Manors and Property

The Society's Library holds an extensive collection of manorial records, as well as various documents relating to property transactions. 

These records include copies of various court books, surveys, terriers as well as originals of copyhold land documents, such as surrenders, admissions and deeds of enfranchisement.  

It is worth remembering that land within a particular Manor was rarely commensurate with parish boundaries. It is possible for a town or village to be part of several Manors.  

Property documents include freehold conveyances, mortgages, leases and contracts. There are also several auction particulars and conditions of sale, as well as Inclosure documentation.  

These are available for inspection in the Library at Kirby Hall.  

Whilst many of the documents are in ‘place’ or ‘manor’ labelled boxes, we have an abundance of manor and property documents which have yet to be sorted and indexed.   

We are also in the process of re-labelling the boxes as part of our ongoing Manors & Property project. Our aim is to index every document so that it is easier for members to find a particular document.  

In addition (and where possible) we will scan and retain a digital image of documents - particularly of the older and more fragile documents, which we pass to the Norfolk Record Office for appropriate preservation and storage.  

What can we find in Manorial Documents? 

Manor Courts were an important part of a local community, dealing with the administration of the customs of the manor. The administration related to both the land as well as the ‘tenants’ of the Manor.  

The Court Rolls (later Court Books) provide a record of the administration and includes the names of the copyhold tenants as well as details of the copyhold land ‘held’ of the Manor. 

Individual documents - such as admissions and surrenders, recite the details from the Court Rolls. These too can provide details of the ‘outgoing’ copyhold tenant as well as the ‘incoming’ tenant. In addition, the date of the Manor Court at which the outgoing tenant ‘took’ the land is also sometimes mentioned.  Extracts from wills can also be found recited in Manor Court documents. 

What can we find in Property Documents? 

In addition to details of the land, property documents (such as freehold conveyances, mortgages, contracts and auction particulars), can also provide details of the owners and occupiers of a property.  

Even though your ancestor may not have owned a property, they may be named as an occupier - or lender!  Many deeds will recite extracts from earlier documents - and these, again, can sometimes include extracts from wills.  

The Library holds a few Inclosure Award documents which can also be very useful. These documents give the names of the various owners (and sometimes tenants) of property and land within a particular place at that time.  

Where documents have been scanned a digital image will be uploaded to the website and the details will be available through a NORS search.

NORs