SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 



more scanty in them than in Sedgefield parsonage. It is interesting to note, 

 however, that Mrs. Salvin of Hurworth owned a pair of ' old virginals ' 

 valued at ^s.^ 



About this time we get our last view of the older economics of the 

 district in the shape of a survey of the Palatinate made by order of the 

 Parliament in 1647. The section on the 'manor of Stockton with its 

 members ' is particularly interesting. We are told that the bishop's demesnes 

 were let for j^2i8 although worth jTaSo, but his royalties in the Tees, fish, 

 wrecks, &c., were not worth £^ a year. There was one water corn-mill at 

 Norton at which all the tenants were bound to grind their corn except those 

 of Carlton. Attached to the mill, which was let on a lease for three lives, 

 were six acres of meadow, but after the hay harvest the herbage belonged to 

 the men of Norton. The copyholders of the manor were bound to repair 

 the mill with thatch and wall, and to scour the race and dam if required. 

 They had to fetch timber within a radius of 12 miles from the mill, and 

 millstones from Raley Green or Walkerfield, receiving 4^. per mile for 

 draught and their men's dinners from the tenant. There were no other mills 

 on the manor. 



The copyholders were bound to do suit and service at the lord's court 

 and to carry his provisions and household stuff to Durham or Bishop Auck- 

 land from Stockton Castle at i^. a bushel for corn and 4^. per mile for every 

 draught, with meat and drink for the men and cattle. The jurors knew of 

 no relief or heriot paid to the bishop on a tenant's death. There were also 

 60 oxgangs of land at Norton, the owners whereof at such times as the 

 bishop had his demesnes at Stockton in his own possession did help to win 

 and mow the hay, or otherwise to pay the sum of 4.0s. in lieu thereof, the 

 service being sixty days' work. The tenants of Hartburn paid yearly for 

 service silver Ss., Stockton township for the like 8j. The fines upon death 

 or alienation were certain, as the jurors believed, and not arbitrary, for that 

 time out of mind the several copyholders upon the death or alienation have 

 paid a certain sum to the lord, called a ' sesse,' always certain, but on some 

 holdings more than the annual rent reserved ; upon others the amount of the 

 annual rent reserved, and on others again less than this rent. The works, 

 customs, and services of the copyholders were of little worth, and there were 

 no cottages within this manor." 



The conditions on Stockton manor were typical of those in the rest of 

 the Palatinate, but already the copyholders were trying to shake off old 

 obligations. The court of Darlington manor on 6 August, 1647, declared 

 that the copyholders were liable to carry wood, lime, and stone not exceeding 

 a ton weight in a wain for the repair of the toUbooth at Darlington, at the 

 rate of zld. a mile for a distance not exceeding seven miles from the manor- 

 house nor outside the county. They were to have drink in their flasks, meat 

 in their wallets, and their dinner when they came home. We are told that 

 these customs were declared in 1592, 1609, and 1617.' The seigniorial mill 

 still existed at Darlington in 1 647, but the firmars seem to have had a 

 difficulty in enforcing their claims.* 



' Royalist Comp. (Surtees Soc. cxi.), 28. 



' Extracts from this survey are printed in Mackenzie and Ross, Hist, of Dur. ii, 16, 17. 



' Ibid. 123 n. * Ibid. 124. 



237 



