56 MANOR AND PRIORY COURTS OF CRANBORNE. 



knight's service ; the purchase money was to be paid within 

 20 days from 26 Oct., 1558, but the lead, the bells, and the 

 advowson were reserved to the Crown. 



Manorial institutions and their procedure having recently 

 been explained by Mr. Alfred Pope, F.S.A., in Vol. XXX., 

 p. 83, of our Proceedings, I will now confine myself to a brief 

 description of the contents of the Cranborne manuscripts. 



The courts held in the hall of the beautiful manor house 

 during the first half of the 18th century were six in number, 

 viz., the Manor, the In-hundred, the Out-hundred, the 

 Borough, the Priory, and the Honour of Gloucester. Two or 

 more were generally grouped together for business purposes, 

 but occasionally there was a separate sitting of one or other 

 of the courts, the lord in each instance being James, Earl of 

 Salisbury, or his successor. The steward of the manors and 

 hundreds and the president of certain of the courts was 

 Samuel Stillingfleet, who died in 1750, aged 85. The earliest 

 entry is dated 16 April, 1725, and the latest 23 October, 1735, 

 Latin being invariably used until 19 April, 1733, when English 

 takes its place, and the handwriting changes at the same 

 time. The courts were held twice yearly, near to Easter and 

 Michaelmas, with frequent adjournments, and there w r ere 

 also sittings of the Honour nominally at three weeks' intervals 

 (de tribus septimanis in tres septimanas) for the recovery of 

 debts, but the last named courts were very irregular in date, 

 and sometimes are not mentioned during a whole year. 



The ordinary business transacted by the Steward and his 

 officials may be thus summarized : 



1. The manor court granted estates in land 

 to the customary tenants, the surrenders and 

 admissions being written out at length in each 

 case. In 1725 the jury of this court present that 

 they are " entitled to fire boot, gate boot, still 

 boot, plough boot, and cart boot " upon their 

 respective tenements ; in other words, a claim is 

 made to wood for fuel and repairs. 



