68 LITTLE HUCKLOW : ITS CUSTOMS AND OLD HOUSES. 



{curia).'' But as regards the larger houses held by military 

 tenure, he says that the capital mansions of a county, or 

 barony, castles, and other edifices, were not divisible.* They 

 followed the rule of primogeniture. 



Now, with regard to the hall at Padley, it appears that in 

 1451 Robert Eyre, Esq., held it of John Talbot, Earl of 

 Shrewsbury, by the service of the fortieth part of a knight's fee, 

 and by two reasonable aids.f It was, therefore, held by military 

 tenure, and from its size, the character of its architecture, and 

 its strength, we may presume that it was not divisible. At all 

 events, nO' signs of partition can be discovered in the existing 

 building. It seems to have been nO' more divisible than a 

 castle was. I do not, of course, suggest that the house at 

 Little Hucklow was held by military tenure — indeed, such 

 tenures were abolished in the very year when it was built. 

 But it is evident that the two houses which I have compared 

 belong to one and the same type, the similarity being due 

 to imitation. 



The plans have been drawn by me and copied by 

 Mr. J. R. Wigfull, of Sheffield, architect, who' is not responsible 

 for their accuracy. Mr. Wigfull has also kindly supplied one 

 of the photographs. 



* Bracton, De Legibus, etc., ed. Sir Travers Twiss, i., p. 602 seq. 

 t MS. Feodarium in the custody of the Duke of Norfolk. 



