 210 and 239.
VOI<. XXIX. B
9 0 A POURTEENTH-CENTURY COURT ROLL
the Monastery and the constitution of the new body, the
Dean and Chapter, by King Henry VIII., the Almonry was
used as the official residence of one of the Canons,* and was
appropriated to the fifth Canonry (afterwards annexed
by Act of Parliament to the Provostship of Oriel College,
Oxford), and continued to be so used until the latter
end of the eighteenth century.f The old Almonry had by
that time been demolished, and a new residence provided for
the Provosts of Oriel in or near the Cathedral precincts and
close to the Vines. The Porter's Lodge and Gatehouse had
been removed some years earlier, according to an order of the
Dean and Chapter, which ran as follows: " July 1744.
Ordered that the old gate House and Porter's Lodge adjoining,
being both very ruinous and dangerous, be taken down,
and that the Provost's house be made good at the West end
thereof by a strong and substantial wall."
Although the Almonry had been so turned into a Canon's
residence, it continued to be used as the meeting place for
the Courts of this manor ; one of the last Courts so held in
it met there on the 24th July 1766, and as the roll of that
Court is preserved the heading of it can be given. It is as
follows:—
MANNOB OE AMBE.EE 1766.
The Court Baron holden for the said Mannor belonging to the
Reverend The Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of
Rochester Lords of the said Mannor on Priday the 24t h day of
July in the Sixth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George
the third hy the Grace of God of Great Britain Prance and Ireland
King Defender of tlie Paith and so forth and in the year of our.
Lord Christ 1766 at the Prebendal House belonging to the
Reverend Chardin Musgrave Doctor in Divinity Provost of Oriel
College Oxon within the Precincts of the said Cathedral Church
and within the said Mannor being the accustomed place the
Reverend $ one of the Prebendaries of the said Cathedral
Church being then and there present—by Joseph Brooke Bsqre
Steward to the said Dean and Chapter.
* Pisher, p. 97.
t See Mr. T. Shindler's The Registers of Rochester Cathedral (1892), p. 69.
| A. blank }s lgffc for -the naine of the Prebendary, hut it was not inserted,
OP THE MANOR OP AMBREE, ROCHESTER. 91
The manor was certainly peculiar in some respects, and
although it seems always to have had a Court Baron, and.
that such Cqurts exercised the usual privileges and duties,
issuing distresses against the tenants in default, ordering
enquiries, appointing guardians for infants, and so forth,
yet there was no manor house-and no demesne lands, and the
rents which were collected seem to have been only partly
payable to the Prior as lord of the manor, or to the Prior
and Convent for the common use of the Church; other
parts were payable to various officers of the Monastery—the
Chamberlain, the Sacrist, the Cellarer, etc.—and in the
Custumale Roffense there are long schedules set out shewing
the rents so payable and the various purposes to which they
were to be applied. It would appear also from entries in
the Roll of this Court, hereafter noted, that a separate
Court and a separate Court Roll were in existence for the
Cellarer's portion of the income,* and the Custumale distinctly
states that the Sacrist also could hold a Court for the
collection of his portion " si sibi placuerit."f The absence
also of any mention of the manor in the Dotation Charter
granted by the King to his newly appointed Dean and
Chapter is a significant circumstance; and although the
Manor itself appears to have passed to them, it must have
been under the general words contained in that instrument
which carried with them, besides the various manors and
estates distinctly named therein, other possessions in
Rochester of the former body, the Prior and Convent of
the Monastery. But however this may be, it is certain
that the Dean and Chapter continued to act as the lords
of this manor, and they held their Courts and received the
profits of it from the time of their foundation in 1542 until
they surrendered all their estates in 1866$ to the Ecclesias-
* See the entries hereafter in the Court held on festival of SS. Peter and
Paul 22 Edward III. (June 1348), where the records of the Cellarers' Court
are twice referred to thus: "prout ut patez in curia celerarii tenta anno, &c."
and " prout ut patez in rotulo curie celerarii anno, &c."
t Omnes suprascripti sunt libere tenentes, et heredes eorum releviahunt
terras suas post mortem parentum suorum. Item omnes suprascripti debent
sectam ad curiam Sacriste de tribus septimanis ad tres septimanas si sibi
placuerit. (Thorpe's Custumale Roffense, p. 13.)
% The Order in Council bears date the 9th August 1866,
» 2
9 2 A POURTEENTH-CENTURY COURT ROLL
tical Commissioners for the purpose of re-endowment. Prom
the last-mentioned date the Commissioners have been thelords
of this manor.
The tenements, houses, etc., which were within the
manor, and paid their quit-rents, and the owners of which
rendered their services to the Manor Court, were scattered
all through the city of Rochester, including Strood. There
were also some payments made to the " redditus de Frindesbury,"
but it is doubtful what this expression means.
According to the Manor Roll of 1766, already quoted from,
there were at that time rather more than a hundred separate
holdings which paid rent, most of the rents being of very
small amount. The rental for the year, if it was all
collected, adds up to £13 19s. 8d. As many of the holdings
became subdivided the number would be continually on
the increase, and probably in the fourteenth century the
number was considerably less than it was in 1766. The
fourteenth century, or rather part of it, is the period comprised
in the document which we have now to deal with,
which is the Roll of the manor from December 1316 to April
1363, with the exception of three years from 1319 to 1322
(13th to 16th Edward IL), the records for which are unfortunately
missing.
The book consists of twenty-six quarto leaves of parchment
or vellum, all of which, except the first two leaves, are
covered, rather closely, on both sides with the records of this
Manor. The first two leaves have each only one side written
over. There are thus 'in all just fifty pages of manuscript.'
The parchment leaves measure 11 inches in length by 7^ in
width; the whole is bound with Oak boards covered with,
I think, sheep skin, and there are the marks in the binding,
where a clasp, or something which had the effect of keeping
the book closed, was placed. There is a small strip of the
leather binding near the top of the outside cover where the
upper surface of the rough skin of the binding had been cut
away, and some words had been written on it, giving the
title of the book, of which now only the words "Roff. RR
E. 2 & E. 3 " are decipherable; the figures are, I think, Arabic,
op THE MANOR OP AMRREE, ROCHESTER. 9S
not Roman. The preceding words may probably have been
"Rot. Cur. Prioris Ecclee ," but they are very faint and
obscure >now. About the centre of the cover there is a label
of paper affixed by gum or paste, in a much later hand,
probably of the eighteenth century, with this inscription:—
Liber Rotulor Curialium
Manerii Eccles' Roffen
vocat le Almerye
Temp. R R Edvardi 2dl & 3"
AD 1318—1364
E dono* Morell Thurston.
Inside the book there is written on p. 3 the title:—
" Manerum De Rochester "f
1318 to 1364.
I t is evident that when the book was bound the first leaf
was misplaced, which accounts for this title being written
on page 3 instead of on page 1, and also for the earliest
date being assigned to 1318, whereas the second entry on
page 1 bears date the festival of St. Lucy 10 Edward IL,
* Nothing is known of the donor, Morell Thurston.
t Just above this title, " Maner'um De Rochester," and squeezed in between
it and the top of the page, is this note, which is, I have little doubt, in the
handwriting of Dr. John Denne (Archdeacon of Rochester 1728 to 1767) :
"Titulorum inscriptiones, foliorum numeri, et plurima e notis ac indicibus
marginalibus in hoc MSSto manu Martini Cotes exarantur." This Martin
Cotes was the officer in the Cathedral body whom we now call the Chapter
Clerk; he was appomted to that place in 1575, and flourished for many years.
One of his notes in the margin of this roll is dated 1592. He was very much
addicted to the annotation of doouments, and most of those in the Rochester
archives which are of the Elizabeth period are more or less marked with his
notes and initials. One of the earliest registers of Chapter leases and grants is
entitled the "Martin Cotes" Register. Curiously enough his name also is,
I am told, one of those which was scratched on the painted work of the arcading
on the south side of the Cathedral Choir (see Mr. St. John Hope's Paper on
the Cathedral and Monastery, Archmologia Cantiana, Vol. XZIII., p. 302).
I t was also mentioned in the short but very interesting_ History of the Cathedral
which appeared some few years ago in Kelly's Directory, where it was
said that these soratchings were the work of " Chapter Clerks and others." The
" exarantur" in Archdeacon Denne's note seems to point to this tendency of
the worthy in question, and may be aptly construed hy the word " scribbled," but
nevertheless some of the notes have proved to be very useful. The title written
as above," Maner'um de Rochester," is in Mr. Cotes' handwriting, but not the
figures 1318 to 1364, whioh I think are the Archdeacon's. Mr. Cotes was
also Town Clerk of Rochester in 1589, and signed in that capacity some bylaws
made in that year (Rochester Custumale, p. 74).
9 4 A POURTEENTH-CENTURY COURT ROLL
•that is to say, December 1316. The writing is uniform
from beginning to end, and is apparently the work of one
and the same hand, so that it evidently could not have
been written from time to time at the various Courts, but
was compiled afterwards from the memoranda and entries
then made of the several presentments and other business
transacted at such Courts. There is no preface or heading
to the manuscript, and we may suppose therefore that the
earlier pages are lost; it begins and ends abruptly. Judging
from comparison with other manuscripts it would appear that
the date of this is the latter end of the fourteenth century,
but a facsimile of one of the pages (fol. 4) is inserted, so
that our readers may judge for themselves.
To those who are familiar with the ordinary records of
Manor Courts the question will at once occur why the MS.
does not follow what is known to have been the settled
procedure at Manor Courts of the usual type at this period.
There is no record here of the swearing-in of the Jury or
Homage, who would be a certain number of the most substantial
and intelligent of the freeholders present (of
this manor all the tenants were freeholders, there were no
copyholders). Then from this jury were selected and sworn
certain persons called the "affeerors," whose business it
was to value the amerciaments made by the Court. These
proceedings must have taken place at each court, they were
certainly performed in the Court of 1766, and are recorded
on that roll, which, it is fair to presume, only followed the
uniform practice from the beginning. The next step was the
taking the essoins, or the excuses offered for the tenants of
the lord who had been summoned and were not able to
attend the Court. These essoins are to a certain extent
• recorded in our manuscript, and generally afford the only
indication of the date when the Court was held. After the
essoins it would be expected that we should find entries of
proceedings in the various suits and proceedings which were
already pending, or were then, for the first time, instituted
for some offence or matter in dispute. It would appear
that these proceedings were o£ three categories, and'were
OP THE MANOR OP AM-BREE, ROCHESTER. 95
taken in the following' order : firstly, the pleas and actions
of the tenants against one another—these included actions
for debt, for all kinds of trespass, for defamation of character,
and indeed for almost every kind of quarrel or dispute;
secondly, the complaints of the lord of the manor or his
officials against such of the tenants who since the preceding
Court had been guilty of any default, who was in arrear
with his rent, or had not given his proper attendance, or
suit, at the Courts, or for offences against the community
of the manor generally, damaging the roads or water-courses,
or trespassing on the lord's or the other tenants' rights;
and thirdly, the report of action taken in cases which had
already been before the Court, and in which distresses or
other steps had been ordered. In this record there is no
mention made of any such proceedings, except in one or two
casual instances; but the absence of such entries may,
I think, be accounted for either by the fact that the Court
of this manor was held within a city governed by a local
jurisdiction, the seat also of a bishopric, where there were
both civil and ecclesiastical tribunals, which were not only
able to take cognizance of all such matters of dispute within
their jurisdiction, but may have claimed the exclusive right
to do so. Then again the area of the manor was so essentially
different from that which would usually have been
expected. Instead of a large parish or country district
constituting the area of the manor, here there were only
some scattered houses and lands, the owners of which had
probably few interests in common, and may not even have
been neighbours; or again it is quite possible that the
extracts in this Roll may be a selection only of those which
appeared in the original Court Roll, and may have been collected
and kept merely for the preservation and maintenance
of the rights of the lords of the manor, to record who the
real tenants were, and to facilitate the collection of their
rents and reliefs—for indeed the convenience or opportunity
for receiving these monies would seem to have been the
chief, if not the only, aim which the lords of the Court had
in view, for all the entries in the manuscript, with very few
9 6 A POURTEENTH-CENTURY COURT ROLL
exceptions, deal exclusively with transfers of the tenements
held of the manor, by sale or otherwise, the collection of
reliefs on such alienations, and with the tenants' defaults.
The exceptions are principally the appointment of guardians
to infant tenants, and one or two complaints of torts
committed against officials of the monastery.
There are some expressions used in the text about which,
perhaps, a brief explanation should be added. In those
paragraphs which relate to the essoins of the absent tenants
no particulars are given, but merely the statement " A B de
co'i per C D," enumerating the tenants who were so absent
and the persons who appeared for them, and nothing more.
This expression has been translated by the words "of the
common essoin," meaning that the tenants who were summoned
and did not attend gave the ordinary excuse of illhealth
(de malo veniendi) or something of the kind, and
where it occurs I have simply translated the " de co'i" by
the words " of the common essoin."* There is another expression
frequently occurring in the Roll, viz., in misericordia,
or in the contracted form in m'c'dia or m'ia. In these
cases the words in mercy etc. are used in the translation; the
full form which the words imply would be ideo ipse est in
misericordia, or in misericordia remanet, meaning that the
, defaulter is amerced or fined, and submits the amount of the
fine to the mercy of the Court; the amount- of the fine is
often written above his name, or in the margin against it,
in the record. The Courts of this manor of Ambree appear to
have been held at uncertain intervals. The date is generally
given at the end of the paragraph recording the essoins;
* In The Court Baron, by P. "W. Maitland and W. P . Baildon (Quaritch,
London, 1891), one of the publications of the Selden Sooiety, the point is dealt
with. A form or precedent of the date of 1307 is quoted, in whioh the
expression occurs, and from this it is gathered that the words in our MS.,
" Henry Poteman de co'i per William Grillingham," might be translated that
Henry Poteman (essoins himself) of the common (suit) by W. Gillingham, and
means that H. P. is excused attendance (seota) on the ground of the common
essoin,' infirmity (de malo veniendi)), W. G., a suitor present, answering.for
him: so the full expression, of which de communi is the abbreviated form
entered on the roll, would be "H. P. essoinat se de communi seota per W. G-."
In the statement of the usual course of proceedings at the Manor Courts,
Mr. Maitland's book above referred to, in the Chapter Modus tenendi curias,
has been consulted, and followed.
OP THE MANOR OF AMBREE, ROCHESTER. 97
in several cases, however, the date is appended to an item
not of essoins but of admittance or of fealty and relief; in
these lat ter cases i t may be that the roll from which our MS.
was copied contained the usual entry (after the title) of
"Esson—Null'," and the copyist did not trouble himself
about them. It seems also tolerably clear that the copyist
was not copying his roll verbatim, but was abstracting and
selecting, as I have before suggested, and probably omitted
many entries. I have indicated as far as I could the dates
of the several Courts.
[folio 1] [Text.]
Willielmua Gaffer le Chapman
de Southgatfe venit et fecit
domino ieodalitatem pro tenemento
quod adquismtf de patfre
suo et vndit relevium suum quod
est xd et posuit se pro pluribws
defaltiows.
Henricus Poteman de communi
per Willielum Gyllyngham Willielmus
Chose per Ricardum
Robyn Emma Panton per Sampson
"Webbe in Curia tenta die
Marti s nroxima post iestum
Lucie Virginis anno Begis ~Eidwordi
decimo.
Margareta que fuit uxor Johannia
le Taylour venit et fecit
domino ieodalitatem de tenemento
que te3 (tenet) de domino
et solvit -relevium quod fuit
aretro de tempore dicti viri sui
et est relevium. viiid.
Blias Lovelok venit et v&dit
relevium suum de tenementis
que clamat tenere de domino
per uxorem suam et fecit domino
ieodalitatem et est relevium xxd;
[Translation.]
William Galfer the Chapman
of Southgate came and made
fealty to the Lord for a tenement
which he had acquired from
his father, and he paid his relief
which is IOd., and he submitted
himself for several defaults.
Henry Poteman of the common
essoin by William Gillingham,
William Chose by Richard
Robyn, Emma Panton by Sampson
Webb, at the Court held on
Tuesday the next after the festival
of Lucy the Virgin in the
year of King Edward the tenth.
Margaret, who was the wife
of John the Tailor, came and
made fealty to the Lord for the
tenemeut which she holds of the
Lord, and pays the relief which
was in arrear from the time of
her said husband, and the relief
is 8d.
Elias Lovelock came and paid
his relief for the tenement which
he claims to hold of the Lord
through his wife, and he made
fealty to the Lord, and the rehef
is2(W.
December A.D. 1316.
98 A PoURTtiE NTH-CENTURY COURT ROLL
January A
[Text.]
Walterus hanckyn modo*
heredea Johannis hanckyn venitf
et vadii relevium suum de uno
messuagio quod sibi accidit post
mortem Johannis iratris sui et
fecit domino ieodalitatem et est
relevium iiijs die veneris proxima
post iestum conversions sawcti
Pauli Aposfoli anno decimo.
Petrus atte Sole venit et vaditf
relevium suum de uno messuagio
perquisite de T&icardo Spyndlere
et iecit domino ieodalitatem et
est relevium xA.
WillieZmws Spysur venit et
feci£ dowtino ieodalitatem pro
tenemento que clamat tenere de
domino.
JD. 1316-17.
[Translation.]
Walter Hanckyn [late the
heirs of John Hanckyn] came
and paid his relief for one messuage
which fell to him upon
the death of his brother John,
and made fealty to the Lord,
and the relief is 4s., on Priday
the next after the festival of the
conversion of St. Paul the
Apostle the tenth year.
Peter atte Sole (or Pond?)
came and paid his relief for a
messuage purchased of Richard
Spindler, and made fealty to the
Lord, and the relief is 10^.
William Spysur came and
made fealty to the Lord for a
tenement he claims to hold of
the Lord.
WiilieZmws Mathew venit et
feciiS domino ieodalitatem et vndit
relevium suum de uno messuagio
perquisite de Johanne Asketyn
et est relewiwm iid.
William Mathew came and
made fealty to the Lord and paid
his relief for one messuage purchased
from John Asketyn, and
the relief is 2d.
May A.
Elena relictfa Henrici Walter
de communi per Johonnem filiwm
suum Johannes de Thotynton de
communi per Robertum fruntayn
Willieftnws Chose de communi
•per Robertum le Wodyere die
Mercurii pr.ox.ima: post festum
•invencionis sancte crucis anno
supra dicto.
D. 1317.
Elena relict of Henry Walter
of the common essoin by John
her son, Johu de Thotynton of
the same by Robert Puntayn,
William Chose of the same by
Robert le Woodyer, on Wednesday
the next after the festival
of the invention of the Holy
Cross in the year aforesaid.
[This is the end of the first page of the manuscript; the second
page and the first page of leaf 2 are blanks.]
* Modo heredes, etc. These words probably refer to the last entry, that is,
to the preceding tenant's name. In the translation the names of such tenants
are put in brackets.
OP THE MANOR OP AMBREE, ROCHESTER. 99
Manerium De Rochester.
[folio 3 or folio 2vo.]
[Text.]
Warinus Coman modo heredes
Johannis Leghey venit et vadiif
relevium suum de uno messuagio
perquisite de patre et matre sua
et iecit domino ieodalitatem et
est releyiwm xa et debet continuare
sectam de tribus septimanis
in tres septimanas.*
[Translation.]
WaiTen Coman [late the
heirs of John Legh] came and
paid his relief for one messuage
purchased of his father and
mother and made fealty to the
Lord, and there is a relief of
IOd., and he is due to continue
suit (of court) from three
weeks to three weeks.
November A.D. 1317.
Walterus Hanckyn de communi
per "Robertum Smyth,
Symon nlius Radulphi Pakyn de
communi per Willielmum Clericum
die Jovis uroxima ante
festum Sancte Catharine anno
regni Regis Edwardi filius [sic]
Regis Edwardi ximo.
Walter Hanckyn of the common
essoin by Robert Smith,
Simon son of Ralph Pakyn of
the same by William the Clerk,
on Thursday the next before the
festival of St. Katharine in the
year of the reign of King Edward,
son of King Edward, the
11th.
Thomas Goldyng modo Johannes
King venit et vaditf
relevium suum pro uno tenemento
adquisite de Adam Tegletore et
fecit domino ieodalitatem et est
relevium via.
Thomas Golding [late John
King] came and paid his relief
for one tenement acquired from
Adam the Tyler and made fealty
to the Lord, and the relief is 6d.
March A.D. 1317-18.
Ricardus Robyn de communi
per Henricum Poteman die Luna
proxima ante festum sancti Benedicti
Anno regni Regis 'Edwardi
filii regis Edwardi undecimo.
Willielmus Mathew venit et
v&ditrelevium suum de tenemento
adquisite de Johanne Asketyn
et fecit domino ieodalitatem die
et anno supradicto et est rele-
