PLYMPTON: THE BOROUGH AND ITS CHARTERS.

BY J. BROOKING ROWE, F.S.A., F.L.S.

(Read at Plympton, July, 1887.)

WE find at Plympton, in Anglo-Saxon times, not only the manor and the township, but, as distinct from both, the burh, and which eventually became absorbed in the township. We learn from Bishop Stubbs that the burh "was simply a more organized form of the township. It was probably in a more defensible position, had a ditch and mound instead of the quickset hedge or 'tun,' from which the township took its name; and as the tun was originally the fenced homestead of the cultivator, the burh was the fortified house and courtyard of the mighty man, the king, the magistrate, or the noble." At Plympton we have the burh in the military work still to be found in the castle, and the protected homestead of the peaceful husbandman in the name of the place.

Next to the castle the borough is the oldest institution of which we have any record here. It will be remembered that the Domesday manor of Plintone was a Royal manor, held by Baldwin the Sheriff. It is probably about a hundred years after the completion of the Domesday Survey that we find a reference to Plympton as a borough. During that time much had happened. The Norman keep which Baldwin de Meules had reared upon the English mound, and the castle which he had constructed, had in the hands of his successors been improved and strengthened; and the inhabitants of the little town were those whom the necessities of their position compelled to settle under the walls of the re-edified fortress Const. History, i. p. 92.

for safety and protection. The town, such as it then was, had shared the fortunes of the castle, and had fallen with it into the hands of the followers of Stephen during the siege of Exeter, in 1140. The Redvers family had been constant to Plympton. Henry the First had granted to Richard de Redvers, Lord of Nehou, the honour of Plympton, and his grandson (or it may be his great grandson) William, the sixth Earl of Devon, granted to the men of Plympton a charter, of which, beyond the fact that it was so granted, we know nothing, there being, so far as I have been able to discover, no copy of it in existence. That it had an existence there can be no doubt, for in 1224, 9 Henry III., the burgesses of Plympton were fined to have an inquest to ascertain whether they were in possession in the time of William Earl of Devon of certain liberties granted to them by that earl's charter, or not.

"Burgenses de Plinton r c de xxx marcis pro vj palefridis, pro habenda Inquisitione per probos et legales homines de visu de Plinton, utrum fuerint in saissina tempore Willelmi quondam Comitis Devoniæ de libertatibus eis concessis per cartam ipsius Comitis quam inde habent au non."

In the sixth generation we find another Redvers, a fourth Baldwin, seventh Earl of Devon, Sheriff of the County, and Lord of the Honour, Castle, and Manor of Plympton. The troubles of Stephen's reign, with all their attendant horrors, had passed; the Redvers had had restored to them the ancient possessions of their family, and the events of succeeding reigns had not prevented Earl's Plympton from progressing, and either the burgesses of Plympton considered they ought now to demand privileges other than those already in their possession, or their lord thought that the time had come for the bestowal of further favours. Accordingly, in the year 1242, shortly after the marriage of Baldwin with Amicia, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford-name ever to be held in respect by men of Devon, the foundress of Buckland, the mother of the noble Isabella de Fortibus-the first charter of which we have any certain information was granted. Although, as just mentioned, it would appear that this was not the first Plympton charter, there is no reference in the new one to its predecessor, although the burgesses are spoken of as such. In nearly all the succeeding charters we shall find that the older ones are referred to. This document was given at

Mag. Rot. 9 Hen. III. Rot. 3 b. Devon. Madox. Exchequer, ed. 1711.

Plympton on the Feast of the Annunciation, in the 26th year of the reign of Henry III., 1242, and it is in the following words:

"Omibz xti ffidelibą hoc scriptü visuris ut audituris Baldewinus de Reduiis Comes Deuon et Dñs insule sattm. Notum sit uo nos concessisse tradidisse dilectis fidelibz Burgensibą nris de Plimpton totum Burgum nřm de Plympton cum foro Nundinis omibą ptinenciis suis ad dem Burgum spectantibz. Tenend hind sibi heredibą suis de nob heredibą nris in perpetuum Adeo libe quiete cũ õmibz liðtatibą libis consuetudinibus eo modo sicut Ciues Exoñ melius ut libius habnt uf habere debent In ciuitate sua Exoñ qam de Rege tenent. Exceptis Natiuis nřis quos si contig'it in pdco burgo manere uf phendinare qd p'dce libtatis auctoritate pdcis Burgensib concessa nullam sibi libratem pofunt uendicare aut usurpare sine assensu ñro speciali. Redendo nob herediba ñris dei Burgenses heredes sui annuati viginti qatuor libras duos deñ ad qatuor anni ?minos videla ad pascha sex deñobot: Et ad fm sci Johnis bapt sex lib sex den obot Et ad fm bi Michael sex libas sex dobot Et ad Natal dni sex libas sex den obot Saluo nob decetero quicquid aug'e potin?? in redditiba assis in burgagiis in tris ñris forinsecis extra Burgum. Concessin?? insup dcis Burgensib

duos solid sex libas

heredibą suis libum introitu in burgin libum exitu a burgo. Ptea concessin?? dcis burgensibą heredibą suis qđ sint liber quieti a toluetoomi consuetudine P omnes terras nras. Volun itaqz firmit pcipim? ne aliqui balliui ut ministri ñri pacis burgensibą ñris ut heredibz suis aliqam inferant iniuriam ut inferri pmittant Et ut nĩa hec concessio carte ñre confirmaco rata stabilis inppetuum pseueret psenti scipto sigillum nrm apposuin? Hiis testiba Dño Rob de Molton tnc plore Plympton Dño Hugone Peuerel. Dño Rad de Albamara Dño Rad de Chaluns. Dño Wydone de Briteuill Alexand de Henen?don tunc constabul Plympton Willo de Halgawill multas aliis. Carta ista fca fuit die Annuncionis be Virginis Marie apud Plympton Anno Regni Dni Regis Henr filii Regis Johis vicesimo sexto." From the original document. Also Carta Antiquæ, I. i. n. 19.

It may be translated literally as follows:

"To all the faithful in Christ seeing or hearing this writing, Baldwin de Redvers, Earl of Devon, and Lord of the Isle, greeting. Be it known to you that we have granted and delivered to our well beloved and faithful Burgesses of Plympton

all our Borough of Plympton, with the market and fairs, and all their appurtenances to the same Borough belonging To hold and to have to them and to their heirs of us and our heirs for ever as freely and quietly with all liberties and free customs in the same manner as the citizens of Exeter better and more freely have or ought to have in their City of Exeter which they hold of the King Except our natives whom if it shall happen that they stay or dwell in the aforesaid Borough that by authority of the said liberty granted to the aforesaid burgesses they can have no liberty to claim or usurp without our special assent. The said burgesses and their heirs rendering to us and to our heirs yearly twenty-four pounds and two shillings and two pence at the four terms of the year namely at Easter six pounds and six pence and a half penny and at the Feast of St. John the Baptist six pounds and six pence and a half penny and at the Feast of St. Michael six pounds and six pence and a half penny and at the Nativity of our Lord six pounds and six pence and a half penny Reserving moreover to us whatsoever we may have in rent of Assize and burgages [and] in outlying lands beyond the Borough. We have granted moreover to the said Burgesses and to their heirs free ingress to the Borough and free egress from the Borough Besides we have granted to the said Burgesses and to their heirs that they shall be free and quit from toll and from all customs through our lands. And we therefore will and firmly command none of our bailiffs or ministers bring or suffer to be brought any injury to our aforesaid burgesses or to their heirs And that this our grant and confirmation of our charter may be preserved valid and firm for ever to this present writing We have put our Seal. These being Witnesses Lord Robert of Molton Prior of Plympton Lord Hugo Peveril Lord Ralph of Albemarle Lord Ralph of Chalons Lord Wydone of Brittevile Alexander of Hemerdon Constable of Plympton William of Halwill and many others. This Charter was made on the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Plympton in the 26th year of the reign of the King Henry son of King John."

By this we find Baldwin grants his borough of Plympton, with its market and fairs and all liberties and free customs, to be held by the burgesses in the same manner as the citizens of Exeter held their city of the king. The nativi, however, of the earl were not to partake in these privileges without their lord's special consent, and an annual rent of £24 2s. 2d, payable quarterly, was reserved. With due solemnity was

this charter, still extant, executed, and in the presence of friends and neighbours of the grantor and well-wishers of the rising town duly delivered to the men of Plympton, who retained the original, an entry of it being made upon the great Roll of the Realm, where we now find it.

The privileges conferred by this charter were enjoyed by the town, with additions and variations from time to time, for more than six centuries, and until the year 1833 the sum of £24 2s. 2d. was duly paid by the corporate authorities to Baldwin and his successors, claiming to be lords of Plympton, the last recipients being the Earls of Morley.

Baldwin, the grantor of this charter, died in 1244, leaving a son Baldwin and two daughters, Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Albemarle, -and on the death of her brother without issue, of Devon,-and Margaret. Isabella confirmed the charter of her father to Plympton, and conferred additional privileges. This confirmation has no date, but it must have been given some time after 1262, when, according to Cleaveland, her brother, who survived William her husband, died.

This confirmation, the original of which is not extant, I give from the copy on the Roll.

"Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos p'sens sc'pt puen'it

Isabel de forti comitissa de albamart Deuoñ ac na insule saltm in đno sempitnã Nou'itis me in ligia viduitate mea concessisse ac confirmasse p rato huisse õimodam Libtatem

consuetudine a bald de Rydiv'iis per meo q°ndam Comite Deuon ac dno Insule Burgensibus de Plympton concessam comuna in turbar de mora ñra u'sus Dertemore ad omia neccia focalis singlis domibuz dci burgi comuna In semitis In bosco de Heawode ext iustis consuetis. s. ad burgag dci Burgi necciis sine omi cont diccone Tenend end dcis burgensibus heredibus suis de me heredibus meis libe qete pacifice Intege Jure hereditar Inppetun scam tenorē carte Baldewini eisdem burgensibus confecte p omi seruico querela demanda Ita scilicz qd ego deceto? con ħ sciptu ut fcm no heredes mei nec aliquisrone mei no con sciptu ut fem Baldewini pris mei no in aliquiba consuetudinib iustis ac usitatis venire p'sumani Ego vero Isabella dca heredes mei burgensibą deis omnia p'scipta cona omes gentes warantizare tenem defendere scdm formã p'sc'pta In omnibą pro hac concessione confirmacoe carte mee dedernt mi dei burgens decem marcas sterling Et vt h concessio carte mee confirmaco rata stabil in poster inppetum pmaneat