The king having got possession of the property of the Wenlock priory, proceeded to dispose of it; and Madeley was sold to Robert Broke for what must have seemed a good round sum in those days. The following translation, which a friend has been kind enough to make for us, from a Latin copy of the original deed preserved in the archives of Madeley church, may be of interest.
Patent Roll, 36 Henry VIII., Part V. Grant to Robert Broke, Esquire, of the title and advowson of Madeley, co. Salop.
“The king to all whom it may concern, etc. salutation.
“Be it known to you all that we, in consideration of the sum of £946 3s. 8d., of our own legal English money, delivered over for our use into the hands of our legal treasurer, for the increase of the common revenue of our crown, by our beloved subject, Robert Broke, Knight, the sureties having been paid on the said sum of £946 3s. 8d., we declare that we shall be satisfied, contented, and fully indemnified, and that thenceforward Robert Broke, his heirs and executors, are to be exonerated and free from molestation, by force of these present letters, which we have given and conceded from our own special goodwill, certain knowledge, and of our own accord; and by these same present letters we give and concede to the aforesaid Robert Broke the whole of that manor named Madeley, with all and each of its rights, connections, and patronages, in our county of Salop, enjoyed lately over the priory of Wenlock, lately suppressed, in the abovementioned county, and all the belongings formerly attached to the lately existing monastery. Likewise all the other revenues of ours whatsoever, with their patronages in the above-named Madeley, and elsewhere in the above-named county, which have been part members or subject to the above-named manor, either by acknowledgment, acceptation, enjoyment, reputation, localization, or even by forcible separation.
“Likewise the advowson, the free enjoyment and the right of patronage of our vicariate parish-church of the above-named Madeley, in the above-mentioned county, as well as the rights attached to the whole of the place and buildings that go under the one name of the Smithy Place, and Newhouse called Calbrooke Smithy, with its patronages in the aforesaid Madeley.
“Likewise all our tithes of all fruits and grain annually growing, being renewed or produced in Madeley the afore mentioned, and now or lately in the possession of Richard Charleton; also the whole of that yearly and perpetual endowment of ours, viz., of three shillings annually, coming to us from the vicarage or church of the aforesaid Madeley; and the whole of that annual and perpetual pension of ours of 3s. 4d. annually, due from the rectory or church of Badger, in the above-named county.
“Likewise the messuages, tofts, houses, dwellings, stables, dovecots, stagnant ponds, and vivaries, springs, gardens and orchards, lands, tenements, incomes, revenues, dues, meadows, pasturages, woods, shrubberies, and trees.
“Likewise all the permanent feudal rights and customs, the permanent dues, endowments, tithes, offerings, belongings, annuities, products, revenues, and the annual result of engagements entered into by whomsoever such engagements and provisions were made . . . common fisheries, ways, paths, void grounds, as well, moreover, as the liberties, franchises, and jurisdictions, profits, emoluments, rights, possessions, and the rest of our heraditaments, both spiritual and temporal, with all their rights, situated, lying, within, and existing in the manor of the above-named Madeley, over the late priory, whether belonging to the possessions or revenues of the late existing. . . .
“This manor, in truth, with its tenements, and the other things premised, reaching the clear annual value of £46 17s. 7d., not considering the tithe. The aforesaid manor, its advowson, rents, revenues, services, and all and each of the other of its rights, are to be possessed and held by the aforesaid Robert Broke, his heirs and assigns, for the personal use of the said Robert Broke, his heirs and assigns in perpetuity.
“In consideration of the military service due in taxation to us, our heirs and successors, viz., the twentieth part of the value of one feudal knight, £4 13s. 9¼d. of our legal English money are to be paid to our legal treasurer, for the increase of the common revenues of our crown, on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, each year, for all the rents, services, and demands whatsoever . . .
“We also wish, and by these presents we concede, to the aforesaid Robert Broke that the said Robert Broke shall have and retain these letters patent of ours, drawn up in the usual manner, under our great seal of England, and signed without fine or tax, heavy or light, to be paid into our revenue office, or in any other way to be demanded or paid to the use of us, our heirs, or successors.
“Therefore express mention of this our will has been made, etc. In testimony of which, etc., T. R. Signed at Westminster, 23 July [1544]. On behalf of the king himself, in virtue of the royal commission.”
The MS. breaks off abruptly in places, probably from the copyist not being able to decipher the original. Of the Richard Charleton here mentioned we have no account in connection with Madeley, but a Richard Charlton is mentioned some ten years earlier, in the accounts of the first-fruits office, as the king’s bailiff or collector at the Marshe, near Barrow, where the Wenlock priors had one of their principal granges, and held a manorial court.
This was in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Henry VIII., and shortly after the very subservient parliament of 1534–35 had requested the king “to be pleased, as their most gracious sovereign lord, upon whom and in whom depended all their joy and wealth, to receive the first-fruits of all spiritual dignities and promotions.” An earlier member of this family is also mentioned as Bishop of Hereford, examining the titles of the prior to certain privileges in Madeley, during one of his Visitations. We have also heard it said, but are not aware on what authority, that one of this very ancient and distinguished family at one time lived at the Hay, in the parish of Madeley.
The deed is further interesting from its mention of the ironworks at Coalbrookdale, described as Smithy Place and New House. It is earlier by a century than any notice previously met with, and we shall further allude to it when we come to speak of these works. The patronages spoken of, probably, were the rights exercised over the minerals by the Wenlock priors, one of whom, in the exercise of such rights, had, in 1322, for the sum of six shillings, granted a license to Walter de Caldebroke to dig for coals in the Brockholes, for the term of one year.
Some light is thrown upon the advowson and tithe of Madeley by interesting old documents carefully preserved in the vestry of Madeley church. The following copy of the “Terrier,” kindly lent by Joseph Yate, Esq., made March 14th, 1710, shows the kind of tithe then collected:
“True copy of the Terrier of the parish of Madeley, in the county of Salop. For the vicar and clerks’ fees, tythes, offerings, and minister’s fees, &c.
“Imprimis. The court demesnes pays Easter offerings for master and servants, but no other tythes, except eight shillings at Easter, in lieu of tythes. The general way of tything within the parish is: hay and clover is due throughout the whole of the parish, except the demesnes, and is to be gathered at every eleventh cock; grass at the tenth cock; every pig and goose pay at the tenth, but for want of that number pay at the seventh; wool and lambs pay at the tenth, but in case they are set, is twopence a fleece and threepence a lamb, and for what lambs are fallen in wintering the owner pays twopence; calves are gathered in like kind, at the tenth, but for want of ten, at sixpence per calf. One penny a cow, in lieu of milk. Tythes of orchards or fruit-trees are gathered in kind throughout the parish, except the demesnes. The parishioners pay twopence for every stall of bees they put down, in lieu of tythe-money. Twopence for every colt, and two eggs for every hen or duck. Three eggs for every cock or drake at Easter. Surplice fees are paid after this manner: every marriage solemnized by banns, three shillings and sixpence; if by license, five shillings (let the parishioner be man or woman). For churching every woman, sixpence. Easter dues are: every man pays threepence, every woman pays twopence; one penny smoke, and one penny garden, clerks fees. Every hen at Easter, one egg; every marriage by banns, sixpence; if by license, one shilling. Churching every woman, twopence. Every burial without a coffin and ringing the bell, twopence; if with a coffin, one shilling and sixpence. Fourpence for every plough land; twopence every householder; double fees for all strangers (and likewise the minister). Ten shillings per year for looking after the clock. Tythes of corn-mills are due in all parishes except demesnes.
“Taken 14 March, 1710. Jeremy Taylor, vicar. John Stringer and William Wood, churchwardens.”
It would appear from this that the dead were sometimes buried without a coffin, in which case a coarse cloth was, we believe substituted. The “smoke penny” was a penny collected for every chimney emitting smoke, or rather a tithe paid to the vicar upon the wood burnt. A dispute having arisen in the earlier part of the last century between the vicar and impropriator, respecting the right of the former to tithe on woods, a parish meeting was called and a case got up by the vicar and churchwardens for the opinion of counsel, in which the payment of the smoke-penny was quoted to establish the vicar’s claim. We give the queries put and counsel’s replies in the Appendix.
Tithe and Easter offerings were occasionally paid in kind, as appears from the churchwardens’ accounts. In one case two heifers are mentioned, which it is added, produced forty shillings.