Clent History Society
Our summer break included a very
successful visit in June to Boscobel House and Chillington Hall on the
Shropshire/Staffordshire borders, and in July an evening guided tour of
Bewdley. Our next open meeting will take place on Wednesday 27
September, when Mr. Rex King will talk about "The Clay Pipe Makers
of Broseley". At our November meeting (27th), Ralph
Brocklebank, former Principal of Sunfield School, will describe the
school's history. There will be more detailed information about each
talk in forthcoming issues of this magazine.
Good progress is being made on
Clarion No.20 and it will be available from Clent Post Office early in
September. This latest edition will include an article by Ralph
Brocklebank: "The Nine Worthies of Clent". The
original Nine Worthies were a mediaeval conceit intended to inspire
chivalry and nobility of purpose, and Ralph has brought the conceit up to date
with a local twist - nine members of important Clent families are celebrated
instead. There will be Part II of "Out and About in Clent and
Stourbridge", this time concentrating on the amenities the town had to
offer 100 years ago. Some may know that Stourbridge had its own theatre,
the Alhambra - reputed to be the last wooden theatre in the land at its
demolition in 1923 - and that Cedric Hardwicke, born in Lye and later to
become the foremost actor of his generation, played Hamlet there in 1906, at
the age of thirteen. The Clarion will also contain extracts from the logbook
of the Clent and Holy Cross Scout Troop, recording their activities during the
period 1934 to 1947. A local resident kindly donated the book to our
archive, together with a watercolour painting of the Scout Hut, built by the
boys in 1940, by their "Skipper", W. H. Hand (the second painting by
this local artist that we now have in our archive). Both items will be
on display at our Archive Open Day to be held next year.
The Manor Court was probably held in
the Church. This certainly was in the case in 1613 when Walter Franke, alias
Chapman, was fined 12d for listening under the wall of the church with the
intention of hearing what the jury at court, then being held inside, was
saying,
Clent folk frequently assaulted each
other with great violence, even persons described as "gents" were
not above making each other's noses bleed. William Cox in 1576 attacked Thomas
Sparry's son, John, in the churchyard and was fined 6d. Unclaimed
strayed sheep were seized by the lord. In 1577 William Holme falsely
claimed a sheep and he had to pay his 6d. Everyone was ordered to rump mark
their sheep with their own mark and so John Heath in 1585 was made to do so or
pay the penalty of 10s.
Another order made in 1577 that no
one should take or kill partridges or pheasants with an "enginium"
or "springe" under a penalty of 20s. It was ordered in 1592 that no
one who was not possessed of a free tenement worth 40s a year should keep dogs
for hunting conies, or should hunt or hawk in the manor, or fish in the
"separate water" of any tenant. Christopher Sparry in 1580 was
fined 40s for hunting in the lord's warren. The same Sparry, with
brother Thomas, went in 1574, with Thomas Wheeler of Clent, who was armed
with a club and sword, to Stourbridge with intention of attacking the Squire
of Enville's servants, saying, "yf any of them be in towne he will be
slapped on the lippes". He then "openly and publicly" declared,
"yf the Squire were here I could find it in my harte to draw on hym."
We do not know what the affair was about, but they must have become
partners in crime for he and Mr Gray, the aforesaid squire, with others were
in trouble in Hagley for hunting with hawks in the lord's warren.
In 1575 John Cordywayne, butcher of
Clent parish, was fined 2d for taking "excessive gain".
A year later William of Walton was cutting down an oak tree when one of the
branches fell on him and he instantly died. The entry goes on......"and
the branch is deodand and of the value of 2d, and is forfeited to the
lord". Deodand was an ancient law which decreed that if any
beast or object caused the death of a person then that beast or object was
forfeited to the King or Lord of the Manor.
In 1581 Thomas Sandforth was fined
for one horse too many on the common. Villagers were restricted in grazing
rights according to the size of their tenements. Pigs were numerous and had to
be ringed when four months old. Owners suffered a penalty of 12d for
every pig unrung. Many were the offenders and, strangely, the majority came
from "Kempstowe Green," that spot sharing a boundary with Romsley.
Source......Short History of Clent. Amphlett
