Manorial Law - contents

 

Introduction

Preliminary note:  what is a manor?

Chapter 1:  The manor and the feudal system 
Land tenure following the Conquest
Free tenures
     Knight service
     Serjeanty
     Frankalmoin
     Socage tenure
Free tenures subject to custom
Incidents of free tenures
     Homage and fealty
     Suit of court
     Relief and primer seisin
     Aids
     Wardship and marriage
     Escheat and forfeiture
The manor
Tenants of the manor
The position of the unfree tenant
Characteristics of the manor
Leases
Early changes to the law of tenures
Qui emptores 1290

Chapter 2:  Manorial institutions 
Manorial agrciulture
     Open fields
     Meadows
     Waste land
     Assarts and other enclosures
Manorial officers and organisation
Justice and the manor
     The Norman legal system
     Manor courts
     Honour courts
     The rise of royal justice
Manorial documents

Chapter 3:  Later changes:  14th to 19th centuries
The emergence of copyhold tenure
Recognition of copyhold by the common law
Reform of free tenures
Enclosure
Enfranchisement of copyholds

Chapter 4:  The legal reforms of the 1920s
Outline
Treatment of copyhold land
     Conversion into freehold
     Manorial incidents abolished
     Rights and liabilities permanently preserved
     Other matters
Treatment of freehold land
Grand and petty serjeanty
Royal manors
Land tenure after the reforms of the 1920s

Chapter 5:  The manor today
The legal nature of a manor
Land forming part of a manor
     Demesne land
     Waste land
     Roads and other odd pieces of land
     The beds of rivers, streams and lakes
     The seashore and foreshore
     Adverse possession
Profits a prendre and easements
     Profits a prendre
     Easements
Mineral rights over former copyhold land
Customary law
Public rights of way
Regulation of common land
Franchises
Other manorial matters
     The name of a manor
     Title of the lord
     Honorary services associated with serjeanty
     Stewards
     Bailiffs
     Courts
     Manorial documents
Reputed manors
The manor in practice

Chapter 6:   Commons
What land is affected?
The Commons Acts 1876 to 1908
     The Commons Act 1876
     The Commons Act 1899
     The Commons Act 1908
Other measures
The Law of Property Act 1925, sections 193 and 194
     Section 193
     Section 194
The Commons Registration Act 1965
     Background
     Application of the Act
     Registration of ownership
     Other interests which can be registered
     Procedure
     Relationship with the Land Registration Acts
     Exemptions from the 1965 Act
The Common Land (Rectification of Registers) Act 1989
Powers of local authorities
Vehicles on commons
The lord of the manor and common land

Chapter 7:  Minerals
The right to minerals
Minerals belonging to the Crown and public bodies
     Gold and silver
     Coal
     Oil
Rights of the lord of the manor
     Ownership of land
     Separate rights to minerals
Customary rights to minerals
Laws applying in particular areas
     Devon and Cornwall
     Gloucestershire
     Derbyshire
Statutory regulation of mining
The Mines (Working Facilities and Support) Acts 1966 and 1974
Establishing what mineral rights exist.
 

Chapter 8:  Franchises 
The legal nature of franchises
Acquisition, transfer and loss of franchises
Markets and fairs
Courts leet
Treasure trove
Wreck
Mines
Waifs and estrays
Royal fish and swans
Franchises no longer capable of existing
     Game franchises
     Deodands
Establishing whether franchises exist

Chapter 9:  Sporting rights 
Legal nature of sporting rights
The Game Laws
The right to game and the manor
Fishing rights generally
Coastal and tidal waters
Inland waters
Establishing what sporting rights exist

Chapter 10:  Transfers;  Manorial documents
TRANSFERS
Method of transfer
Proof of ownership
Registration of manors and manorial rights
The Property Misdescriptions Act 1991

MANORIAL DOCUMENTS
The right to dispose of manorial documents
Section 144A of the Law of Property Act 1922
The Manorial Documents Rules 1959
Access to manorial documents
Manorial documents as evidence
Establishing whether manorial documents exist

Bibliography

Useful addresses

Table of authorities

Index