Origin

Manors became prominent with the coming of William the Conqueror and in 1085 Spaunton was one such Manor, its first Lord being a Norman, Berenger-de-Todeni.  It very quickly came into the hands of St Mary’s Abbey at York, who owned it for over 400 years.  Abbot Stephen came from Whitby in 1078 to build an Abbey Church at Lastingham but in 1088 York became the centre of Christianity and he left Lastingham to build St Mary’s Abbey at York.  The abbey at Lastingham was never completed but made into the Parish Church.  At the devolution of the monastery in 1550 Spaunton Manor was then given by Edward 6th to William Ford Grey of Wilton and John Bannester Esq.  It past through various hands until it was acquired by the Darley family in 1780.

Many Court Leet’s had ceased to function by around 1900 but about 16 in the country were still operating in 1977.  Then the Administration of Justices Act 1977 repealed the ability of Court Leet’s to operate except for those that were still operating which were listed in a schedule.  Spaunton is one of those.

The essential role of the Court Leet today is to protect the Manorial land within the Manor (that is common and wastes of the Manor, which include village greens and verges) and to protect the rights of those who have “common rights” i.e. the rights held in common by a number of different properties over the common.  Under the 1965 Commons Registration Act all common rights had to be registered and quantified but in practice the majority of common rights on Spaunton Common relate to grazing which attaches to the appendant land that it was originally registered with and the rights of turbary (peat cutting) which run with specific dwellings, which many years ago used the peat to fuel a fire.

The Court

The Court Leet sits usually on the first Thursday in October, usually starting at 10.00am and members of the public are welcome and indeed the press have regularly attended and TV also.  The meeting has historically been held at the Manor House, Spaunton but since covid it is now held at Lastingham Village Hall.

The room at the Manor House was not large (unlike the Danby Castle room used by the Danby Court Leet) and so if there were more than about half a dozen members of the press/public they had to stand and it could be quite a squash.  We always managed to get everybody into the room somehow in the past!

The Court Leet consists of 14 of the owners of the common rights who are invited and duly summoned to appear and be sworn as jurymen – that is 12 jurymen and 2 affearors.  Officially the Lord of the Manor instructs the Steward of the Manor, who in turn instructs the Bailiff to summons the Court together.  In practice the Lord of the Manor liaises with the Foreman of the Jury to get the right number of people.  The Manor covers 5 parishes and we appoint representatives from all the parishes.  We try to select people who obviously not only have been around long enough to understand many of the local issues but also particularly people who are elected councillors or parish councillors so that they can report to those bodies as to what is happening in the Court Leet and vice versa.

The Court is presided over by the Steward who is a solicitor and effectively acts as the Chairman and provides the jury with legal advice.

The main business of the Court is usually taken up with encroachments on the common.  This is essentially anything on the common, which doesn’t have the right to be there or which interferes with the surface of the common.  The surfacing of driveways, placing of signs, enclosure of bits of common for front gardens etc. all are regular matters which the Court most usually gives approval to subject to various conditions which usually include the imposition of fines, which are then paid annually.  Another standard condition is that applicants should also obtain planning permission and all other necessary consents from the appropriate bodies.  The list of fines is put before the Court each year and is called the presentment.  The Jury appoint their own Foreman and for many years this was Tom Strickland who then handed over to Jim Welburn, who has been elected each year since Tom died.  Jim sadly died in June 2022 and so Jim Bailey is now the Foreman.

There is also a Pinder, who for many years was the late Reg Swales from Spaunton but is now George Thompson, the moorkeeper.  Traditionally his job was to impound in pinfolds stray stock and generally to monitor the flocks of sheep grazed on the common.

The Bailiff is appointed and paid for by the Lord of the Manor to collect the fines that the Court levies.

Manor Luncheon

By tradition the Lord of the Manor invites all members of the Court to a Manor Luncheon after the Court Leet, where the traditional fare is hare pie followed by Christmas Pudding.  Hare pie is becoming less popular, particularly after it appeared to give everyone an upset tummy a few years ago!  The Luncheon used to be held in an adjoining room at Spaunton Manor prior to 1939 but since then it has been held in one of the pubs in the Manor and we try to rotate around the Manor with this.

Ladies

Since 1997 the Bailiff and Assistant Bailiff have both been female.  We have invited several ladies to the Jury and are pleased we currently have one lady Juror.  Unless there is a small and unexpected miracle the next Lord of the Manor will also be female!

Fines

Fines are calculated and set by the Jury and they have set the following benchmarks, which they use to guide them.  In October 2007 it was agreed that the rate of fines should be increased once every 5 years by the rate of inflation over the preceding 5 years.

Fines

Agreed with effect from October 2023.

Pedestrian Access – £10

Vehicular Access – £20

Garden, Car Park etc – £35

Commercial Sign – £20

Underground pipes/wires – £10

Potato Garths – £10

Enclosures

Agreed with effect from October 2023.

Acreage payment: £45/acre for Moorland.  £60/acre for all SDA/lowland.

These are larger areas enclosed off the common usually as a result of Ploughing up Orders.

Additional Sheep Gaits

Agreed with effect from October 2017.

Extra Gaits £2 per head

Inconsistency?

Members of the Court and particularly jury members try to keep an eye out for any encroachments onto the common but some of these have been missed over the years or perhaps were deemed by the jury as being of some ancient quality and not warranting a fine.  This may account for why some properties are deemed to have caused an encroachment and others not.

Ownership

In the same way most residents own their own property, the village greens belong to the Spaunton Estate who are happy that people enjoy them and they form a community focus.  However, it is still their property!  It is not public property and the estate has all the same rights which private owner residents have over their own property.

There was an agreement in 1980 between the Lord of the Manor, who owns all the freehold of the common and wastes of the Manor etc and the Court that all the income raised by the Court would be expended on management and improvement of the common and in particular “the immediate reduction and ultimate eradication of bracken, which is the worst menace on the moor”.  Bracken control continues as do a number of other works, which benefit the common right holders and others who use the common, such as thistle control and maintenance and improvement of the tracks etc.  A large contribution is made towards the cost of the Steward out of the fines but the Bailiff and Assistant Bailiff are paid for separately by the Lord of the Manor.

Contributions are also made to the Village Caretaker Schemes.  Whilst the estate is happy for the residents to organise to keep the village green to a particular standard, there is no advantage to the estate in so doing.

Selling?

When people are selling property, which has the benefit of an encroachment we do recommend that the selling agents/solicitor contact us to make sure that they describe the situation correctly in their details.  We have been trying to educate the local agents and solicitors with mixed results and we would much rather help them to understand what the situation is so they can explain it to potential purchasers rather than trying to explain it to a new purchaser or their solicitors who very often come from far afield and later feel perhaps they had been misled in the purchase.

I hope this answers some of the questions people have about the Court Leet but if not feel free to get in touch.  I would be happy to attend a public meeting to explain more about it and the running of the moor and to answer questions.

The easiest way to get in touch with the Court Leet is through George Winn-Darley or his secretary Diana, who acts as the Bailiff at Aldy Park, Buttercrambe, YORK, YO41 1XU or email george@winndarley.net