Report – James Stuart – 22 Aug 1774

Monday 22 Aug[us]t



We proceeded this morning according to our Resolution to view the



      Land Ends & Hill Closes. Which Farm containing 300A.1R.2P is under Lease to William & Thomas Todd for 20 Y[ea]rs expiring in 1779 at 143£.10s.0d pAnn[um] being about 9s/6 3/4d pAcre It consists of between 40 & 50 Acres of meadow & rushy pasture, part of which wants draining; & some Clover; the remainder arable, part of which is fallow (very foul) & some Turnips.

      Upon going over this Farm, there was but too much reason to think that the Abuses complained of by Edward Coats of Haydon Bridge in his Letter to the Secretary of the 18th of Jan[uar]y last had been committed. Tho[ma]s Coats by some accident or other was prevented from attending us round the Premises as we had appointed. We found several of the young Oaks in the Land's end Haugh very shamefully cut & dismembered of their branches, & upon asking one of the Tenants who was present, how it had happened, he strenuously denied that he knew anything of the matter, but upon our discovering some of the Branches with the leaves on in the Hedges, he could no longer plead ignorance, but acknowledged that he believed that they came from the above place, & had been cut by some of his servants. After which we discovered in going through the wood in the pasture several of the Oaks treated in like manner. We also found that the Tenants had lately ploughed up about 16 Acres of fresh Land without Leave, expressly contrary to one of the Covenants of their Lease, for which they are liable to pay 40s pAcre and which we therefore recommend to be immediately demanded of them, more especially as they are exceedingly bad Husbandmen & Appearances of other Abuses are so strong against them.

      Besides the wood in the Lands end Haugh, there are a great number of Oaks in the above pasture which are chiefly from old Stools & past their growth, for which reason we recommend that they forthwith be taken down & sold & the bank on which they stand, fenced in & planted with acorns. The whole Timber on the Farm has been lately valued at 210£.

      The Dwelling House is in tolerable good condition, excepting that some repairs are wanting to be done by the Tenants. It was built since the Commencement of the present Lease. The other Housing is in general very good, Two Byers & a helm having been lately new built.

      Having finished our Observations & Enquiries here we repaired to Haydon Bridge where we found the abovementioned Edward Coats, & having examined him upon the subject of the Abuses mentioned in his aforesaid Letter, he gave us the following Information. Vizt.

      That Thomas Pearson who is employed under Bell the Bailiff was formerly a Weaver & now follows the Butcher's Business at Haydon Bridge, renting a Shop of Tho[ma]s Farlam of that place, and that he (the s[ai]d Pearson) was seen last Winter at 9 oclock in the Evening carrying 3 pieces of Wood into Farlam's House.

      That the abovementioned Todds the Farmers of Land's End had torn up 3 pieces of pasture last winter & laid none down in lieu, & that they have got 22 crops in 21 Y[ea]rs.

      That Gabriel Wren who is a Sub Tenant of Millhills New Lease, has torn up & turned into Tillage almost all the Ground in that Farm, except a Bog.

      That the Tenants of Allerwash rent Meadow Land at Newbrough, having converted the greatest part of their own farms into Tillage.

      That several large good Trees had been cut down last Winter in Capon's Cleugh for Matthew Pigg the Tenant of Page Croft & the abovementioned Gabriel Wren; which had been converted to their own private uses. And that Pearson the Bailiffs Assistant had sent lately to the above Matthew Pigg to desire him to put his wood out of the way.

      That there is a Fall of Wood every Y[ea]r in Capon's Cleugh for the Tenants & that Bell the Bailiff has the Bark.

      That William Watson of Allerwash has been a great Enemy to the woods, having got a great deal out of Capon's Cleugh.

      That about 8 or 9 Y[ea]rs ago William Kemp who married the said Watson's Daughter & lived 4 Y[ea]rs at Allerwash cut near £400 worth of Wood in the abovementioned Cleugh & carried it to Mr Lasonby's Farm at Settlingstones; that Edward Charlton (now Sub Tenant to Matthew Pigg in the Toft's Farm) drove the Cart which carried it away. And that, notwithstanding Bell the Bailiff was told of it, by the Informant Coats, not above a fortnight after it happened, he (Coats) never heard that any further notice was taken of it.

      That three Large Ash Trees & some Alders cut from Woodhall, had been given last Winter, by Pearson to Joseph Routledge the Sub Tenant of Woodhall Mills which were carried to the High Kiln near the said Mills & converted to Husbandry purposes;

      And that Henry Atkinson the Hospital's Tenant (under 99 Y[ea]rs Lease now near expiring) of Broomhill, Peel Well & Whitfields' Tenement had taken some Ground from Low Field belonging to the last mentioned Farm & added it to his own Freehold; that the said Atkinson had taken a great deal of Timber out of Broomhill houses & converted it to his own use; and that he carries the Hay & Dung from the Hospital's Farms to expend upon his own Land at Haydon Bridge



      Having received this Information we first proceeded to the Toft's Farm & upon enquiring of the said Edward Charlton, we found, notwithstanding at first he seemed backward in acknowledging it, that he had been employed in carrying to Mr Lasonby's several Loads of Oak Stakes (which had been made use of for making fences etc on his farm) about the time mentioned by Coats.

      We then went to Page Croft, and, upon searching the Barn, found several pieces of very fine Ash, & some Oak, Timber, cut out for <fillies> & other private uses. Matthew Pigg the Tenant acknowledged that he had six Ash Trees last Winter, out of Capon's Cleugh, for making Gates, tho[ugh] it appeared that there was but one Gate upon his whole Farm, which could require Timber of any size, all the rest being Hurdle Gates, or <Flakes> (as they are called in this Country, which are made of the Grains or small Branches of Trees. As to the Oak, he pretended he had bought it some Y[ea]rs ago, but of that there was too much reason to doubt.

      From hence we proceeded to Millhills New Lease & upon reaching there, found a great deal of Ash, some of it very good, part worked up into the Wain Shafts & converted to other private uses. Gabriel Wren, his sub-tenant, acknowledged that he had five or six ash trees last winter out of capon’s Cleugh, from Pearson.

      We then went to the Cleugh with Coats who showed us the stumps or stobs from whence the abovementioned trees (as he assured us) had been cut, some of which were of a very large size. Here we left him, directing him to meet us at Woodhall Mill tomorrow morning and then returned ourselves to Hexham.

      We cannot help taking notice upon this occasion that upon enquiring of Bell the Bailiff (before we went to Pigg’s and Wren’s farms) what Trees had been given them out of Capon’s Cleugh last winter he was at first very evasive in his answers, and at last declared that they had no more than six between them; whereas it appeared afterwards by the same Pigg’s & Wren’s own confession, that they had had twice that number, a plain proof that Bell had been, at least, exceedingly careless & inattentive to his duty, in suffering Timber to be cut & carried off from the Hospital’s woods without setting out himself the particular trees & seeing that they & they only were taken down.

      Upon enquiry we found what Coats had said about the Bark was true. Bell, who is a Tanner taking it whenever there is a Fall of wood; but tho’ he may pay for it at the Market price, as the Receivers assured us he did, it nevertheless, as there is no cheque upon him, appears to us irregular, and we therefore recommend that whenever any wood or bark (let the quantity be ever so small) is to be disposed of, Orders may be given for it to be sold to the highest bidder at a public sale.