Deopham Manor Lease 1538

Contents

Introduction

This lease was drawn up shortly before the dissolution of the monasteries and gives an insight into the earlier arrangements for the Manor of Deopham.
There follows below a rendering of this lease in modern English; there are footnotes where the meaning of terms used are not immediately apparent.
A literal translation of the lease is available here and a copy of the source document itself here. The Canterbury Cathedral Archive holds two copies of this indenture – the one would have been retained by the Cathedral, the other by the new lessees. On completion of the lease, the old lease was surrendered to the Cathedral.
Following the lease text below there is a summary of points of interest in this lease.

The Lease

This Indenture made October 13^th 1538¹ between:-

The reverend father in God, Thomas, prior of Christchurch in Canterbury & the Convent of the same place of the one party, and
Robert Karsey of Ickburgh² and Robert Karsey his son of the same in the County of Norfolk, yeomen, of the other party,

Witnesses that the said Prior and Convent have betaken³ & to ferme lett⁴ unto the aforesaid Robert & Robert Karsey his son the Manor of Deopham and the parsonage⁵ of the same, being in the County aforesaid, with all lands, tythes, profits & emoluments to the same parsonage belonging,

Except and always reserved unto the aforesaid Prior & Convent and to their successors all manner of timber, wood & underwood, escheats and stray Felons’ goods & all other things that belong to the farmhouse,

To have, hold & occupy the aforesaid Manor & Parsonage with the appurtenances to the aforesaid Robert and Robert from the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel⁶ last past before the date of this indenture until the end & term of 31 years then next following & fully to be completed,

Yielding therefore yearly unto the said Prior & Convent, or to their successors, £16 of good and lawful money of England, to be paid in hand of every year to the Warden of the Manors for the time being or else to his deputy at their Manor in Hadlegh in the County of Suffolk;

And they personally shall appear before the said Warden & auditor or their deputies and make a true and a full account & full declaration of the said farm & parsonage of all manner of reparations & overdue rents & their montynent[???] to be discharged.

And if it happens that the aforesaid yearly sum of £16 is behind unpaid in part or in all by the space of 15 days after the time of payment in the which it ought to be paid, that then it shall be lawful unto the said Prior & Convent, or their successors, to reenter into the aforesaid manor & parsonage with the appurtenances & then enjoy them as in their first estate, and the said Robert & Robert Karsey, their executors & assigns thereof, wholly to put out & amove⁷, this Indenture to the contrary notwithstanding.

And furthermore, it shall not be lawful for the aforesaid Robert & Robert, their executors & assigns to grant & let to farm to any man or person or persons the aforesaid Manor & Parsonage, nor any part thereof, without a special license from the said Prior & Convent or their successors.

Also, it shall not be lawful for the aforesaid Robert & Robert Karsey to fell, or cause to be felled, any kind of timber, wood & budwood⁸ growing in & upon the aforesaid Manor & parsonage during their said time.

Also, the said Robert & Robert Karsey will store all types of blade⁹ which shall come of the said manor & parsonage yearly during their said time, in the barns of the said manor & parsonage and no where else shall they be kept;

And the lessees shall bring, carry & put the dung of the same blade coming yearly upon the lands of the said Manor & parsonage for compost;

All pasturing must take place upon the said manor & parsonage & nowhere else;

And all the dung coming from the blade of the last year of their said time in the said manor & parsonage shall be left for the benefit of the said Prior & Convent & their successors.

Also, the aforesaid Robert & Robert Karsey shall provide the Steward of the said Prior & Convent, as often as he comes to hold & keep Court at the said manor & parsonage, with meat & horse meat for him & his servants.

And the said Prior & Convent covenant for themselves & their successors to pay unto the foresaid Steward his fee for the court holden & kept upon the aforesaid manor & parsonage of Deopham;

And the roll of the court shall be written on parchment yearly and be delivered to the said Prior & Convent or to their successors at the cost & charge of the said Robert & Robert Karsey;

Also the within named Robert & Robert shall accommodate the Warden of the Manors of Christchurch before rehearsed or any other officer or minister of the said church that shall come for the accompte¹⁰ & payment of the same Manor & Parsonage or else to view the said Manor & Parsonage for him & his servants & their horses for two nights & a day sufficient horsemeat & man’s meat & all other things necessary yearly at their own cost & charge during their said time.

Also, the said Prior & Convent covenant for themselves & their successors to maintain & competently to repair the said Manor & Parsonage at their own cost & charge,
Unless the buildings, walls & other enclosures of the said Manor & Parsonage are damaged & hurted thorough & by the negligence of the said Robert & Robert Karsey, their beasts or tenants, in which case the said Robert & Robert shall repair at their own cost & charge all such damage which they have done;

Also, the said Prior & Convent & their successors shall discharge the said Robert & Robert Karsey of all charge of Dymes & Fifteenths¹¹ due from the said Manor & Parsonage at their cost & charge.

Also, the said Robert & Robert Karsey covenant for themselves & their executors to make, or cause to be made, two books called terrars¹² containing & expressing all the several lands & Glebelands belonging to the aforesaid Manor & Parsonage of Deopham,
And two Rentals¹³ containing the names of all tenants, both Freeholders and Copyholders, whatsoever might be holding of the said Manor at the time of delivering these rentals;

And how much & what lands & tenements each of them by estimation then shall hold of the said Prior & Convent as of the Manor of Deopham aforesaid, with the names of every fold & croft & the true numbers of Acres with the true mete & bounds of the same whereby it may be known where such lands & tenements & any part thereof lies and by what & how much fermes, rents & customs¹⁴ they be liable & for what sums of money every parcell of the same farm lands is betaken or let to ferme; these books & rentals made as above shall be engrossed¹⁵ in parchment at their reasonable cost & charge;

And these books shall be delivered unto the aforesaid prior or to his successors in the 7^th year of their said time; one of each of the said books and the other two books in the 21^st year of their said time – upon pain of forfeiture of this present lease & Indenture.

Also, the aforesaid Robert & Robert Karsey have received of the said Prior & Convent:-
– for Store two acres of oats seasonably stored in the barn there;
– in the hall, a table with trestles;
– in the kitchen a lead with a fleyth¹⁶,
– one good bedsted &
– four locks with keys for the doors there,
which inventory the said Robert & Robert Karsey or their executors shall leave at the end of their said time in as good condition as it was when they received it.

Also, the said Robert and Robert Karsey shall have the use of the barns of the said Manor & Parsonage from the end of their said time until the feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist¹⁷ which follows, with free access for going & coming to & from the same.

And if it happen the said Robert Karsey and Robert his Son should both dye before the end of their said time, then it shall be lawful for the aforesaid Prior & Convent or their Successors to enter into the said Manor & Parsonage of Deopham with the appurtenances at the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel which follows the same to enjoy as in their first estate, and the said Robert & Robert, their executors & assigns thereof, wholly to put out & amove, this Indenture to the contrary notwithstanding.

And whereas John Thyrlbye & Thomas Stybname of Burston in the County of Norfolk, yeomen, stand bound to & with the forsaid Robert & Robert Karsey by an obligation unto the forsaid prior in the sum of £40 of good & lawfull money of England to be payed at the feast of Easter next following as in the same obligation more plainly doth appear;

The said Prior grants for him & his successors by this present that if the said Robert & Robert Karsey, their executors & assigns do well & truly content & pay to the aforesaid prior or his successors the aforesaid yearly sum of £40 and also do keep & perform all such Covenants & agreements as be in this Indenture rehearsed after the forme & effect of the same, then the said obligation of £40 will be of no effect, otherwise it will stand & abide in its full strength & vertue.

Furthermore, if it happen either of the aforesaid sureties, namely John Thyrebye & Thomas Stybname, should dye within the said time of 31 years, then the said Robert & Robert Karsey or the longest liver of them shall cause another suitable person to be bound unto the said Prior & Convent & their successors in like sum of money, form & condition as the said person was who had happened to decease; and that this replacement must be found within a quarter of a year, or else when they shall be required of the said Prior or his successors.

In witness whereof as well the seal of the said Prior & Convent all causes as the seales of the said Robert & Robert Karsey interchangeably been set to the day & year above written;

And that the said lessees¹⁸ have hereby received:-

3 old rentals in parchment;
2 new rentalls, the one is dated the 5^th year of King Henry VII and the other the 7^th year of the same King;
a Confirmation under the King’s seal with a copy of the same in parchment;
a bag with court rolls & other muniments concerning the same Manor.

Points of Interest

Legal

The lease is to run for 31 years (later leases were for 21 years);
The Prior & Convent were responsible for maintenance, apart from damage caused by the lessees;
The expression “Prior & Convent” is followed 16 times by “or their successors” reflecting the fact that the prior was aware of the imminent demise of his priory & convent.

Agricultural

All animal waste had to be kept within the Manor, and ensuring that the animals were not folded outside the Manor;
The “folding” terminology suggests the significance of sheep farming at this time;
Crops must be stored in the manorial barn;
The priory’s instructions can be summarised:
- crops remove fertility,
- animals return fertility,
- folding sheep concentrates fertility,
- compost preserves fertility, and
- the outgoing tenant must not deprive the incoming tenant (or the Priory) of the last year’s manure;
The lessees were not entitled to fell any timber on the Manor.

Administration

The Lordship of the Manor was retained by the Prior and Convent;
The Lessees were obliged to accommodate the Prior’s Steward of the Courts when he visited to hold Court in Deopham;
It was the responsibility of the lessees to ensure that the business of the Courts was properly written up and retained;
The Lessees were required to keep books recording all lands within the Manor, showing all manorial income;
The Lessees received documents from earlier contracts making them custodians of the documentary record as well of the buildings.

Assets Received by the Lessees

Two acres of oats stored in the barn;
A table with trestles;
A lead with a fleyth;
Keys to the four door locks;

Ecclesiastical

The agreement is between the lessees and the prior and convent of Canterbury. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, which had already started at the time of this indenture, leases for the Manor of Deopham were struck with the Dean & Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral.

What it doesn’t say

There is no responsibility on the part of the lessees to contribute to the salary of the vicar, as was part of later leases;
There is no agreement that the lessees should be responsible for the maintenance of the chancel of Deopham church;
The Lordship of the Manor is not passed to the lessees.

Historical Context

Henry VII had started to disband the monasteries in 1530 so by the time this lease was signed in 1538 the process was well advanced. The Prior of “of Christchurch in Canterbury & the Convent of the same place” was Thomas Goldwell. On March 20^th 1540 the Archbishop of Canterbury was commissioned to take the surrender of the monastery¹⁹.
Cromwell transferred many of the assets of the priory to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral, which included the advowson²⁰ of Deopham church and the Manor of Deopham²¹ – subsequently known as “The Manor of Deopham of the Dean & Chapter of Canterbury”.
Thomas Goldwell the former prior was later granted a pension of £80.²²

Canterbury seal on the document

The front of the seal represents the cathedral building, whilst the reverse symbolises the Christian Trinity.

Reproduced courtesy of the Chapter of Canterbury; their ref CCA-U63/72890

Footnotes

The source reads “the xxx^th yere of the reigne of Kyng Henry the eyght” which is 1538 in modern dating. ↩︎
Ickburgh: the source reads Iykylborough; Ickburgh is a village and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, located 8.1 miles north of Thetford and 27 miles west of Norwich. ↩︎
Betake: to give or grant, hand over, bestow (Middle English Dictionary). ↩︎
To farm lett” was at this time the standard legal terminology for a lease agreement. It meant that Canterbury was relieved of the day to day management of the Manor in return for a fixed rent. ↩︎
Manor and Parsonage: whereas nowadays one would think of the parsonage as simply being the residence of the parson, at the time of this lease it would have referred to the “package” of manorial rights including the farm, barns, tithes etc. Most of these were transferred to the lease holders, but some were retained by the Prior & Convent of Canterbury. ↩︎
The feast of Saint Michael the Archangel was on September 29^th. ↩︎
Amove: remove or eject. ↩︎
The source has budwodde: this probably denotes a class of small or young wood distinct from both timber and woodland generally. Compare later “budwood” and “brushwood”. It may refer to shoots suitable for grafting. ↩︎
All manner of blade: all manner of grain/corn crops. ↩︎
Accompte: A formal report of transactions itemising expenditure, receipts etc. ↩︎
Dymes & Fifteenths: This was a subsidy paid to the king. The dyme consisted of one-tenth the value of one’s movable (or personal) property (Dictionary of Middle English). The Dyme was later called a tithe. The dyme was generally collected from urban areas, whereas the Fifteenth was collected from rural areas such as Deopham. This comprised a tax of a fifteenth of a person’s property. The fact that the Prior and Convent pay this tax reinforces their role as the ultimate owners. ↩︎
Terrars: also called terriers were lists of assets, i.e. an inventory of the manorial lands. ↩︎
Rentals: historical manorial and estate documents that listed tenants, the lands they occupied, and the rent they paid. They were fundamental administrative records used by landlords — including monasteries, the Crown, and the nobility — to manage property revenue. ↩︎
The word is uncertain in the source document, but from later leases would appear to be “customs”. ↩︎
Engrossed: The source reads ingrose which has a stronger meaning than just “written” which is appropriate to the recording of a legal document. It is a process which transforms a rough draft into a permanent, legally binding final record. ↩︎
A lead with a fleyth: It is not clear to what this refers!
a) A Lead (lede in the source document itself) was a lead tank. It had been established by this time that lead was poisonous, so it is not likely that this container was used for cooking. The remaining options are that it was used for brewing, or that it was used for storing water.
b) A Fleyth may have been a perforated ladle used for skimming froth etc. from the surface of the tank, or it may have been a “fleysch” – i.e. a meat hook. This seems unlikely if the lead was not being used for cooking and also requires the insertion of an “s” which is not present in the source document. ↩︎
The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist occurred on June 24th each year. This gives the outgoing tenants – the Karseys – time to thresh, remove grain, or otherwise wind up the farming year after the lease itself has ended. ↩︎
The source has fermour which the Middle English Dictionary renders as “one who rents or leases land”. ↩︎
Henry VIII: March 1540, 11-20′, in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 15, 1540, ed. James Gairdner, R H Brodie (London, 1896), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol15/pp133-150 [accessed 5 July 2026], page 147, para 378.
“Forasmuch as the state of the monastery of Christchurch, Canterbury neither redounds to God’s honour nor the benefit of the commonwealth—to take the surrender of the said monastery, cause the goods and chattels (except plate, jewels, lead, and bells) to be sold, despatch the head and the brethren, assigning them convenient pensions, commit the custody of the house, bells, and lead to some responsible person, and bring the plate and jewels to the Tower of London.” ↩︎
Henry VIII: March 1540, 11-20′, in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16, 1540
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16, 1540-1541. Pg 421, para 59 ↩︎
Henry VIII: March 1540, 11-20′, in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16, 1540
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16, 1540-1541. Pg 421, para 33 ↩︎
Henry VIII: March 1540, 11-20′, in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16, 1540
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 16, 1540-1541. Pg 718 ↩︎

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Date	Change
10/7/26	Translation & summary
4/7/26	Links to literal transcription and source document
25/7/25	Published – 20250108_161411