In the Statement of Claims for Great Ellingham Inclosure c.1799, the Reverend Thomas Bond claimed:
- The advowson and right of presentation to the Vicarage of Great Ellingham, the impropriate Rectory and great Tythes of the said Parish.
- The Rectory Barn and Yard, containing about two acres and two rood. All freehold.
- Also about three acres of Glebe Land belonging to the Vicarage of Great Ellingham and all the small or vicarial Tythes thereto all belonging.
- Along with some of the other landowners in Great Ellingham, Thomas Bond also claimed rights of common, of pasture for cattle on the commons and waste lands in Great Ellingham, rights of cutting and taking flags, turves and furze for firing, of digging and taking sand and clay for repairs, rights to the plantations of trees growing on any commons opposite or adjoining his lands and all other rights belonging to his land.
Tithes
A ‘tithe’ or ‘tythe’ was a kind of taxation on a parish. Until the Tithe Commutaton Act of 1836 converted the tithe to a monetary payment, farming parishioners were required to make an annual payment of a tenth part of produce of land (and of stock and labour) in support of the local church or clergy.
Great tithes (or rectorial tithes) comprised of payments of such produce as corn, grain, hay and value of stock, whereas the small tithes (or vicarial tithes) were payments more of a minor nature, such as vegetables and animal produce.
Tithe Barn
The agricultural produce for the tithe payment to the clergy would have been taken to the ‘tithe barn’. Here in Great Ellingham, parishioners would have taken the tenth share of their produce to the tithe barn in Long Street.
Great Ellingham tithe barn is clearly shown on an 1802 map of the village as being in Long Street. The barn and surrounding parcel of land is numbered 308 (‘R Glebe 1.0.39’).
Extract from 1802 Map of Great Ellingham. Original held at Norfolk Record Office. Russell James Colman Plans.
Cat. Ref. C/Ca 1/84. With kind permission of NRO
The Particulars and Valuation of Great Ellingham taken by the Commissioners in 1800 in connection with the Inclosures, lists the Reverend Thomas Bond as the owner and occupier of the churchyard (said to be one acre and nine perches – 1a 0r 9p), Tythe Barn yard with Barn numbered 308 on the plan (1a 0r 39p), Vicarage Close (1a 3r 8p) and an allotment on Pennell Common (1a 1r 17p). Together the parcels of land (amounting to 5a 1r 33p) had an annual value of £7 10s 11d.
The Reverend Thomas Bond was the Incumbent at Great Ellingham and Little Ellingham from 1770 until his death in 1814.
Extract from 1802 Map of Great Ellingham. Original held at Norfolk Record Office. Russell James Colman Plans. Cat. Ref. C/Ca 1/84. With kind permission of NRO
The vicarial glebe land (Vicarage Close) of 1a 3r 8p is shown numbered 482 on the 1802 map. It is no surprise that at least part of the glebe land (which has been developed) is known today as Glebe Meadow.
A Schedule of Great Ellingham Estates (c.1840) setting out land titheable to the Impropriate Rectory of Great Ellingham, Vicarage of Great Ellingham and Rectory of Little Ellingham, and Carbrooke Vicarage included:
- the ‘Tithe Barn Yard and Pightle’ comprising 1a 0r 39p is listed with the owner being ‘Vicarial Glebe’ and the occupier, John Warren
- the Church Yard of 1a 0r 9p with the owner as the Reverend Colby (Vicarial Glebe) and occupied by James Rose
- an allotment on Pennell Common 0a 1r 28p owned by the Rectorial Glebe and occupied by John Turner (and later occupied by ‘Summons’)
- Vicarage Close of 1a 3r 8p, owned by the Reverend Colby and occupied by John Turner, and
- John Turner also occupied an allotment of 0a 3r 29p on Pennell Common, again owned by the Reverend Colby (the owner of the Vicarial Glebe)
Sale of the Tithe Barn
The barn is mentioned in a Notice appearing in the London Gazette of 10 September, 1844. The Notice announced a forthcoming sale of certain property divided into two lots which was pursuant to an Order of the High Court of Chancery made in the cause of Lanphier v Buck. The auction would be held at the Royal Hotel, Norwich on the 12th October, 1844.
The two lots were:
- the impropriate rectory of Great Ellingham, consisting of tithes of corn and grain of about 1773a 1r 10p of land, communted to a rent charge of £430 a year
- a barn and 1a 0r 30p of pasture land (said to be tithe free) in Great Ellingham occupied by Robert Large
Three firms of London solicitors together with Gilman & Press of Hingham, Ballachery & Webb of Holt, and Michell & Clarke of Wymondham were mentioned in the Notice – from whom particulars and conditions of the sale may be obtained.
Given that the Notice states that the tithes had been commuted to a rent charge, I assume that the ‘tithe barn’ was no longer needed by the Improprietor of the Rectory of Great Ellingham, and hence it was sold separately to the Impropriate Rectory in 1844.
The case at the High Court of Chancery of Lanphier v Buck may have arisen from a dispute over the content of the Will of the late Reverend Thomas Bond (who died in 1814), or in connection with his widow’s estate.
Margaret Bond died c.1840, and I think it likely that she had at least a life interest in the income from the Impropriate of the Rectory of Great Ellingham. Accordingly, the Impropriate of the Rectory of Great Ellingham would not have been sold until Margaret Bond died (or, at least, ceased to have any interest).
Lanphier and Buck appear to be relations of the Bonds. The court action, which may have been conducted over several years, could well be a reason why the Impropriate of the Rectory of Great Ellingham and the tithe barn were only then being sold (in 1844) some four years after the death of Margaret Bond, and 30 years after the death of the Reverend Thomas Bond.
Sources:
Few, Janet. 2014. The Family Historian’s Enquire Within. Sixth Edition. The Family History Partnership, 57 Bury New Road, Ramsbotton, Bury, Lancs. BL0 0BZ. Pg 272
Glossary of Terms: Leicestershire Resources Website https://www.mdlp.co.uk/resources/lei.htm Accessed 10.07.2020
National Archives website https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/tithes/ Accessed 10.07.2020
1810 Will of Thomas Bond of Little Ellingham, clerk. The National Archives; Kew, England; Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Related Probate Jurisdictions: Will Registers; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 1558. Viewed via Ancestry.co.uk
1800 Inclosure Commissioner’s Particulars and Valuation, Great Ellingham. Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref: MC2213/119
1799-1842 F W Horner, Records of the Surveyors to the Commissioners for Inclosure in the Parishes of Norfolk & Suffolk. Great Ellingham (Act 1799). Norfolk Record Office. Catalogue Ref: BR 90/2
1802 Russell James Colman Plans. Great Ellingham. Catalogue Ref: C/Ca 1/84
1844 10th September. The London Gazette. Issue:20381 Page:3133 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/20381/page/3133 Accessed 11.07.2020