Page:VCH Suffolk 1.djvu/744

 A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK Before him these parcels were in the hands of four different owners ; two only, judging by the evidence of names, came to him in the ordinary course of inheritance. Another owner, William Aimer, holds twelve separate parcels, of which five are full yard-lands of i6 acres ; evidently in his case the accumulation of property had begun in the preceding generation, for of his parcels five had been taken over by his father from other men and passed on to him ; the other seven he has himself acquired. The survey does not describe the constituent parts of the full yard-lands ; of the remaining holdings two are small closes of 3 acres, rented one at jd. and the other at .d. and a capon, the inclosure dating from 1547 at latest ; another is described as ' 3 acres of the demesne, lying in the field in two pieces.' Rents in kind are frequently mentioned ; a yard-land of the usual extent pays 3J. d., I lb. of pepper, and an arrow tipped with iron. By a survey of the demesne of the same manor taken seven years later,'*^ it is clear that the larger copyhold tenants of the earlier survey are in many cases also leasehold tenants of the demesne on six-year leases ; their total holdings must thus often have been of considerable size ; e.g. one George Taylor holds by copy four full yards of 16 acres each, and also leases 37 acres of the demesne. These last are made up of three closes of pasture, containing 10, 7, and 3 acres respectively, rented at s. the acre ; a piece of meadow also rented at 4J-. the acre, and various pieces of arable in the field, i.e. a piece of 3 acres in Bishopshall field at s. 8^. the acre, and another piece of 5 acres in the same field ; this description suggests that while the accumulation of J-acre strips had in course of years resulted in pieces of 3 and 5 acres, these two pieces were not contiguous, and would in time no doubt become two separate inclosures. A comparison of land-rents at the close of the century between east and west shows the rent of pasture uniformly 4;-., arable in the open field s. %d. in Lidgate, is. /J. in Mettingham, meadow in Mettingham 6/. and 6/. Bd'., in Lidgate 4J. an acre. Cullum's account of land values in the manor of Hawstead, near Bury and in the corn-growing district, is valuable, as covering a larger number of years than the surveys already quoted. In 1500," when the lands of the manor were measured, none were let for more than is. td. an acre, pasture and arable not distinguished in value. In 1536 arable was is. an acre, meadow-land is. ^d. Fifty years later 40 acres of meadow and pasture were worth 5J-. an acre, wheat was at 8j. a comb, barley at 6j-. 8^., rye 5J. The increase still continued to be rapid. In 1603 ^°" Hawstead Hall, with 1 26 acres of land, was let for ^^40 and 10 combs of wheat ; whereas in i 589 it had been let for >C20 and 20 combs of wheat, 10 of oats, and 3 loads of wheat-straw. In 1615,^°^ the houses, barns, and lands called Hawstead Park were let for twelve years at the following rents : every acre of pasture not ploughed 9J., every acre of meadow ijs., every acre of arable half the corn that should grow on the same (after the first two years, 70 acres). In 1633 ^'" the rent of pasture had risen to 13J. 8^/. an acre on a twenty-one years' lease. Various clauses in the leases on this manor, cited by CuUum, throw an interesting light on economic development.^*" "^ B.M. Add. MSS. 22058, fol. 42. " Cullum, Hut. o/Hawsted, 197. >* Ibid. 207. "' Ibid. 209. '" Ibid. 214. "» Ibid. 198. 664