Medieval Morden: The Manorial Economy

by Peter Hopkins

Peter Hopkins began his studies of Medieval Morden more than 20 years ago, by copying, transcribing and translating any and every medieval record relating to Morden that he could find. The comprehensive results may be seen on our website, under morden-manorial-records. Peter’s ultimate aim was to produce an integrated view of life in Morden in the medieval and early Tudor period. The present volume is the first of three, which together aim to cover ‘everything you never wanted to know about medieval Morden’ as Peter has often commented! Of the 20,000-25,000 manors in England (estimates vary considerably) Morden was not the poorest, but was along way from being the richest. Happily, it is thus representative of a large fraction of the total number, and well worth the intense study that Peter has afforded it.

Based mainly on the surviving records of Westminster Abbey’s manor of Morden, we have here a study of how the available resources were managed to best support the monks. In other words, how did the manor earn money and how was it spent? Detailed chapters on individual subjects start with the manorial centre and its equipment, comprising ploughs, carts, and tools, and some brewing equipment. There is a splendid list of the medieval Latin terms for such inventory items as untyred cart, dung fork, cask, cask for servant’s flour, cask for toll, and so delightfully on. We continue with the land, where Peter’s examination of field names places many in the landscape. Your reviewer is puzzled by the position of the manorial centre, tucked away in the
northern-most corner of the parish, far from the church, but near the mill. Discussion of crops covers not only the usual wheat, barley and oats, but also unfamiliar mixtures such as dredge, maslin and mixstillio. Evidence for the rotation of these crops and their yields is carefully examined. Their profitability is calculated, as is that of meadow, pasture and woodland. Livestock, comprising horses, cattle, the dairy herd, poultry, sheep and pigs,
are enumerated, and the varying prices obtained for their produce (hides, leather, wool) are listed.

The human resources, both labour and management, are considered at length. The changes in management after the Black Death are examined, when direct rule under local estate managers (tenants or employees of the abbey) was replaced by farming out to leaseholders for varying terms. Under both, the tenants were responsible for paying their rents and dues and fulfilling their customary labour services, though increasingly resisting the heavier of these. Craftsmen and specialists (carpenters, miller, smith, roofers, tilers) and casual labourers are noted and costed.

Morden was not self-sufficient, especially in mill stones, building stone, roof tiles and timber, and the manor’s contacts elsewhere were quite extensive, including London and places in Surrey, Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Essex and Kent. Other aspects of Morden are discussed briefly, including roads – the king’s highways to London (the present A24) and to Kingston (the present track known as Green Lane) and the mere highway to Croydon – and problems with tenants in Ewell, as well as the more serious challenges of famine, murrain and plague.

The 200 pages of text are supported by a full academic apparatus and an Index. Numerical data throughout is presented in graphical form, year by year. All of the text extracts are dated and given in two forms: an image of the original Latin document (and the original hand-writing – a help to palaeographers) and a translation, faithfully reproduced, including crossings-out and later additions. The information is leavened by the pages for chapter-heading being illustrated, with not always serious items (‘two medieval doodles’ anyone?). There is a useful map on the back cover showing the various estates within the ancient parish, allowing comparison with the drastically different modern parish boundary.

In the course of this endeavour, Peter Hopkins enlisted the aid of an amazing number of academic specialists in the period, duly credited in the Notes and References. This is a work of immense scholarship, that your Committee is confident will remain a respected work of reference for many years to come. But Peter warns: ‘this volume has a very small print run so, if you are one of the select few who would like to read it, order now before we sell out’.

Review by David Haunton in Merton Historical Society Bulletin 216 (December 2020)

WINNER OF THE LAMAS BOOK PRIZE FOR 2021
The LAMAS Book Prize announced at the Local History Conference went to Merton Historical Society for Medieval Morden: The Manorial Economy 1280-1500, by Peter Hopkins (2020)
From an astounding wealth of archival material and available documents, Peter Hopkins has constructed a very vivid yet analytical view of life at the medieval Manor of Morden. He succeeds in extracting rich nuggets of information to show how the Manor functioned internally and demonstrates its wider relationship with the Abbey of Westminster, its 19 other manors and the outside world. This is a welcome, well referenced resource, using maps, illustrations and tables.
The Manor of Morden, listed in Domesday Book, was divided into demesne land, worked on behalf of the Abbey of Westminster, and tenant land held by tenants in return for rents and services.
Between 1280-1358, the Manor of Morden, like the other estates belonging to Westminster Abbey, was primarily a source of income and the Abbey kept a watchful eye on the good running of the estate, keeping careful records covering details such as its staff, weekly rates and annual wages, repairs, ‘livestock accounts’, and produce: wheat, rye, oats, grains and fruit.
The medieval Manor of Morden faced a period of economic expansion and severe inflation that lasted from the end of the 12th century until the end of the 13th century when prices and wages more than doubled. The Great Famine of 1315-17 led to higher prices for foodstuffs. From the 1340s there was a period of general recession followed by the plague, which reached Morden just before Easter 1349.
From 1358 Westminster Abbey leased the demesne land out to tenant farmers. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539-40 the Manor of Morden was held by the Crown until June 1553. It came into the hands of Richard Garth in March 1553-4 and stayed in the family until the late 19th century.

LORRAINE WOODLEIGH, in LAMAS Newsletter 164 (January 2022) on behalf of the LAMAS Local History Committee