Illustrated is a reproduction of a silver Groat (fourpence) of Henry VII.
1509, 22nd April, accession of Henry VIII as king.
1524 By now Purse Caundle's church chantry chapel had been added by William Longe (son of John Long), who died this year and was to be buried (as was his wife) in the chapel.By this time, being a clay area, Purse Caundle is believed to have already been enclosed into small family farms, some of them scattered and isolated away from the main part of the village - i.e. Tripps and Rew farms. The main aim of most clayland farming was the production of milk to be turned into butter and cheese, and the rearing of cattle and pigs. Arable farming was far less important, and although some farmers grew corn for their own use and to provide winter feed for their livestock, there were many all-grass farms with little or no arable land. Sheep rearing was not so important as on the chalklands. Manorial control was far less strong and rigid in the clayland areas since there was much less communal organisation of agriculture. Most of the ploughing and heavy work was to continue to be done by oxen on clayland for another two centuries. The clinging clay soils needed the slower but steady pull of an ox-team for the plough, rather than with horses. However, there is aerial photographic archaeological evidence that there were at some time two medieval common fields, with one located on Church Farm, and the other alongside Caundle Brake just north of the road to Stalbridge Weston.
Depicted in this illustration is a Tenant paying rent, possibly to the manor Steward, for this would be beneath the dignity of the landlord who may well be the Lord of the Manor who could have been an absentee one as has always been the case with Purse Caundle.
(Taken from Fitzherbert's Boke of Surveying of 1523)
Illustrated is ploughing in an open field, with the use of two oxen which have to be continually goaded along. Taken from Fitzherbert's Boke of Husbandrie of 1525. 1524 et seq. Lay Subsidy. The subsidy roll of 1524-1527 were more or less the first taxation lists giving the individual names of Dorset inhabitants since the subsidies of 1327 and 1332. This later subsidy was granted in 1523 by Parliament to Henry VIII in order to finance the war with France, to be paid over the next four years. It taxed everyone on lands, goods or wages down to a lower limit of £1. The tax on Goods was: value £1-£2 at 4d in the £; £2-£20 at 6d in the pound; £20 and over at one shilling in the pound. On Wages: 4d in the £. (For more detailed information see Stoate.) At this time £1 was approximately equivalent to £432 in 2007. Thus one shilling = £21, and 4 pence = £7.
'Sherborne Hundred - Purse Caundle tithing
1524 Cawndell Purs. 1525 partly illegible
William Lang [Long] G £124 [£53,634]
Robert Compton G £46 2/3 [£20,985]
Richard Mewe G £20 [£8,650]
Thomas Chace G £16 [£6,920]
Thomas Snellyng G £4 [£1,730]
Robert Were G £1
John Pyke W £1
John Coke W £1
William Genyn W £1 G = Goods
John Sock W £1 W = Wages
John Dammeck W £1
William Mewe G £2
William Stone W £1
William Maynard W £1
Johanna Mewe wid[ow] G £1
John Toderell W £1
William Toderell W £1
William Genens jun W £1
Totals: 1524 = £10. 7s. 4d 1525 = £6. 15s. 10d.'
[£4,483] [£3,170]
William Lang was presumably the William Long of the earlier entry, and obviously fairly wealthy. For further Lay Subsidy charges see 1543/5 and 1598.
1528/9 On 22nd January (20 Henry VIII) Elizabeth Long, daughter of the late William Long, only about nine years old, died seised of the premises inherited from her father in 1525, with several elder family members being her next heirs. (See respective family details in APPENDIX C1)
1530 John Leland started his perambulations around the country which resulted in his published Itinerary:Travels in Tudor England 1530-1550. He visited Sherborne, and mentioned Purse Caundle (see CHAPTER 2: Rivers and Streams), and Stalbridge whose "market is decayed: The fair remaynithe."
1532 Up until this time the countryside would have been all of a flutter and noise with a wealth of wildlife - birds and smaller wild animals. The pockets of woodland, trees, and lengths of hedgerows around long enclosed fields with their diverse use within Purse Caundle and immediate surrounding parishes contributed to this mixture of wildlife. (Enclosure came generally earlier to clayland rather than to chalk.) Likewise any meadows could be expected to be home to a profusion of nectar containing wild flowers. However, birds' eggs, and such as larks, starlings, and wheatears may have formed a regular supplement to a poor cottager's diet who could not afford other meat. A labourer's wages could not be much more than five pence per day. Small animals such as rabbits were often the preserve of the manorial lords who had the right of 'free warren' over their estate land, e.g. as had the abbas of Shaftesbury at Purse Caundle. In addition, certain animals would have been killed for their fur to make clothes for the rich. Henry VIII's final Sumptuary Act defined more widely who could wear what, and even humble folk could now wear fur such as squirrel - for 'high fashion' was changing and other fabrics were coming into vogue. But this relatively low key attack on wildlife was to change to a certain extent hereafter.
Population growth started about 1525, and during the following 75 years there were many years of poor harvests which brought serious food shortages as a consequence. The first of the Tudor 'Vermin Acts' was now introduced to protect grain and fruit production from the depredations of all this wildlife. Small boys spending days out in the fields and orchards to frighten away birds was obviously not sufficient. There could still be a problem with foxes (which had no predators except man), and rodents (rats and mice) which were the diet of hawks and owls. With the several poor harvests in the early 1500s, man naturally did not wish to compete with the wildlife for the limited available food. This can be illustrated by the traditional country rhyme:
Four seeds in a hole,
One for the rook, one for the crow,
One to rot and one to grow.
Thus the 1532 'Vermin Act' was specifically aimed at reducing the population of certain larger birds considered to be the main culprits, irrespective of what benefit they could be in their eating of harmful insects:
'An Acte made and ordeyned to dystroye Choughes [i.e. jackdaws], Crowes, and Rokes. . . for as much as innumerable numbers of Rookes, Crowes and Choughes do daily consume a wonderful and marvellous great quantituy of corn and grain of all kinds . . . as well in the sowing . . . as also in the ripening and kernelling . . . and over that a marvellous destruction and decay of the covertures of thatched houses, barns, ricks and such like . . . Every One shall do his best to destroy Crows etc upon Pain of Amerciament. Every Town, Hamlet of more than ten dwellings (is to) provide and maintain Crow-nets during ten years. The inhabitants shall during ten years assemble and take order to desteroy Crow, Rooks atc. . . . (and) to doo and cause to be don as moche as hym or theym reasonably shall or may be to kill and utterly destroye all manner of Choughs, Crowes and Rookes comyng, abyding, bedying or hauntying (their property) upon peyne of grevous amerciaments to be levied by distress of the goodes and catalles of the Offendours.'
Twopence for every dozen of old crows,etc. was to be paid by the owners and tenants of the manor, or of other lands. The parish net and its accessories had to be presented to the steward of the Manor Court Leet every year to substantiate their existence and proper working order. For this ten year period, owners and tenants of farmland had to meet annually with a steward appointed by the Court to agree the optimum methods possible to achieve the destruction 'of all the yonge brede of Choughes, Crowes and Rookes for that yere.' A community who did not do this was subject to a penalty of twenty shillings.
Rooks were chosen because flocks of them in the Spring were inclined to take out new-sown corn seeds, and to pulling up young corn seedlings. No cognisance seemingly taken for the good they did when following the plough by taking out large numbers of other agricultural pests such as wireworms and leather-jackets.
Crows (which included Carrion and Hooded Crows) were lamb killers, and could also attack ewes, as well as going for the eggs of game birds.
Chough was originally a name that included jackdaw. As a ground feeder it was wrongly accused of taking grain when actually foraging for grubs and insects. Similarly when taking insects from animal carcases it was accused of being their killer. All this aspect is discussed in Roger Lovegrove's Silent Fields.
Whether this Act was widely followed and/or enforced is not known. It is known, however, that it failed in its aims and intentions, particularly in wooded areas where netting would be difficult. Unfortunately the Manor Court records for Purse Caundle for this period seem not to have survived. Stronger legislation on vermin control was to be enacted in 1566 (q.v.).
1534 The Act of Supremacy was passed which declared that Henry VIII was the supreme head of the Church of England, not the Pope.
The Act of First Fruits and Tenths (26 Henry VIII, chap. 3) transferred to the Crown those taxes known as annates and tenths which had previously been paid to the Pope by new incumbents of benefices. Commissioners were sent out to survey and value all benefices and religious houses, and the result is known as the Valor Ecclesiaticus. Peter's Pence, which since Saxon times had been paid to the Pope by households in England with property worth at least thirty pence, was also discontinued by Henry VIII by statute.
1535 Church Registers were ordered to be kept, to record baptisms, marriages and burials. As Purse Caundle's Registers pre-1730 are missing it is not possible to ascertain for instance what village plague visitations there were; though from other sources it may be known when such were in the vicinity, e.g. see 1579 below, and APPENDIX C5-Purse Caundle Parish Registers.
1536-1539 As part of the process of the Dissolution of the Monasteries resulting from the break with Rome, the Manors and lands of Abbeys - including of Athelney and Shaftesbury in Purse Caundle - were taken over by Henry VIII. At the time these latter lands were apparently leased to the family of the Lords Stourton: as under 16 Henry VIII (1525), William, Lord Stourton was to die seised for the lease - see 1545. Seemingly the king was to now renew this lease to the Stourton family. The Dissolution as it affected the two individual manorial abbeys is more fully covered in APPENDIX A.
With the Dissolution of the Monasteries here was removed a major source of charitable assistance for the poor and the traveller. Legislation up to now had been mainly concerned with punishing vagabonds and beggars, but in 1536 churchwardens and others were empowered to collect voluntary alms for poor relief.
1537 Sherborne Hundred Court, held every three weeks - 'For sale of wood and undergrowth:-Caundell Woode. . . . p[er] Thom Wynny[ff]' (DHC ref: D/FOW/)
1538 Archbishop Cranmer ordered the new 'Matthew's Bible' in English be placed in all churches, to be provided by the clergy and churchwardens conjointly.
1537 Invasion from France was threatened, and in February a muster was ordered of all men aged between 16 and 60 throughout the kingdom. Also enumerated was whether a man was an archer (A), a billman (B), or having no ability to arms (N). There were also the grades of able archer (AA) and able billman (AB). Those not already in possession of appropriate arms were "set to buy" (s.t.b.) them. The bow was the 6 foot long bow. The number of arrows were described as being a sheaf (of 24), half sheaf, etc. The bill was similar to the agricultural bill hook, with a hookd cutting edge mounted on the side of a 6 foot shaft, and often with a spike at the end. A sallet was a short brimmed helmet. Harness was a general term for armour. A whole complete harness might be metal breast and back plates, plus a sallet, gorget (collar), and splints (metal strips sewn on the sleeve of the jacket or other garment to protect the forearms from sword cuts). Bows cost between two shillings and 3s 4d (£41-£68) according to quality; a sheaf of arrows 2s; breast and back plates not to be above 7s 6d (£155) for the best sort.
'Muster Roll of Henry VIII
Issued was a 'Certificate of Sir John Horssey and Wm ......, commissioners for musters of able men and harness in co. Dorset, "assigned" 15 May 31 Henry VIII, "upon the division of that county appointed," i.e. for the hundreds of Yetteminster, Shirbourne, Brownshull, . . . .
"Hundred of Shurbraune:- . . ., Caundell Purs 17, . . ."
Alder Fygamer set to harness 2 men A Wm Mewe
Tho Chace s.t.b. for man A Jn Mewe
AB Tho Dossett bill A Pet Mewe
A Jn Damake s.t.b.bow 4 arr A Tho Mewe
B Wm Toderell has bill sallet B Wm Mylbrowne
Jb Sherwell has bow 4 arr B Rob Were s.t.b.bill
B Ric Togood nil Wm Stone s.t.b.bow
Jane Compton wid s.t.b.bow sh.arr B Rob Stone nil'
Ric Mewe s.t.b.bow 12 arr
It will be seen that even widows, presumably of some means, were obliged to buy weapons. For more details see Stoate.
In the Spring, Shaftesbury Abbey nunnery was one of the last to surrender to Henry VIII's commissioners, and with it its holdings in Purse Caundle.
1542 Under 33 Henry VIII, the King's escheator ws ordered to seize into the king's hands the lands, &c. late of Richard Long, deceased, and in the same regnal year, Robert, son and heir of Richard Long, obtained livery of the said share of the premises. See 1570 below.
Dorset ceased being in the Diocese of Salisbury, and was transferred for some unknown illogical reason to the Diocese of Bristol (until 1836).
Illustrated above is the obverse and reverse of a reproduction of a gold medal struck in 1545 to commemorate Henry VIII as Supreme Head of the Church of England Under God. It's diameter was two inches.
1543-1545 Lay Subsidy. This time the tax on wages was dropped, and the tax on land and goods down to a lower limit of £1, and payable over three years. The second and third payments were each generally half the first, so the payment for 1543 and final totals can easily be calculated. However, in 1545 there was a lower limit of £1 on lands and £5 on goods. Although there was a tax on both goods and income, only the former seems to have operated in Purse Caundle. The 1543 Lay Subsidy Roll for this tithing is mutilated and illegible.
1544 Caundle Purs. 1545 Caundell Purse.
Aldred Fitzjamys G 20 [£5,820] G 20
Thomas Chace G 16 [£4,656] G 16
Richard Mewe G 16 G 16
John Mewe G 6 [£1,746] G 6
William Mewe G 4 [£1,164] G 4
William Mylborne G 4 G 4
John Socke G 2 G 2
William Toterdell G 3 G 4
Richard Towgood G 3 G 3
Joan Compton wid[ow] G 5 G 5
William Stone G 2 G 2
William Stone jun[ior] G 2 G 2
John Damott G 1 G 1
Thomas Duffett G 1 G 1
John Crosse G 1 G 1
Agnes Snellyng wid[ow] G 1 G 1
Totals: 1543 - £2. 8s. 2d. 1544 - £1. 7s. 10d. 1545 - £1. 7s. 11d.
[£847] [£405] [£411]
Several names, or similar, are repeated from the 1539 Roll. A further Lay Subsidy survives for 1598 (q.v.).
1545, March. The following Grant was made:
'Sir William lord Stourton, Grant in fee, for l,403l. 16s. 0 1/2d., of the lordship and manor of Hynton Mare, Dors. . . ., the house and manor of Caundell, Dors, and the advowson of the rectory of Caundell Purs,-Shaftesbury mon.; the house and manor of Caundell Purase and woods called Abbottes Woode and Roughcrofte Coppes (6 ac.) in Caundell Pursse,-Athelney mon., Soms.; . . . Del. Westm. 3 March 36 Henry viii.-S.B. (stamped, and signed by Suffolk, Russell, Petre, Bacon and Duke. Pat. p. 26, m. 38.'
Sir William Stourton was from a Catholic family. This woodland has so far not been identified. The two separate manors manors thus nhow came and descended together, and both remained in that family until 1559.
A Litany in English was introduced into churches.
A Litany in English was introduced into churches.
Illustrated is a real silver Groat (fourpence) of Henry VIII.1547, 28th January, accession of 9-year old Edward VI as king, under whom the Reformation was to be zealously continued.
1549 The Act of Uniformity forbad use of the Catholic Mass. All clergy were now to use Cranmer's English-language Book of Common Prayer, which contained many Protestant doctrines. By 1552 the new, simple form of worship ordered by this was replaced by an even more Protestant version. There was to begin in churches the stripping away of Catholic emblems and practices.
A commentator was to say: "with no newspapers and no letterpost, country incumbents pursued a quiet course; the archdeacon visited them every year, who told them (from the Bishop) forms of service and religious practices to follow.
Illustrated below is a posthumous real silver penny of Henry VIII during 1547-1551.
Below is a reproduction shilling (twelvepence) of Edward VI.
1551/2 The Sherborne Hundred Court Roll (5 Edward VI) recorded the tithingman of Purse Caundle reporting that there were four in default, being fined 3 pence each. (DHC ref: D/FOW/A17)
1552 General inventories of churches' goods were made. 'Purse Caundell' was shown as having:
'First j chalis of syluer iij belles iiij peyre of vestmentes of sylk ij copes one of [silk] thother of Dornex iiij alter clothes ij candelstyckes of laten ij cruetes of lede j crose of laten j sencer of laten ij corporas with there cases ij banners of peynted . . .
'To the church vse.-Apoynted by the said commyssioners the chalis the cope of Dornex, with all the table clothes and surpleses the rest comyttded to ther charge of them vnder wryten
Thomas Moden parson William Mew )
John Domet ) churche- Thomas Duffer ) parisheoners'
John Mewe ) wardens Thomas James )
(DNHAS Vol. 26, 1905) The bells could well have been the small tinkling handbells which had been used at intervals during the Mass.This inventory was required so that it be known what Catholic utensils, vestments and idolatrous images could no longer be used and were to be sold, destroyed or otherwise disposed of. Many Catholic clergy, churchwardens and congregations were in disagreement with this enforced turn against Catholicism, and loathe to carry out this practice, and thus chose to hide or buy for themselves the various items. However, churches were allowed to keep 'the worst' chalice, and one vestment for the priest. All these changes and confiscations were accepted in Dorset without any open protest. As one reviewer of Eamon Duffy's book wrote: "The Stripping of the Altars is the story of traditional Catholics desperately trying to preserve their faith against tyrannical rulers who tear down their altars, change the language of their Mass, mock their devotions, destroy their statues, and decimate their liturgical year. It is a tale of courage amid great tragedy and it proves that the Faith in England was stolen, not lost. Most of all it presents the beauty and power of traditional Roman Catholicism."
The Poor Law Act was passed in order to officially record the number of poor in each Parish Register.
1553, 6th July, dubious accession of 16-year old Lady Jane Grey as queen on death of the 15-year old Edward VI.
19th July, Queen Jane deposed, and accession of Edward's half-sister Mary as queen, a Roman Catholic. Jane was to be beheaded in the Tower of London on 12th February 1554. Queen Mary ordered that churches had to restore plate, clothing, books and other trappings forcibly removed in Edward VI's time. Where missing, sold or plundered items were known, they were to be recovered, or payment/gifts to be made in lieu. A small parish tax was made on parishioners. At the same time the dying were to be persuaded to include donations to the poor in their wills. Again, as in 1552, there was no general protest in Dorset.
An Act was passed during the year requiring the repair and maintenance of the 'Comon Highewaye called the Cawsey . . . between the Townes of Shaftesburye and Shirebourne in the . . . Countye of Dorsett.' A short section of this original old road can still be found running east-west along just north of Crendle. This Act was to be renewed for a further ten years in 1554. For full details see CHAPTER 1, Section 5-Roads, etc.
1554, 25th July, following her marriage Queen Mary reigned jointly with her husband Philip (of Spain), until her death in 1558.
1555 A Highways Act (2 & 3 Philip & Mary, chap. 8) enacted that each year, in Easter week, every parish was to elect "two honest persons" of the parish to serve as Surveyors of Highways, who would be responsible for the upkeep of those highways within the parish boundaries which ran to market towns. The Surveyors would announce on the first Sunday after Easter, the four days before 24th June (the feast-day of the nativity of John the Baptist) on which the maintenance work was to be carried out, and for these four days the whole parish was to work on the highways. Every person, for every ploughland (an area broadly comparable to a hide) they held in the parish, and every person keeping a draught (plough-team) or plough there, was to provide a cart or wain equipped for the work, and two able-bodied men, on penalty of 10s per draught. The Surveyors could, at their discretion, require a further two men instead of the cart. Every other householder, as well as every other cottager and labourer free to labour (i.e. not hired servants) was to send themselves or a substitute able-bodied labourer to work for the four days, onj a penalty of 12d per day apiece. All labourers were to provide their own equipment, and bound to work for eight hours each day upon the roads. The Act to be in force for seven years - but see 1562.
1558, 17th November, accession of Elizabeth as a Protestant queen, who was to bring the return of Cranmer's Prayer Book.
1558/9 Under 1 Elizabeth, the ex-Athelney Abbey Manor was now worth a yearly rent of £5 (£1,202), 10s 9d (£129) the service of the tenants, a capital messuage and two tenements, and the advowson of the rectory, late belonging to the Lord Charles Stourton attainted, granted in 1545 to Sir William Stourton. All this was now granted by the Queen to William Button Esq. and Thomas Estcourt, and the heirs of Button. Likewise, the ex-Shaftesbury Abbey Manor, yearly rent of assize. The Queen's services relating to the free and customary tenants, the site of the manor house and all the demesne lands, and the two tenements called Warehouse and Kendballs, formerly belonging to Shaftesbury Abbey, and again late to Lord Charles Stourton attainted. See APPENDIX A1 for full details.
1559 A Royal Injunction made a general requirement for parishes to perambulate and check their bounds. This was something that was already being done on a voluntary basis. See 1590 for the first known example of this at Purse Caundle as recorded in the Manor Court records.
A second Act of Supremacy, by Queen Elizabeth, repealed legislation passed during Queen Mary's reign, and returning to the Crown jurisdiction over the Church as well as the Realm.
An Act of Uniformity of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacrament, whereby attendance at church became compulsory, and non-attendance was punished by fine or imprisonment. It was known as the Recusancy Laws.
1562 The new Highways Act (5 Elizabeth I, chap. 13) extended the provisions of the 1555 Highways Act, by which every householder of a parish had now to provide six instead of four days labour in a year on the highways, for a further twenty years. Surveyors of Highways were empowered to take debris from quarries and dig for gravel without permission of the landowners. Justices of the Peace at Quarter Sessions were empowered to investigate and punish Surveyors in cases where they were in d ereliction of their duties, imposing "such fines . . . as shall be thought meet." This Act was eventually repealed in 1767 (7 George III, chap. 42).
1563 A Poor Law Act enacted in which the different types of Poor people were categorised in order to determine the treatment that they might receive.
A second Act of Supremacy, by Queen Elizabeth, repealed legislation passed during Queen Mary's reign, and returning to the Crown jurisdiction over the Church as well as the Realm.
An Act of Uniformity of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacrament, whereby attendance at church became compulsory, and non-attendance was punished by fine or imprisonment. It was known as the Recusancy Laws.
1562 The new Highways Act (5 Elizabeth I, chap. 13) extended the provisions of the 1555 Highways Act, by which every householder of a parish had now to provide six instead of four days labour in a year on the highways, for a further twenty years. Surveyors of Highways were empowered to take debris from quarries and dig for gravel without permission of the landowners. Justices of the Peace at Quarter Sessions were empowered to investigate and punish Surveyors in cases where they were in d ereliction of their duties, imposing "such fines . . . as shall be thought meet." This Act was eventually repealed in 1767 (7 George III, chap. 42).
1563 A Poor Law Act enacted in which the different types of Poor people were categorised in order to determine the treatment that they might receive.
1563/4 At this date was the earliest so-far known mention of a Manor Court being held in Purse Caundle, found in the 1583 proceedings of the Court of Requests - see APPENDIX B2.
Illustrated below is the obverse of a real silver sixpence of Elizabeth I.
Illustrated below is the reverse of a 1586 real silver sixpence of Elizabeth I.
Illustrated below is a reproduction silver Crown (five shillings) of Elizabeth I.
1566 Following on from the Vermin Act of 1532, this year was enacted further and stronger anti-vermin legislation. Instead of just the three named birds of the earlier Act, a whole range of species of mammals and birds were designated as vermin: some of which, however, were questionable, such as the hedgehog and woodpecker:
'An Acte for the preservation of Grayne. The heads of any old Crowes, Choughs [i.e. jackdaw], Pyes, or Rookes, for the heades of every three of them one penny and for the heads of every six young Crowes, Choughs, Pyes or Rookes, one penny; and for every six eggs of them unbroken one penny: and the like wise for every twelve Stares [starling] Heades one penny; for everie Heade of Martuynj Hawkes, Furskytte [stoat], Moldekytte [weasel], Busarde, Schagge, Carmarante, or Ryngtale [harrier], two pence; and for every two egges of them one penney; and for every Iron [sea eagle] or Ospreyes Head Fower pence; for the Heade of every Woodwall [woodpecker], Pye, Jaye, Raven, Kyte, one penney; for the Head of every Byrde which is called the Kings Fyssher, one peny; for the Heade of every Bulfynche or other Byrde that devoureth the blowth of Fruite, one penny; for the Heades of everie Fox or Gray [badger] twelve pence; and for the Heades of every Fitchou, Polcatte, Wessel, Stote, Fayre bade or Wilde catte, one peny; for the Heades of every Otter or Hedgehog, two pence; and for the Heades of every three rattes or twelve Myse, one penny; for the Heades of everie Moldewarpe or Wante [mole] one halfpenny.'
Bullfinches were chosen because of them eating the buds of certain garden fruit, with some known to being killed in Sherborne.
The poor hedgehog was mistakenly thought to suck milk from cows' udders, though it did steal eggs from hen houses. A high number were taken at Sherborne.
House-sparrows' crime was the eating of heads of corn, and burrowing into thatched roofs of cottages to find nesting sites. They were to suffer a high kill rate in Dorset, especially during the late late 18th/early 19th centuries.
Jays were a limited nuisance to some fruit trees, as well as steipping peas. There was also a high kill rate of these in Dorset during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Rats. The Black Rat came at the time of the Romans, but were not to become particularly prolifiic. Unlike the Brown Rat which came to Britain from the continent around 1720. The high numbers caught in Dorset are thought to have included 'Water Rats' or Water Voles' which were also considered pests.
Red Kites killed poultry. There were to be some taken in Dorset.
Stoats preyed on Poultry and rabbit warrens, as well as game. Some were killed in Dorset. Weasels also preyed on Poultry, but were also beneficial against rodents. Some were killed in Dorset.
Administration of the Vermin Act now passed from the Manor Court Leet to parish officers. It was made a requirement for all parishes to raise a levy from landowners, farmer and tenants, in proportion to their land holding. This was to provide the means separate from church funds, out of which bounties at stipulated\rates were to be paid to parishioners for the killing of this wide range of vermin. Two churchwardens and six other parishioners were to form a committee, to annually choose two 'honest and substantial persons' to distribute the bounty funds. As it was not strictly a church responsibility, churchwardens' accounts would not initially include such receipts and payments, it is not really known what were the results of this Act. The Act was to be renewed in 1572 and 1598, and it was not to be repealed until 1863. By this latter date churchwardens' accounts had included payment of bounties, including at Purse Caundle. At the same time is revealed the wholesale slaughter totals: e.g. kites by the hundred, hedgehogs by the thousand, house sparrows by the million. The earliest surviving churchwardens' accounts for Purse Caundle date from 1822, which show a continuation of such payments (see CHAPTER 7). The nearest other churchwardens' accounts referred to by Lovegrove were those of Sherborne 1648-1801.
Not all parishes complied, either fully or even partially. The main determinant for the area of a rural parish has been the fertility, i.e. good land - small size, and vice versa. Purse Caundle is of small size - about 3 square miles. The size of a parish could thus be reflected in its number of kills. Also, wildlife knows no boundaries, and could travel freely from parish to parish, and thus could be liable to keep up respective numbers, and thus defeat the objects of the Act. Purse Caundle's woodlands and many lengths of hedgeline would be a haven for many species of birds and mammals.
Although this Act was not universally applied at the beginning, by the 17th and 18th centuries over half of parishes were paying out, though they may have differing scales of payment.
1569 From the beginning of her reign in 1558 Queen Elizabeth began to hold regular musters, which increased in frequency as the threat of a Spanish invasion grew. Different from 1539, this time the able men were divided into five groups - horsemen (Ho), harquebusiers (H), archers (A), pikemen (P), and billmen (B). For descriptions of the various weapons see 1539 and Stoate, though it may be mentioned that the bill would have been a billhook fastened to the end of a pole.
'Muster Roll - Sherborne Hundred - Purse Cawndle Tithing:
Ho Wm Hannam Esq P Greg Totterdeale
P Jn Hulet H Tho Togood
P Wm Mewe B Nic Iverye
B Chris Mylles B Rob Pownfolde
A Jn Pownfolde P Ellyze Mewe'
A Ric Wytche
Purse Caundle's contingent thus consisted of: 1 Horseman, 1 Harquebusier, 2 Archers, 4 Pikemen, 3 Billmen.
1570 Under 12 Elizabeth all Manor premises, etc. which had been granted to messrs Button and Estcourt were now granted to one of her favourites - Christopher Hatton Esq. and his heirs. During the same regnal year Robert Long died seised of lands in Purse Caundle, leaving Richard his 40-year old son as heir.
1572 Renewal of the 1566 Vermin Act (q.v.).
Another Poor Law Act in which the first compulsory poor law tax was imposed at a local level, making the alleviation of poverty a local responsibility.
1574 Queen Elizabeth enforced some new Sumptuary Laws called the 'Statutes of Apparel'. This specified quite minutely what men and women could wear applicable to their station in life.The owner of Purse Caundle manor house, who could likely have been a Justice of the Peace, would seem to have been restricted to anything except silk, velvet, damask or satin, and any colour except crimson, violet, purple and deep blue. The rest of the village male and female population would have been restricted to wool, linen, sheepskin, with silk, taffeta and velvet trimmings allowed, plus buttons and the facing of coats, cloaks, hats and caps also allowed; and only in brown, beige, yellow, orange, russet, green, grey and blue (not the deep rich indigo but died with woad).
1575 Mapmaker Christopher Saxton published a map of Dorset, with 'Candelpurfe' being pinpointed. William Camden (1551-1623) was to say about the same time: "The soil is fruitful, and in the northern parts are woods and forests, . . . with several hills that feed great flock of sheep."
1576 William Hanham, son of Richard Hanham dies after becoming owner of Purse Caundle manor house.
1579 According to the Milborne Port Register there was plague there, which killed nine persons in August and September.
1585 Instructions were issued from the Privy Council for stricter vigilance in the counties. Men were to be divided into little groups of ten and twenty, each group with someone continually responsible for their whereabouts, so that 'on an instant they could be called and had'. The armour was no longer to be carried to the meeting place in carts, for it suffered damage on the way; instead each soldier was to carry his own, receiving one penny for each mile of his journey besides his pay of eightpence a day. The Bishops were to see that the clergy bore their share of contributing to the defence of the county. The laws against catholics were tightened. In the maritime counties (which presumably included Dorset) bridges were to be guarded. (Lloyd's Dorset Elizabethans)
1586 Early in the year the county's deputy-Lieutenants headed a cavalcade in armour and on horse-back to make a survey of the coast and its defences to send to the Privy Council, with one of the party of Justices being James Hanham of Purse Caundle. (Lloyd's Dorset Elizabethans)
In the first edition of William Camden's Britannia or a Chorographical Description of Great Britain and Ireland there is no mention of Purse Caundle, although it is shown on the book's map.
1588 How much the threat of a Spanish invasion concerned Purse Caundle is not known, nor the events surrounding the eventual sighting of the Spanish Armada. But even at inland neighbour Sherborne, farmers refused to complete bargains at the market because of the uncertainty of invasion. Each Hundred was supposed to have its own beacon. As\far as the Brownsell Hundred (wherein was Purse Caundle) was concerned, it has been suggested that there may have been one at Tut Hill, a few miles south in Caundle Marsh. 'Tout' was Old-English for 'lookout'. Beacons were definitely sited at Bubb Down, Cerne Abbas and Bulbarrow. Being in something of a valley in the countryside, unless a beacone was sited on one of the immediate surrounding ring of hills, Purse Caundle may well have had to rely on a mesenger to bring news of the Armada's approach. In the event, the Armada set sail from Corunna in Spain on 12th July, arriving off the Scillies on the 19th. The English fleet then shadowed it until the Armada anchored off Calais. The rest was then history, as the remnants of the Armada (having been fired by English 'fire-ships') retreated\in disorder all around the British Isles with many being shipwrecked along the coastline, and the danger was passed.
1588/9 Under the 'Act Against Erecting and Maintaining Cottages' (31 Elizabeth, chap. 18), '. . . that . . . no person hall within this realm . . . make, build and erect, or cause to be made, built or erected, any manner of cottage for habitation or dwelling, nor convert or ordain any building or housing made or hereafter to be made or used as a cottage for habitation or dwelling , unless the same person do assign and lay to the same cottage or building four ages of ground at the least, to be accounted according to the statute or ordinances De terris mensurandis being his or her own freehold and inheritance lying near the same cottage, to be continually occupied and manured therewith so long as the same cottage shall be inhabited; upon pain that every such offender shall forfeit, to (the Queen) . . . £10 of lawful money of England for every such offence.' Exemption from the Act could be obtained by petition to the Quarter Sessions on grounds of poverty, provided the permission of the manorial Lord was given.The Act was eventually repealed in 1775.
1590-1631 The earliest known surviving original Manor Court Rolls for Purse Caundle are for this period, and are currently held at the Somerset Record Office. Some later Manor Court records dating from 1686 are kept at the Wiltshire & Swindon Record Office. All of which have been copied and transcribed as below at the instigation of this author. Manor Court meetings are also referred to, sometimes with extracts, in civil claims quoted in this work.
1590 'Purse Caundle. Court of William Dodington, esq. amd wife Christine, held Tues 7th April.
Essoins. None.
Homage Jury sworn. Peter Mewe, John Hewlett, William Damyck, Thomas Sock, Anthony Stone, Nicholas Ivory, Thomas Cross, Richard Toogood, James Hewlett.
Free suitors appearing. Michael Bryne, William Damyck.
Freeholders defaulting. James Hannam, esq. Pardoned by court.
Admission of freeholders. Robert Mewe of Purse Caundle, husbandman, admitted to cottage with appurtenances in Purse Caundle, once occupied by Thomas Lymynge, and granted to Robert Mewe and wife Joan [daughter of William Damyck of Purse Caundle, carpenter] by said William Damyck in deed dated 22 Sep 1589.
Presentments by homage. Presentments made by Peter Mewe, headman of manor of ruinous properties: house and barn of Richard Toogood [the walls]; kitchen of Anthony Stone; barn of Nicholas Ivory; barn door and roof of dove-cote of Peter Mewe - all to be repaired by St John the Baptist day or be fined 6s 8d [£53] each.
Thomas Sock, Richard Toogood, Jane King widow - for receiving inmates/subtenants without permission - fine 10s [£80] each.
Tenants to view bounds of manor before next court, or fined 5s [£40]. [This being in line with the 1559 Royal injunction.]
Order for views. If any disputes arise between tenants, notice to be given to Bailiff, who will summon body of tenants to take view of the matter, any failure to attend - 2s 6d [£20] fine, results of view to be certified to next court.
Order. Bailiff to deliver sufficient timber to Nicholas Ivory to enable his ruinous barn to be repaired.
Order for walking bounds. All the tenants of the manor, if not impotent or lame, together with servants and children, to gather during Rogation week, to walk bounds of manor, something which "by their slothfulness and negligence of duty have been greatly decayed" - any absentees without good reason fined 12d [£8] (8d to Lord and 4d to informer).'
Rogation week was the week in which Ascension Day falls. It was an ancient custom derived from the annual blessing by the parish priest of crops and fields, which soon included a perambulation of parish and/or Manor boundaries. This checking of the bounds was a proceeding commonly regulated by the steward, being a perambulation round the boundaries of a Manor or parish, with witnesses, to determine and preserve recollection of its extent; and to see that no encroachments have been made upon it, and that the landmarks have not been taken away. Thus a procession would make its way slowly round the boundaries of ther Manor/parish. It was sometimes termed 'Beating of the Bounds', when at certain points the elders of the village would 'beat' boys on the seat of their pants, which was supposed to act as a painful reminder of the location of the boundary in later years.This approximately 10 miles walk in the case of Purse Caundle would doubtless be quite strenuous, especially for the more elderly up and down the several inclines, and particularly during inclement weather. All this probably meant that the perambulation took place over several days. In some instances refreshment would be provided along the way by for example farmers. (On a day in June 2009, at the suggestion of this author, members of the Dorset County Boundary Survey Group, following the old county boundary with Somerset, did the stretch from Copse House to Toomer Hill; then along its line just north of the old medieval road, down through Crendle Wood to Crendle Corner; then along most of the eastern edge of Hanover Wood. There was not time for the final section of the old Dorset boundary with Goathill which was originally in Somerset.There would also still have left the rest of the purely inter-Dorset parish boundary back around to Copse House still to be determined by this author at his leisure.
1590 'Purse Caundle Court held Friday, 18 Sept.
Essoins. None.
Homage sworn. Peter Mewe, John Hewlett, William Damyck, Thomas Sock, Anthony Stone, Richard Ivory, Thomas Crosse, James Hewlett.
Free holders appearing. James Hannam esq, Michael Bryne, William Damyck, Robert Mewe.
Grant in reversion. James Sock, son of Thomas Sock, granted reversion to messuage or tenement, and virgate of land in Purse Caundle, to be held by John Sock and wife Agness for their lives - fine for admission £10 [£1,598].
Licence to demise. Thomas Sock and wife Christine, given licence to demise half a messuage and tenement and vigate of land to John Sock and wife Agnes, for term of lives of Thomas and Christine.
Presentments of homage. Richard Toogood who held tenement and close of pasture (14 acres) in Purse Caundle has died, heriot of one cow (appraised at 40s [£319]): Thomas Toogood, his son, should now hold premises during life, by reason of grant made by Charles Lord Stourton, former Lord of manor - to be admitted. Admitted 3 Jan 1591.'
1590 'Purse Caundle Manor court of William Dodington and wife Christian - 9 October.
Homage: Peter Mewe, John Hewlett, William Damyck, Nicholas Iverye, Anthony Stone.
William Browne received from Lords of manor one tenement lately occupied by Aldred Mewe and now by said William - to be held by him and his wife Christian and John Segar of Lydlinch for their lives. Rent 7s 3d [£58]. Fine £56 [£8,950]. Sum of this court: £56.'
It will be noticed that at these two latter court meetings nothing was mentioned about the perambulation of bounds required by the court of 7th April 1590.
1591 'Purse Caundle Manor Court, 8 January.
Essoins. None.
Homage: Peter Mewe, John Hewlett, William Damyck, Thomas Toogood, Thomas Sock, William Browne, Anthony Stone, William Stone, Nicholas Ivory, Thomas Cross, James Hewlett.
Presentment [by Head Man Peter Mewe]
Thomas Toogood, clerk: his barn ruinous, to be repaired.
Thomas Toogood: staying at Wimborne Minster against custom of manor, to return.
James Hewlett, bailiff, to deliver sufficient timber to said Thomas Toogood to repair his house.
Sum of this court: 3d [£2]'
1591 'Purse Caundle Manor court, 11 October.
Homage: Peter Mewe, John Hewlett, Thomas Sock, William Brown, Nicholas Ivory, Thomas Crosse, James Hewlett, William Stone.
Freeholders appearing: James Hannam esq, Michael Bryne, William Damyck, Robert Mewe.
Presentment [by Head Man Peter Mewe]
Thomas Toogood, clerk, barn in decay, cowstall ruinous, to repair them, fined 1d [72p] for previous neglect.
Christine Toogood of Stourton Caundle, widow, and Thomas Toogood of Stourton Caundle, husbandman, on 10 April last did break into and enter wood of the Lords of the Manor called Plumly Wood and cut down two oak trees and an ash tree, the property of the Lords, and carried away the loppings. Note: this wood is let to Peter Mewe and his wife Joan and son Ellis, but the trees reserved to Mr Dodington.
Sum of this court: 1d.'
1592 'Purse caundle Manor court of William Dodington and wife Christian, 9 October.
Homage: Peter Mewe, Thomas Polden, John Hewlett, Thomas Sock, William Browne, Anthony Stone, Thomas Toogood, Nicholas Ivory, Thomas Crosse, James Hewlett, William Stone, William Damyck.
Freeholders appearing: James Hannam esw, Michael Bryne, William Damyck, Robert Mewe.
Presentments by Head Man Peter Mewe:
Thomas Toogood: has not repaired his cowstall as ordered at last court (5s fine [£49], to be repaired by 25 March next.
Anthony Stone: thatch on kitchen roof decayed, to be repaired.
Nicholas Ivory: his kitchen wall ruinous, to be repaired.
Peter Mewe: part of his cowstall at Rewe is ruinous, to be rebuilt by Michaelmas next.
The ditch at Parsons Lanes Barres extending as far as Stones Greenhill Yeate needs scouring out by Thomas Geiste, clerk, Nicholas Ivory and Anthony Stone, to be done by Christmas.
James Hewlett and Thomas Crosse: to scour out their ditches on either side of Leicester Lane before 30 November.
Thomas Polden: to scour and repair his ditch at upper end of Rushbedd Meade by Christmas.
Nobody is to let their cattle stray in the Lanes unless they are followed or to let their pigs go unringed.
Nicholas Ivory elected as hayward for next year. Sum of this court: 5s.'
1592 During the year Sir Walter Raleigh was granted the lease of nearby Sherborne Castle [the old one] by Queen Elizabeth (upgraded to freehold in 1599). He started to modernise it, but this proved too expensive, so he started building a new house in the deer park on the site of the hunting lodge.
1593 'Purse Caundle Manor Court, 6 April.
Homage: John Hewlett, William Browne, Thomas Toogood, Nicholas Ivorie, Thomas Crosse, William Stone, William Damyck, James Hewlett.
Freeholders appearing: James Hannam esq, Robert Mew, Michael Bryne, William Damick.
Presentment by Head Man John Hewlett.
Peter Mewe: wall of his cowstall adjoining Thomas Crosse's has fallen down, to be rebuilt by Michaelmas.
William Stone: his cowstall wall has fallen down, to be rebuilt by Michaelmas.
George Totterdell: to repair and thoroughly dig out his ditch at upper end of his Lake Close, so that it may be cleaned out by 3rd May.
Elizabeth James, widow: to remove her brother John Snoke from her tenement by 3 May.
Nobody may let or sell any part of his tenement except to his reversioner, if there is one, or if not, to any of the Lord's tenants, who will pay what a stranger would pay. Sum of this court: 2d [£1.50].'
1593 'Purse Caundle Manor court, 24 October.
Homage. Thomas Polden, gent., John Hewlett, William Browne, William Damyck, Anthony Stone, Nicholas Ivory, William Stone, Thomas Crosse.
Freeholders appearing: James Hannam esq, Michael Bryne, William Bryne, William Damyck, Robert Mewe.
Surrenders: Nicholas Iverie, Robert Iverie, Thomas Iverie, sons of Nicholas, came and surrendered their right to tenement and 4 closes of pasture and meadow (13 acres) in Purse Caundle, paying heriot of 30s [£272] - to which Thomas Kinge was then admitted tenant - fine £6 13s 4d [£1,128].
Sum of this court: £6 13s 4d. 30s.'
1594 'Purse Caundle Manor court of William Dodington and wife Christian, 28 March.
Homage: William Browne, Peter Mewe, Thomas Kinge, Anthony Stone, William Stone, Thomas Crosse.
Freeholders appearing: Robert Mewe.
James Hannam, Michael Bryne, William Damyck did not appear because they did not receive summons, so they are pardoned.
Presentment by Head Man, William Browne:
Anthony Stone: kitchen ruinous.
Thomas Kinge: barn and oven ruinous.
William Browne: barn ruinous.
William Stone: wain house ruinous.
Peter Mewe: cowstall ruinous.
William Totterdell: dwelling house ruinous.
All above ordered to carry out repairs.
Thomas Toogood: shop chimney has fallen down - to be rebuilt.
Thomas Toogood (customary tenant) has been living away from his tenement against the custom of the manor.
Thomas Toogood to repair his hedges and ditches in Leicester Meade before 10 April.
Sum of this court: 2d [£1.25].'
1595 'Purse Caundle Manor court of William Dodington and wife Christian, 28 March.
Homage: John Hewlett, William Browne, Thomas Kinge, William Damyck, Anthony Stone, William Stone, Thomas Crosse.
Freeholders appearing: James Hannam esq, Robert Mewe, Michael Bryne, William Damyck.
Presentment by Head Man: John Hewlett.
Thomas Toogood still away from his tenement since last court, 20s [£142] fine - ordered to return.
Peter Mewe: to repair his dovecote.
Peter Mewe: to remove Geoffrey Foote and his family, his undertenants.
James Hulett: to remove Nicholas Andrewes, his subtenant.
Anthony Stone: to repair his cowstall. Sum of this court: 20s.'
1595 'Purse Caundle Manor court, 25 September.
Homage: John Hewlett, William Browne, Thomas Kinge, William Damyck, Anthony Stone, William Stone, Thomas Cross.
Freeholders appearing: James Hannam esq, Robert Mewew, Michael Bryne.
Presentments by Head Man, John Hewlett: all is well.'
1596 'Purse Caundle Manor court of William Dodington and his wife Christian, 17 April.
Homage: John Hewlett, William Browne, Thomas Kinge, William Damyck, Thomas Sock, Anthony Stone, William Stone.
Freeholders appearing: Robert Mewe, William Damyck.
Presentments by Head Man, John Hewlett:
James Hannam esq, Michael Bryne, freeholders who did not appear, excused because they did not receive a summons.
Thomas Polden gent, Thomas Toogood, customary tenants dis not appear, excused because they did not receive summons. Sum of this court: nothing.'
1597 'Purse Caundle Manor court, 21 October.
Homage: Thomas Polden gent, John Hewlett, William Browne, William Stone, Thomas King, William Damyck, Anthony Stone, Ellis Mewe.
Gregory Toterdell surrenders to the Lords a cottage in Purse Caundle which he occupies.
Presentments by Head Man, Thomas Polden:
Death of James Hannam, freeholder of manor, by what services he held his land is not known - James Hannam his son and heir, and was 7 years old on death of father, and is in the wardship of the Queen - enquiry to be held about how much land he had and by what tenure.
Death of Peter Mewe, who held of the Lords for life and by indenture the capital messuage or farm of Purse Caundle - heriot is two oxen delivered at will of Lords.
Edward Borough gent, held as customary tenant the reversion of a tenement called Rushton, now in occupation of Joan Kinge, widow, has voluntarily surrendered it since last court into hands of William Dodington, so that Lords may do their will with it. Sum total of this court: --------'
When an orphaned heir or heiress was a minor, he or she was made a ward of the sovereign, with someone appointed as guardian to manage the estate affairs until such time as the heir came of age, i.e. twenty-one years old. This situation could lead to mismanagement and misappropriation of assets. A rich young ward could be 'persuaded' to marry into the guardian's family, and thus increase that family's fortune and status.
Under 39 Elizabeth (1597) two parts of one messuage, called the Mansion House, and lands divided into three parts, were held at the death by Sir James Hanham knight, of William Dodington of 'Breamer' (Breamore), Hampshire, as of his manor of Purse Caundle, by rent of 18s 2d [£110], value £10 [£1,215]. There had been quite an amount of cost-of-living inflation over the past 70 years. Whereas in 1524
a £1 = £432 at 2007 values, in 1598 it was now only some £121.
In 1597, under the Act of 39 Elizabeth (1), chapter 3, there was the first statutory obligation on parishes to provide for the poor, no matter for what reason parishioners found themselves in that unfortunate position. Rural workers could be made unemployed by the combined pressures of agricultural changes and rising population. The only resort for the unemployed farm labourer wasd to take to the road in search of work. If none was to be found it was all too easy to slide into vagrancy, mendicancy and crime. Charity was unreliable and/or insufficient; and stronger measures were needed to obviate any possible vagrancy and resultant crime. The Overseers of the Poor of each parish would be responsible for implementation.
Towards the close of Elizabeth's reign the price of grain and meat was rising, whilst the high price of wool was dropping, thus defeating the object of the 16th century enclosures and the need for an increase in pasture rather than tillage. Stimulus was thus given to arable farming which provided employment for the rural population. Thus a 1597 Act ordered that all arable land which had been made pasture since the accession of Queen Elizabeth should be reconverted to tillage, and none then under the plough should be laid down to grass. For owners of land (whether landlords or yeomen, copyholders and tenant-farmers), the times were to become prosperous. Even agricultural labourers shared in the resultant good fortune; for, though their wages remained low and only fitfully rose with the decline in the purchasing power of money, they were more secure of employment, and thus the worst of their evils was over. Manuring and other means of land improvement came into use, and crop yields thus increased.
1598 'Purse Caundle Manor court, 28 April.
Homage: John Hewlett, William Browne, Ellis Mewe, William Stone, Thomas Kinge, William Damyck. Anthony Stone.
John Curtys of Caundle Marsh admitted tenant to cottage late occupied by Gregory Tatterdell - to be held by him and Francis and Alice Pope, parents of Robert Pope of Milborne Port, Somerset, weaver, for their lives. Fine: £23 [£4,133], Robert Pope paying £30 [£3,875], and John Curtys £2 [£258].
Geoffrey Foote of Purse Caundle, husbandman, brought into court a deed dated 27 April 1597 in which Robert Mewe and wife Joan grant to Geoffrey for £14 13s 4d [£1,894] a freehold messuage or cottage in Purse Caundle, once in tenure of Thomas Lymmyng, then of the said Robert, also one close of pasture (3 acres) adjoining Pyle Lane in Purse Caundle, and held of manor by unknown services. Geoffrey was admitted tenant.
James Hewlett brought to court a deed dated (1596) whereby Gregory Tenterdell granted to James a cottage and yard (1/2 acre) in Purse Caundle, then in tenure of Edith Burton, widow, now of James Hulett. James admitted tenant.
Elizabeth James, widow, late relict of Hugh James, dec. during her widowhood, held a tenement in Purse Caundle, and surrendered it into the hands of Lords of manor.
Presentments by Head Man, John Hulet:
Barn and [......] of [......] Mewe has decayed walls, timber and roof, to be repaired.
The hall in northern part of Anthony Stone's house has decayed roof - to be repaired. His kitchen likewise ruinous - to be levelled and rebuilt.
William Stone ordered to rebuild his bakehouse which has decayed roof and timbers. He is also ordered to scour out his ditch in Lakerclose. Sum of this court: £32.
Examined by me John Grey, Steward, 1598.'
1598 Lay Subsidy Roll. This time the tax was 1s 8d [£10] in the pound on Goods, and 2s 8d [£17] on Land. For further details see Stoate.
'Caundle Purs
Thomas Polden G £10 [£1,291]
Ellis Mewe G £6
John Hulet G £6 G = Goods
William Stone L £1 L = Lands
Jone Kinge L £1
Total: £3. 6s. 8d [£430].'
During the year was enacted the final renewal of the 1566 Vermin Act (38 Elizabeth c.8). This was immediately after the latest catastrophic harvest failure. This Act was not to be repealed until 1863.
Also, Parish Registers were now required to be kept secure with the Parish providing a 3-lock chest, with three different key-holders, i.e. the parson and two churchwardens.
1600 News would eventually reach Purse Caundle that the Lord of the Manor, William Dodington of Breamore, Hampshire, anxious about a forthcoming suit in the Star Chamber, had committed suicide on 11th April 1600. In broad daylight he "went up to St. Sepulchre's Steeple, threw himself over the battlements and broke his neck." His son William inherited.
An ordinary worker's wages in 1550 was about 5s 6d and could buy 1/3rd of a sack of grain; but by 1600 the wages had only risen up to about 6s 0d and bought now but 1/6th of a sack of grain.
1601 Wills reproduced in APPENDICES C and D often included a monetary bequest for the poor of the parish. Up until now there could be collections in church for the poor, and the old and crippled could be licensed to beg; but in both cases the rest of the population was in no real financial position to donate money. Healthy beggars could be flogged out of the parish. The 1597 Poor Law Act was re-enacted this year in a revised form in the Act of 43 Elizabeth, chapter 2. It made every parish responsible for its poor born in the parish, with all other poor to be sent back to their own parish. Old and sick people were to be given money at home, and healthy poor made to work. Children of paupers were to be apprenticed to a trade. All this was to be administered by one or more elected unpaid Overseers of the Poor in each parish, who could levy and collect a rate on all occupiers of property within the parish (according to ability to pay). They could, 'by leave of the Lord of the Manor, whereof any waste or common within their parish is or shall be parcel . . . to erect, build and set up in fit and convenient places of habitattion, in such waste or common, at the general charges of the parish . . . convenient houses of dwelling for the said impotent poor.' These Overseers were appointed yearly at the annual, parish meeting. The next major piece of legislation on the matter did not appear until 1662 (q.v.).
During the year was published an agricultural treatise, which advocated the abolition of throwing seed about at random during sowing, in favour of punching holes and setting them in regular rows. The seed-drill itself was not to be invented until later in the century.
1600/1 Trade coins of 8, 4, 2, and 1 Testerns were coined at the Tower Mint for the first voyage of the incorporated 'Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies' The coins bore the royal arms on the obverse and a portcullis on the reverse and have the mint-mark O. They were struck to the weights of the equivalent Spanish silver 8, 4, 2 and 1 reales. Illustrated below is the reverse of a one Testern.
1602 Two bells were hung in Purse Caundle church tower. It can probably be assumed that there was at least one bell prior to this, to call the villagers to worship, or whatever. These particular two bells still survive, though cannot be used.
There was to be a drought during the year.
1603, 24th March. Death of Queen Elizabeth, and accession of James VI of Scotland as King James I of Britain (until 1625).
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