The Redistribution of Crown Land in Somerset by Gift, Sale and Lease 1536-1572

• Main Author: Wyndham, K. S. H.
• Published: Royal Holloway, University of London 1976
• Subjects: 942
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.478188

The king had long held land in Somerset. Existing royal estates were augmented by those of suppressed religious houses, attainted subjects and property acquired by exchange or escheat. The first part of this study outlines the nature and value of the crown estate. The second examines the methods by which much of it was alienated. Later chapters discuss the initial recipients and consider how private sales contributed to further changes in landownership. 2. Under Henry more was sold at the current market rate, or granted in exchange for land elsewhere, than was given on special terms. The Edwardian government alienated more than the Henrician, but sold less. Most was either given away, or assigned by gigantic exchanges. Mary sold least, concentrating on rewarding faithful subjects or reimbursing those whose estates had been lost in previous reigns. The 1560s brought change. Less was alienated on any terms; when it was, the emphasis was on securing a cash return. Elizabeth rewarded with favourable leases, not gifts. With leases, as sales, the Crown compensated for inflation by raising the price. By the 1560s, entry fines had increased nearly four fold and land once sold for twenty years' purchase could fetch forty. Initially, two thirds of the property went to courtiers and central government officials. The Protector's vast gains towered above those of all others. Over half the land alienated stayed in the hands of the first grantees. Of the estates regained by the Crown, some were granted afresh and did not change hands again; others stayed with the Crown. The remaining lands, selling on the private market, were rarely conveyed more than once. Here the local gentry were the most active purchasers. But courtier families had retained much, and in 1572 they still held considerably more ex-crown land than the gentry of purely local standing.