The
lord of the manor had his hall, which was the administrative centre
for the manor, and he cultivated a home farm which was set out around
the hall and contained within hedged fields. In the manor of
Halesworth, the Hall once stood behind the Church of St.Mary
somewhere on or near the site of the present Church Farm, whose lands
would have been part of his demesne lands of the manor. Many lords of
the manor such as Halesworth, owned windmills, had the right of
choosing the parson, of having stocks, pillories and even gallows.
While much of the land was in open fields, other was in the
form of
pasture, hay-fields, marshes, fens, commons and woods. All land
transactions took place in the manor court, and peasants might hold
land in exchange for rent and labour as they worked part of their
time on the lords demesne lands. His work might consist of ploughing,
seeding, harvesting, in the scattering of manure, weeding, mowing the
lord's meadow, cutting and binding hay, reaping, threshing grain,
carrying grain, beans & peas, making malt, digging or clearing
ditches, making hurdles or hedging and thatching.
The
Halesworth peasant had to take his corn to the lord's mill to be
ground into flour. There was one mill recorded in 1086, but by the
19th century there were eight known to have existed. They were known
as Gothic Mill (1837), Broadway Mill (c.1844), two mills in Pound
Lane both built 1743 and demolished 1900 and 1905. Pound Lane is
better known to us as London Road, although it was also later called
Pound Street. This is where the pound stood, a place where stray
animals could be placed until they were fetched by their owners. One
of the cottages which are in the group leading up to the DayCentre
and Waveney District Offices is still called Pound Cottage. Another
mill was Calver's Mill, which was built in 1788 and was demolished in
1942, while lastly, there was Mill Hill windmill, built in 1788 which
stood in Mill Hill Street, a lane which runs from the corner of
Rectory Street to meet Wissett Road.
The
villager also had to pay a sum of money called a 'fine' when a house
or land was transferred from father to son - also called 'tallage' -
and on the death of a villager another
'heriot' or fine was expected
to be paid. In the early days he might also have to pay a sum of
money as 'gersum' on the
marriage of a daughter, or even be forced to
pay 'childwyte' if his
daughter had a child out of marriage.
During
the 12th century, waste land was being cultivated with the woods also
being felled and scrubland cleared. By the end of the 12th century there was
little land not in use.