| Description | Lease by the Dean and Canons of Windsor to William Fry the elder of Membury, esquire, Henry Fry the elder of Buckrell, gentleman, John Fry of Membury, gentleman, and George Southcott of Kilmington, Devon, gentleman, of the Manor of Membury with its appurtenances in Devon, and together with all messuages, lands, leets, lawdays, courts fairs, markets, liberties, franchises and hereditaments belonging to the manor in Membury and Axminster or elsewhere in Devon, except and reserved to the Lessors:
(1) the mansion house of the Manor of Membury with the demesne lands, orchards, gardens, lands, tenemnets, meadows, pastures, leasures, closes and dove houses and the appurtenances of the mansion house, then in the occupation of John Chase, gentleman, or his assignees, by virtue of a Lease dated 4 November 1618; (2) all woods, underwoods and timber trees on the lands before excepted; (3) a parcel of woodland there called the Lords Fillet with all woods, underwoods and timber trees growing thereon and all other profits of that parcel of land; (4) and all timber trees of oak, elm and ash growing on the customary lands, waste grounds, commons or woodlands belonging to the Manor of Membury, with rights if ingress, egress and regress to any of the demised premises at all times convenient to fell and carry away the same, leaving nevertheless sufficient oak, elm and ash upon the several premises of the Manor for the necessary use of the tenants of the manor for housebote, ploughbote and cartbote (which was to be taken with from time to time by assignment of the Lessors or their duly appointed officer); for a term of 21 years from Michaelmas 1623, yielding therefor the annual rent of £37. 12s. 8d., payable by two instalments at Lady Day and Michaelmas in each year.
Covenants by the Lessees: (i) to pay all quitrents and other charges, both ordinary and extraordinary, due in respect of the Manor and other premises thereby demised and not excepted by the Lease; (ii) to provide board and lodging for the Dean , Steward and other officers of the Lessors, their servants and horses and geldings, for two days and three nights once in every year if they should visit the demised premises; (iii) not to expel any copyholder or customary tenant until such time as the estate of the same shall be determined, surrendered, forfeited or otherwise made void or voidable in law, and not to expel any tenant in possession or reversion who then had any grant by copyhold of the land called Sinderland or overland, unless that tenant should happen to forfeit or surrender the same; (iv) to fell the underwoods at such seasonable times of the year that the springs thereof might increase; and when felling the underwoods to leave, and not to fell during the term, sufficient stackells and standards as required by the statutes for the preservation of woods and the increase of timber; and to fence and enclose the same lands so that the springs of the wood should not be damaged by cattle; (v) to keep all courts held within the manor as farmers of the Dean and Canons, and to cause the court rolls to be engrossed on parchment and delivered to the Dean and Canons within five years of the holding of any such court; (vi) within three years to have made and delivered to the Dean and Canons a terrier or survey of the lands of the manor, setting out the demesne lands and the copyhold lands with their respective acreages as well as the other freehold rents and services of the Manor, having given the Dean and Canons six months prior notice thereof so that they might send someone to be present at the making of such terrier, at the cost of the Lessees; (vii) if the Lessees should alienate the demised premises then the alienee should within six months thereafter pay to the Lessors £4 and to the Chapter Clerk one pound.
Proviso that if the rent should have remained unpaid for eight weeks after having become payable, the Lessees were liable to pay a penalty of £5 in respect of every such default; and if the rent or the penalty should remain unpaid for eight weeks after the imposition of that penalty, or if any assignee should have failed to pay the sums payable to the Lessors or the Chapter Clerk within six months of alienation, then the demise should cease and be determined. |