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All land in the Kent Weald, like
elsewhere in England, was held of
some lordship or directly of the Crown.
However, seigneurial control was weak and tenants’
involvement with their manor was limited to paying
a small annual quitrent or ground rent, doing
(occasional) suit of court and paying a
heriot (usually the best beast) for the right to
take up land on the death of the previous tenant.
A feature of the late 15th and 16th centuries was
the appearance of what are described as ‘gentry
manors’ or estates in all parts of the
Weald, the result of either successful estate
building by local residents or of purchase by
newcomers to the Weald. These estates frequently
included land held of more than one manor. An
example of this was the Bore Place ‘manor’,
or estate, with lands in at least three different
manors. The owners of Bore Place, like most
other landowners in the Weald during this period,
managed their property by leasing out large
blocks of it and rents would have formed an
important part of their income. Unlike some
landowners, however, they retained demesne
lands, which in 1518 included approximately
50 acres of arable and 150 acres of
pasture, together with meadows, woods and
parkland.
From the
late 15th century and throughout the 16th century
Bore Place was held by a succession of eminent
London lawyers, all of whom continued to
maintain London residences. John Alphegh held the
estate until his death in 1489. He left it to his
daughter, Margaret, and her husband, Robert,
later Sir Robert, Rede. On Rede’s death in
1518 the estate passed to his daughter, Bridget,
and her husband, Thomas, later Sir Thomas,
Willoughby. Bridget continued to hold the estate
after her husband’s death in 1545 and on her own
death in 1558 it passed to her grandson,
Thomas Willoughby.
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