DESK-BASED ASSESSMENT OF THE MUNCASTER HEAD
SETTLEMENTS
During the medieval period there were several farms on the southern side of Muncaster fell, where the terrain varies between flat land and steep fellside.. In this area there seems to have been a dispersed settlement of five tenements. The records of these appear in the Pennington archives and, until about 1635, are treated separately. After this date, documents refer to “thetenements at Muncaster Head “ as a collective unit. Four of the tenements named are: Coal Pit How, Yoad (or Alde) Park, Bank End and Park House. Of these, Park House was situated below the fell on the flat land by the Esk. The other three were situated closer together round a mound called Rabbit How. Bank End has some good flat fields . There is evidence of ridge and furrow on the ground by the other two, but most of the land is poor and boggy. Timber was obviously an important part of the production of these farms as can be seen in the documents realting to the farms (D/Pen.
Coalpit How (site 02 ) is the least documented of the four tenements and does not appear on either of the two earliest surviving rentals (D/Pen 166 and D/Pen 177). Its name suggests that it was connected with the bloomery (site 03 ) which was sited close to the tenement on the slopes of Rabbit How. The first identified reference is in the Muncaster register of baptisms (CRO/W/Parish registers) ‘Joyce Thompson d. of William Thompson of Coalpithow 13.2.1587’’.
The last reference to Coalpit How as a single unit is in a Bargain and Sale document of 1636 when William Jackson, glover of Colepitthowe, Muncaster and Jane Jackson, widow of the same place, sold their messuage or tenement called Colepitthow with appurtenances (customary rent 3s. p.a.) to William Pennington esq. of Muncaster for £60 (D/Pen 1.29)
Yoad (or Alde) Park (site 02) is the other tenement sited to the west of Rabbit How.
The earliest reference is in the Pennington manorial rentals of 1470:)
‘Robt. Scharpe, le Alde Park pd 20s. + 14d to 40[?]’ (D/Pen/167
In a 1588 Bargain and Sale (D/Pen /1.24) Edward Sharpe ‘husbandman of the Yalde Parke’,and William Sharpe junior make over to William Sharpe the elder one quarter of the Yalde Parke (yearly rent 5s.) with a ‘freeledge or overleap in the common pastures of Thomas Stanley Esq. of the Dalegarth’ (yearly rent 9d.) This is an early reference to the links between the Muncaster estate on the north side of the Esk and the Dalegarth estate of the Stanley family on the south side.
The last identified reference to Yoad Park as a single tenement is in a Bargain and Sale of 10.4.1623 when it was sold to William Pennington for £220.(D/Pen.
Bank End (Site 01). This farmstead does not appear to have been recorded in either of the two rentals(D/Pen 166 and D/Pen 167). It is, however, mentioned in the list of Muncaster tenants of 6.10.1493 :-
‘Will Tyson of the Bank End and the Brad Holme ( this is the only reference we have of this name) 26s.8d + 16s.8d. Farm Nicoll Troughton and Nicoll Troughton jnr.’ Further references in 1629 and 1630 relate to sales of the property (D/Pen/1.26,1.27 and 1.28). The last reference occurs in the agreement for the setting up of an iron-forge dated 24.9.1636 when William Wright and William Pennington agreed that Wright should build a forge or iron works ‘ on a parcel of ground adjoining the River Esk called Tyson‘s Holme.’
In this agreement it is recorded that Pennington should provide accommodation for the workers ‘in one dwelling house now standing att Banckende of the nearest and mostconvenient for the worke.’(D/Pen/185). It was the building of this bloomsmithy which marked the end of the farming life of these tenements at Muncaster Head. All the farmsteads had been sold to William Pennington and the tenements and land were to be used for the bloomsmithy.
Park House This farmstead lies on the flat ground between Muncaster Head and the Esk and its location makes it likely that it was the most productive of the four farmssteads. The first references to the property are in the rentals of 1455 (D/Pen 166) and 1470 (D/Pen/167 ).
Various Bargain and Sale deeds between 1470 and 1619 record that the yearly rent was 20s. and that the Jackson family were tenants there for most of this time.
In 1619 Park House was sold to William Pennington and ‘Abraham Chambers, gent. of theWalles, Muncaster’ for £138 (yearly rent still 20s.) After this date Park House is included in documents relating to all the Muncaster Head tenements. However, it is clear that the farm remained as a more profitable unit than the others. A lease of 8.11.1767 (D/Pen/45) gives an idea of its size ‘with one hundred sheep …….now going and depasturing upon the same demised premises…..’ A draft lease of 3.8.1812 (CRO/W D/Pen142) refers to ‘ all that farm… commonly called and known by the name of Muncaster Head and Parkhouse’ showing that it was now included in the whole Muncaster Head estate. In a lease of 3.8.1812 (D/Pen/142) the rent is £280 p.a.. The last reference to Park House is in the Muncaster Land Tax of 1910, which refers to Former Park House: ‘ Woodland all owned by Lord Muncaster. Farmland owned by Lord Muncaster, occupied with Muncaster Head Farm.’ (CRO/W
Muncaster Head. From earliest documented times “Muncaster Head” was merely descriptive of the location of 5 farms –Bank End, Coalpit How, Yoad Park and Park House + 1 other (Possibly either Hethwaite,listed in the early Muncaster rentals- Johannes Scharpe ten. le Hethwaite- (D/Pen/167) or Hollowstonesq.v. below). Before 1635 each of these was described simply as lying ‘ in Muncaster’, but towards the end of C.17 the farms were regarded more and more frequently as a coherent group. In an accounts book of1678-9 (D/Pen/ 202) payment is recorded of ‘a church sess for Muncaster and the five Muncaster Head tenements’.
In a lease of 14.11.1723 (D/Pen/45) ‘ Sir Wm. Pennington to John Brown of Yoade Park and James Russell of Parke House, Sir William demised,granted etc. (ALL THOSE his several messuages, tenements, lands, hereditaments and grounds whatsoever scituate, lyeing and being at Muncaster Head in the parish of Muncaster aforesaid and commonly called and known by the several names of Parkehouse, Yoad Parke, Bank-End and Colepitt-how with all and every of their appurtenances. TOGETHER with ten score of sheep of several sorts, that is to say six tupps, fifty four wedders, one hundred and fifteen ewes and twenty five hogs now going and depasturing upon the before recited premises……’ The tenants were not to plough or cause to be ploughed above the quantity of 23 acres yearly “and shall not plough the sd. Twenty acres above five years together and let it lye other three years as they shall think fit…..”
A lease dated1767 shows that the tenements had probably been abandoned by that time:’ John Vickers, yeoman of Forge…..and Thomas Hartley, yeoman of Holling How ….. a messuage called Muncaster-Head with fields called Great Holme, Little Holme, Dam, Kirk Steads, Milking Meadows, Horse Parks, Forge Hills, Thwaite, Bank End Croft, Robert How field, Coalpitthow Field.’ (D/Pen/45- Lease by Sir John Penningtonto J. Vickers and T. Hartley) The list also includes a field called Highthwaite which might relate to the lost tenement called Hethwaite in earlier sources.
Hollowstones Although Hollowstones is not part of the present project it is clearly connected with sites 01,02 and 03.It is also possible that it is one of the five Muncaster Head tenements since so far only four have been positively identified.The first reference is in the rentals of 1470 (D/Pen.167) – ‘Nich Jackson, le Hollowstones pd. 40s.’. Sources also suggest that the name ‘Hollowstones’ referred to more than one property. ‘...James Hartlaye, half that place that Chr. Fletcher had, £3 13s.4d…Will Hartlaye , half of ye Hollowstans 26s.8d.’ (D/Pen/200) In the Manor Court book (D/Pen/252) the list of customary tenants in 1768 included
7.John Brown, Hollowstones, 5s.
8 John Brown Hollowstones, 5s.
11 John Nicholson Hollow Stones, 10s.
.Hollowstones is still survivesand consists of a working farm with the house and cottage used as holiday accommodation .
Cartographic evidence. The earliest map we have found showing the project area in reasonable detail is Hodgkinson and Donald‘s map of 1774. Park House and Muncaster Head are shown, as well as Hollowstones, but none of the other tenements appear. The same is true of Greenwood’s 1830/4 map. Thomas Dix’ New Map of the County of Cumbria,1816, shows Park House but not Muncaster Head, nor any of the other tenements. The OS 1st edition map (1863) has Hollowstones, Muncaster Head, Bank End Wood and Parkhouse Moss . The Muncaster Tithe map of 1844 shows a complete blank for the eastern end of Muncaster fell. The only house shown is Hollowstones and then a short section of path with an arrow to Muncaster Head – but the farm is not shown. There is no indication of fields nor indeed of any other features.
Industry. Deposits of iron ore are found over a large area of west and south west Cumbria. The largest deposit at Hodbarrow near Millom was found by the appearance of veins on the shore and later under the sea, and the Hodbarrow Mining Company was formed in 1855 to exploit them. It began working in 1855 and by August 1866 the output had risen to 3,000 tons.(Furness Iron ed. Mark Bowden. English Heritage 2000) This mine was closed in 1966 , but iron ore was mined and smelted from the medieval period in both Furness and West Cumberland from much earlier times.
In Eskdale documentary history for the Nab Gill mine begins in 1895. Bowden(see above) describes traces of workings which point to a much earlier date. Indeed, in the Esk valley there are remains of several small bloomery sites where iron ore was smelted .Mary C. Fair and Dr. C.A. Parker traced these and listed them in an article (CWAAS Transactions Vol XX11 (New Series) 1922). The authors describe the bloomery site at Rabbit How (site 03) as being extensive, though there were no signs of adjacent mine workings.
Articles of agreement between Sir William Pennington, Bart., of Muncaster, and Randulph Ashenhurst Esq. of Manchester: W.P. grants a lease for 21 years from Candlemas next “of all those his Coal, Culm, & Kennal-Mines, to be found, w’thin the Mannors or Lordshipps of Muncaster, & Drigg cum Carleton” (D/Pen/Box 46/Bundle 110-121/item 111): 21 Nov 1702).
In the 1740s Sir John Pennington employed miners to dig for iron ore in the Muncaster Deer Park and at Drigg. Nothing was found. Copper was also mined in the Esk Valley. Hutchinson’s County History written in the early 1790s, says that veins of copper have been discovered but that no mine exists.The 1861 census lists four copper miners and in 1863 O.S. 1 25” map shows mine workings at Spot How Gill, Birker. Albyn Austin, in notes on the mine, writes that the mine was definitely worked in 1856,1863 and in 1883. (unpublished 1983) The other recorded site adjacent to our survey, with some of its buildings inside the area, is the bloomsmithy already referred to dating from an agreement in 1636 between William Wright of Brougham Castle, Westmorland and William Pennington of Muncaster to ‘make build,erect, pitch and set up in and upon one place or parcel of ground adjoining the river Esk called Tyson’s–holme, a parcel of the lands and tenements of the said Will Pennington called Banckend …….one good strong or sufficient Forge or Ironworks for making bar iron……’. The site was excavated in 1967-8 by Tylecote and Cherry.(CWAAS Transactions 1970) who found Muncaster Head to be the only bloomery or bloomforge site in Cumbria for which a secure archaeological date had so far been established .
Agriculture. The land on the site of our survey consists mostly of fell side and poor boggy land along the bottom of the fell. The farms were small, and sheep and timber seem to have been their main products. It is perhaps reasonable to speculate that, even if the three Muncaster head tenements had not been amalgamated with thefourth, and better sited,Park House, when the bloomsmithy was built in the seventeenth century they would not have been able to survive independently.In 1797, Wm. Hutchinson describes the soil and produce as follows ; The land towards the sea is loamy and tolerably fertile: eastwards is mossy, and near the mountains there is gravel. Very little wheat is raised, and not much barley, oats the chief crop, but not remarkably heavy. …All the sheep of the home breed’ [presumably herdwick] Timber was an important product on the whole of the Muncaster Estate. Thomas Denton in his ‘Perambulation of Cumberland in 1687-1688 , describes a £3, “large wood of oak timber worth£3,000 ‘ on the Muncaster estate.In 1777, Nicholson and Burn report that ‘ the park is large, well stored with deer as it said it anciently was with wood, but there is not much appearance of it at present.’ W. Hutchinson in 1794 reports ‘There used to be an abundance of woodcocks, but since the country was stripped of wood they make short stay here in their passage. By 1829 the Parson and White directory in its entry for Muncaster states ‘The late lord……covered the neighbouring hills with forest trees’Much of the correspondence between the Penningtons and their agents at Muncaster concerned the need to make sure that the tenants were not using the wood for their own purposes. The agreement for the building of the bloomsmithy in 1637 includes specific references to the timber required and where it was to come from. ‘ the said Will Pennington ………may have twenty five trees towards the making thereof out of the woods of Edward Stanley of Dalegarth………..’ ( D/Pen/185) In a document of 1761 a list of fields where trees were to be sold includes Bank End £330,Rabbit How £5 ;Coal Pitt How fields £92; Thwaite Brow £ 82 ; total £509 . To be sold this year. Altogether the value of the timber that year at Muncaster Head was £1219. The need for timber for the building ans working of the bloomsmithy was the cause of much troubled the tenants of Both the Muncaster and Eskdale estates. Three petitions to the Earl of Northumberland in about 1639 complained that because so much timber had been sold to Sir William Pennington they were unable to look after their tenements … ‘with this wasteful and uncharitable burning’. The tenants of ‘Eshdall, Miterdall’stated that ‘ …many of your poor tenauntes are like to perish under the weight of their miseries unless their lammentable state and condicione may move your honour to Compassione.’(D/Pen/