Manorial Records
Several early references to parts
of modern Coseley can be found in a survey of the manor
of Dudley, made in 1272, after the death of Roger de
Somery, lord of the manor. One of the references is to
Turls Hill, which was farmed by John de Terhull, a ‘villein’.
It lists the services that he was compelled to carry out
for the lord of the manor, which consisted of ploughing
the fields, growing and reaping corn for the lord,
growing and supplying nuts to the lord, and supplying
hay that he had to transport to Dudley Castle.
Another reference is about four
pits of sea coal that were worth four pounds annually.
It is thought that they were in Woodsetton, so coal
mining was taking place in Coseley, in the 13th century.
The Terhull family name also
appears in a writ to the Sheriff of Stafford in 1290.
The writ to the Sheriff is to enquire whether John, son
of Robert de la Ho, detained in Stafford jail for the
death of Richard de Bradeleye, killed him in
self-defence. The two of them met in a tavern kept by
Roger de Terhull and quarrelled. Afterwards Richard
fired a couple of arrows at John and then struck him
with a Danish axe. This happened on the highway leading
from Duddeleye to Bradeleye. It is probable that Roger
de Terhull was the son of John de Terhull who was
mentioned earlier. The highway from Dudley to Bradley
must have passed through Coseley. So it is possible that
that the tavern was in Coseley.
Geoffrey de Terhull, another member
of the Terhull family, also from Turls Hill is mentioned
in another writ to the Sheriff of Stafford. He had
obviously been a criminal. It enquires whether 10 acres
of land with a residential building had been in the
King’s hand for a year and a day since Geoffrey de
Terhull was hanged for felony.
It is believed that the name
Coseley appeared for the first time in print, in 1292 in
an inquisition before William de Bereford of Dudley:
John Adam
of Colseleye and Roger de
Terhull sold in the time of
William de Mere, sub-escheator,
36 oaks of small value in the
woods of Baggerugge and Le Hay
for 40 shillings, for the
support of the foresters and
other servants of the castle of
Duddelegh, which said William
received.
The said
John Adam and Roger, sellers of
wood, caused 44 oaks in the said
woods, of the price of £4.8s.0d.
to be made into charcoal by the
said William.
Benedict de
Ordesleye and Henry atte Merlis,
appointed sellers of the wood of
Penyak by the said William, sold
22 oaks for making charcoal, of
the price of 20 shillings. The
said William gave to Robert de
Hexston an oak of the price 20
pence, to William Tandy an oak
of the price of 2 shillings, to
Philip Balle an oak of the price
of 8 pence, to William Vicar of
Seggesleye, an oak of the price
18 pence, to William Feyrchild
an oak of the price of 6 pence,
to Roger Terhull a branch of the
price of 8 pence.
The said
William de Mere, sub-escheator,
found 11 oaks felled in the park
of Duddelegh, after the death of
Roger de Somery, before he came
to seize his tenements into the
King’s hand, and sold them for
40 shillings.
The said
John and Roger caused charcoal
to be made of the underwood of
Bagerugge to the value of half a
mark. In the Old Park two ash
trees were felled by the said
William, of the price of 12
pence. |
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The inquisition includes a number
of recognisable names including: Colseleye - Coseley and
Baggerugge - Baggeridge.
The Black Death
The late 1340s were terrible times
because of the onset of the Black Death, or plague as it
was known. It began in the wet summer of 1348 and large
numbers of people were rapidly dying. It continued
throughout the winter and became even more virulent in
the early months of 1349, continuing into 1350. It began
to return regularly, first in 1361 and again in the
1370s and 1380s. Large numbers of people died, greatly
affecting the working classes, possibly only ten percent
of whom survived. This would change the relationship
between the lord and his tenants and bring about an
early end to feudalism, in which the peasants had to
offer service with many obligations to their lord, in
return for a grant of land.
Peasants were now in short supply
and many farming communities disappeared. They now
wanted to dictate their own wage levels and terms of
employment. The rulers of the kingdom reacted strongly,
and within a year of the onset of plague, an Ordinance
of Labourers was issued, which became the Statute of
Labourers in 1351. This law attempted to prevent
peasants from obtaining higher wages, by ordering them
to accept wages at pre-plague levels. In reality the
high death rate meant that rents dwindled and much land
was uncultivated. Many villages were deserted and land
incomes fell. The rulers’ attempt to maintain the feudal
system failed, and before the end of the century the
working classes began to dictate their own terms and
freely move from one area to another, changing society
forever.
16th Century Records
The Court Rolls for the manor of
Sedgley are a useful source of information about some of
the local inhabitants in the Coseley area. Two courts
were held in the manor; the Court baron for the
freeholders, in which tenants themselves were often the
judges; and the Court Customary for the copyholders.
They were tenants who held land in the manor, which was
recorded in the manorial court roll. The tenant’s title
deed was a copy of the relevant entry in the court roll,
and so they were called copyholders.
The first entry in the manorial
court roll, dated 13th April, 1537 is about some land at
Hurst Hill, Coseley. Henry Hodgetts of Hurst Hill handed
some pieces of land to the lord of the manor, which were
used for pasture. The land was listed as “Hurst Hyll et
le Lymepytts”. Lymepytt field was almost certainly south
of what is now Clifton Street. The Hodgetts family were
frequently included in the court roll. It is likely that
they lived at the Flaxhall, later High Arcal Farm, which
was to the south west of Tipton Road by High Arcal
Drive. Henry Hodgetts and Oliver Hodgetts, along with
William Bradeley were also listed as transferring a
piece of land known as “The Parkfield” from one owner to
another.
The roll also contains a list of
rents for 1588 to 1589:
Ettingshall |
John
Gibbons |
|
11s.8d. |
|
John
Persehouse of Hurst
Hill |
|
35s.10d. |
John
Hykmons |
|
25s.8d. |
|
John
Persehouse for
Turlehouse garden |
|
17s. |
Thomas Gibbons |
|
33s.3d. |
|
John
Persehouse for a
hall |
|
3s. |
John
Elwell |
|
3s.3d. and a pair of
gloves |
|
John
Persehouse for
Beavers croft |
|
12s. |
John
Persehouse junior |
|
35s.10d. |
|
John
Persehouse for
Hennes croft |
|
15s. |
Henry Holmer |
|
22s. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Breereley (Brierley) |
Nicholas Hardwicke |
|
11s.11d. |
|
William Stone |
|
3s. |
Thomas Whitehouse |
|
4s.4d. |
|
Hommfrey ? |
|
9s. |
Thomas Wainwright |
|
3s.3d. |
|
Arnold Okell |
|
10d. |
Richard Jevon |
|
11s. |
|
William Dudley |
|
6d. |
Edward Jevon |
|
3s. |
|
William FFoxall |
|
9s. |
Edward Jevon for the
lord’s land |
|
20s. |
|
William Hamond |
|
10s. |
Richard Jevon |
|
6s. |
|
Hommfrey Pyrrey |
|
1s.11d. |
?
Gibbons |
|
7s.7d. |
|
Richard Kempson |
|
5s.3d. |
Thomas Parkes |
|
22s. |
|
Roger Pirrey |
|
5d. |
Thomas Pke. Vicar |
|
11s. |
|
Richard Hamond |
|
12s. |
John
Holmer |
|
11s. |
|
Thomas Haies |
|
17s. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Colsley (Coseley) |
Henry Jevon |
|
10s.7d. |
|
Idem
Thomas Grannger |
|
25s.7d. |
Richard Cresse |
|
10s. |
|
John
Pkes |
|
23s. |
John
Ffulwood |
|
32s.5d. |
|
Thomas Pkes |
|
2d. |
Richard Whitehouse |
|
15s.5d. |
|
John
Hickmons |
|
20s. |
Henry Jevon |
|
16s.9d. |
|
William Holmer |
|
15s. |
Thomas Grainger |
|
17s.6d. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Woodsetton |
William Persehouse |
|
30s.6d. |
|
John
Fellowe |
|
20s. |
William Hodgetts of
London |
|
27s.3d. |
|
Thomas Whitehouse |
|
1s.3d. |
William Persehouse |
|
12s.3d. |
|
William Hodgetts |
|
10s.11d. |
William Persehouse |
|
3s.3d. |
|
Oliver Persehouse |
|
12s. |
John Astley |
|
2s. |
|
Oliver Persehouse |
|
5s.7d. |
Richard Fellowe |
|
10s. |
|
Oliver Persehouse,
for a cottage |
|
2d. |
|
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One branch of the Persehouse family
was based at Turls Hill, while another part of the
family lived at Persehouse Hall, which stood on the site
of Parkes Hall Pool. The Grainger family owned most of
Coseley Moor which extended from St. Chad’s Church and
the old windmill to Tipton Road, Woodsetton. Coseley
Moor is included in the following report produced on 2nd
August, 1539 for Sedgley Manor’s Court of Survey, which
recorded the manorial properties, the tenants and their
rents:
Thomas
Grainger in the right of his
wife holdeth by coppy of Court
Roll, dated upon Tuesday, next
after the ffeast of St.
Camillus, anno the eighth, on
tout of land called Parcks tout;
one plot called Heeson’s leasow,
conteyning eight aces of
thereabouts; one pasture called
Cowridinge, conteyning three
acres, one pasture called
Andresley conteyning three
acres; one plot called Crosswaye,
conteyning two acres; one
pasture Calloway hay, conteyning
half an acre; in the
netherfields eight acres, in the
over fields eight acres, in
Bucknail field two acres; one
meadow called Tile meadow
conteyning one acre, and paying
yearly 23 shillings, 2 strikes
of oats, and three henns.
The said
Thomas Grainger holdeth one
pasture called Colsley moor,
conteyning eight acres; one
pasture called Asglands,
conteyning five acres, half an
acre called Croksbridges, and
payeth for te same yearlye 17
shillings. July the last day.
This survey
now remaineth in the hands of
me, Thomas Bradley. |
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The Grainger family held land in
this part of Coseley until at least 1659.
Coseley Moor is also recorded in
the manor rolls in 1646, when there was a dispute about
rights of way in the vicinity of the moor. Frances
Smith, a widow, contested the claim of Mary Persehouse,
to a piece of land that lay between two places called
Andersley and Tunckes. Edward Persehouse of Parkes Hall
rented the land from the lord of the manor, John Parkes.
This is interesting because John Parkes used timber from
the land to make charcoal, which must have been used for
some kind of local metal working.
A list of rents from 1579 includes
a mention of the following. The name Willingsworth
appears, listed as Willingsworthe pasture. There was a
newly built smithie, rented by John Turner, and a water
mill called Penwood Mill, rented by John Bradley and
previously rented by William Severne.
The rolls from 1613 to 1615 list
the following people from Coseley: Joh’es Hickmans de
Colesley, Oliver Ffellowes, Oliver Hickmans, William
Hodgetts, John Gibbons, Edward Persehouse, William
Persehouse and Ric’us Parkes de Willingsworth.
There are references to licences
for coal mining: John Birche asks for permission to dig
for sea coal in Woodcrosse in Ettingshall, and Roger
Hickmans applied for a licence to dig for coal, again in Ettingshall. It appears that Cinder Hill and Woodcross
were already mining areas.
Some of the larger field names in
1614 were: Broad Meadow, Bucknall, Heymore, Nether
Fields, Totmore Hedge, Shorte Hill, and Ye Ryddinge
pasture at Woodcrosse.
Parkes' Hall, Woodsetton.
The Civil War
The war had little impact on the
lives of the people living in Coseley, other than the
happenings at Willingsworth Hall and the collection of
levies for the Commonwealth forces.
In 1642 at the outbreak of the
Civil War, all males aged 18 and over were required to
swear an oath of adherence to the Protestant religion.
The names of the individuals were not recorded, or the
numbers, if any, of the absentees.
Willingsworth Hall on the eastern side of Coseley, was a
huge brick building that had been erected in about 1510.
It was the home of Thomas Parkes, Lord of the Manor of
Sedgley. Thomas Parkes supported the Parliamentarians
and from the house he formed a troop of cavalry to fight
their cause. The house was invaded by Royalist troops
and Parkes’ deeds and records were destroyed. He
suffered considerably and left the hall soon after peace
was declared. Parkes died in 1660 and the hall was
demolished in the 19th century.
On 17th
September,1655, an assessment was made by the county
magistrates, John Brindley and Captain Stone for raising
the levies for the army and navy of the commonwealth.
The payments were collected by Nicholas Parkhouse, a
constable. The list is interesting because it contains
the names of the local inhabitants who had to pay the
levy. They were as follows:
Brierley: Thomas Parkes, Lord
of the Manor; Richard Wainwright, for his dairy and
tenants; Jevon Tymms and Henry Smith; John Jones, for
whomefields and Watnext; Hugh Whitehouse, for Batman's
Hill; Richard Wiwicke; Thomas Whitehouse the younger;
John Hoo, for the Hough; Richard Collins; Edward
Hardwicke; Joseph Foster; Thomas Smith, for Hall Greens
Leasowe; Thomas Dudley; John Whitehouse; John Smith;
Edward Hardwicke, for land late Wilkes; John Turner;
Edward Fellow; John Perry; John Greene; Edward Perry,
for the Holt; William Perry; John Parkhouse; Mr. Hoo,
for Barnes Meadow; Richard Edge; Edward Homer, for Tenne
Tard Meadow; Edward Whitehouse.
Coseley: Samuel Whitehouse;
Richard Whitehouse; Richard Sheldon; Widow Whitehouse
and her son; Dudley Bagley; Thomas Whitehouse, for the
Rounds; Richard Whitehouse; William Jones; Nicholas
Persehouse, for his mother; John Fullwood; Oliver
Fellows; Widow Woden, for her farm and tenement; Edward
More; Thomas Timms and Joseph Hickmans; Thomas More and
William Fullwood; Thomas Persehouse; Matthew Gibbons;
Thomas Elwall; John Greene; Widow Heath; Richard
Granger; William Granger; Thomas Hall and his tenants;
John Evans and his tenants; Widow Connell.
The Old Park: Humble Ward
Esquire; Mr. Ashenhurst; Henry Smith; Richard Ffellow;
Thomas Naylor; John Darbyy, alias Jokey; Henry
Addenbrooke; Dudley Bagley; John Whitehouse; John
Downing; Nicholas Wilsford; John Bagley; William
Parkshouse, for his limeworks.
Woodsetton: Thomas
Parkshouse; Richard Ffellow and his mother; William
Parkhouse, nailor; John Ffellow; John Palmer.
Ettingshall: William
Gibbins and his mother; Mr. Cordall and his tenants;
Edward Homer; William Gibbins, for land late Homer's;
Samuel Whitehouse and his mother; Oliver Ffellow, for
his land and Allen's; Francis Homer; Edward and Francis
Homer, for Lower Moor; John Hickmans; John Crudley; John
Wilkes; John Wilkes for Norwood; Edward Parkshouse;
Thomas Gibbins; Edward Elwall, for Tot Mere; Samuel
Holmer and ? Ffellow; Mr. Parkshouse; Samuel Hickmans;
John Hickmans; Edward Parkshouse; Roger Hickmans; Rouse
Seth; William Gibbons. |
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