Previous
Previous
The Old Rectory of St. Alphege, Canterbury
Next
Next
ESTATES OF THE COBHAM FAMILY IN THE LATER
THIRTEENTH CENTURY
By Mns. TERESA MAY
i
THE Cobham family in the thirteenth century belonged to that class
of prosperous gentry, whose degree of wealth, leisure and education,
made them leaders in their counties and links between the latter and
the central government. Men like the Cobhams formed the channl
through which law, order and national policy could be administered,
but they were never passive instruments, as kings found to their cost,
possessing a strong sense of independence and community.
This class has always interested historians, but it is not one which
has left the most records. Whereas detailed accounts of ecclesiastical
estates and the great baronies have survived, we know little of lesser
lay manora. It is intriguing, therefore, to :find three thirteenth-century
manuscripts, all compiled within one generation, relating to the estates
of the Cobham family.
Firstly, we have the official view drawn up in standard form, the
Inquisition Post Mortem of John Cobham the Younger, of 1300:1
five manors neatly classified according to arable, pasture and meadow.
Secondly, there is a rental in the Cobham Cartulary,2 an assortment
of rents and dues which it is difficult to match with the information
in the inquisition. The third document, the Steward's account for the
Manor of Cobham· for the year 1290-91,s reveals the actual working of
a medieval estate.
ii
The Inquisition Post Mortem of 1300 describes five manors: West.
chalk, Beckley, Aldington, Cobham and Cooling (see Table 1), all
situated near one another. They form a sufficiently good sample of
north-west Kentish manors to compare with Kosminsky's conclusions
drawn from a study of Inquisitions Post Mortem for the counties
covered by the Hundred Rolls4 in his Studies in the Agrarian History
of Englan