Making Money - the Chamber, Bridge and School estates
There were three major estates in Nottingham which produced revenues for the running of the town. Each estate comprised property around Nottingham and the town was responsible for this property's upkeep.
The Chamber Estate
By the year 1410 Nottingham had acquired new officers called chamberlains, who were responsible for looking after all the property which the town owned. Because these lands could be leased or let, the rents they derived was a useful source of income for the town. The chamberlains or treasurers were responsible for obtaining as much profit as possible from these properties for the mayor and the town as a whole. The chamberlains also had to keep the properties in a good state of repair.
Properties which the town owned included:
- All common or open fields
- Parts of Eastcroft, between the River Trent and the River Leen, a name still used today in Eastcroft Council Depot
- Parts of Westcroft, also between the Trent and the Leen
- The Shambles, a large series of stalls set out around the Old Exchange - now the Council House site
- Other properties such as parts of Fletcher Gate.
These properties made up the Chamber estate. The word 'chamber' comes from the word for treasury. Rentals and accounts for this estate show how much income was generated and what it was spent on.
The Bridge Estate
In 1303 John and Alice le Paumer (Palmer) obtained a royal licence so that they could use rent from properties in Nottingham to support two chaplains. These chaplains were instructed to celebrate divine services each day at the chapel on the Hethbeth Bridge over the river Trent, for the repose of the souls of the Palmer family and for all Christians who donated to the maintenance of the bridge. An endowment of this kind, where priests are provided to say mass for the dead, is called a chantry. This is the origins of the Bridge Estate: income from specific properties were used for the upkeep of the bridge.
After the Reformation chantries were suppressed. A grant of 1551 made by Edward VI transferred the properties that had formed the estate to the Corporation of Nottingham. The grant included:
- The properties and lands which had formed the chantry of the Blessed Mary
- The hospital of St John, which was just outside the town walls.
Bridgewardens were appointed to manage the estate. The estate was for the upkeep of the Hethbeth Bridge. In 1871 this bridge was replaced by today's Trent Bridge.
The School Estate
During the Middle ages a tenth of the hay and corn (a 'tithe') produced on the Meadows just south of Nottingham was given to Lenton Priory. When the priory was closed during the Reformation the tithe was acquired by William Statham (in 1539). By 1558 the tithe hay was owned by Alderman John Heskey. In his will he left the tithe to his wife and brother in law, and after them to the Corporation of Nottingham.
The Corporation was instructed to use the tithe to support the wages of the Master of the Freehold School. This school had been founded by Dame Agnes Mellers in 1513. The money generated from the hay in the Meadows was the origins of the School Estate. The Schoolwardens' accounts survive recording how much money issued from the estate. Later the Agnes Mellers Free School became the Nottingham High School.
At Nottinghamshire Archives
The following Chamberlains' accounts survive:
- Summaries of accounts: 1461-1713, with gaps (references: CA 1660-1797, CA 7420, CA 7427, CA 7437)
- Accounts of expenditure: 1463-1788, with gaps (references: CA 7421-7424, CA 7246-7248, CA 1601-1639, CA 1799-1811)
- Half-yearly accounts: 1501-2, c 1514-27 (references: CA 7426-7429)
- Vouchers: 1496-1854, with gaps (references: CA 7417, CA 1798-1875, CA 7439)
- The records continue in various forms into the nineteenth century.
Chamberlains' rentals will record income derived from property. These survive for 1435 (reference: CA 4448) and c 1520-1836, with gaps (references: CA 7447, CA 7445, CA 2166-2199, CA 2208-2210, CA 2212-2337, CA 2444, CA 8178)
The following Bridgewardens' accounts survive:
- Summaries of accounts: 1458-1698, with gaps (references: CA 1902-1918, CA 1920, CA 1995)
- Account books: 1484-1785, with gaps (references: CA 1903-1906, CA 1908-1909, CA 1919, CA 1921-1942, CA 1973, CA 1985, CA 1989)
- Vouchers: 1693-1851 (references: CA 1942-1994, CA 1996-2017)
- The records continue in various forms into the nineteenth century.
Grant of Edward VI of the possessions of the chantry of St Mary and the Hospital of St John towards the sustentation of the Trent Bridge, 1551: CA 4176
Bridgewardens' rentals survive for 1580-1900, with gaps (references: CA 2367-2405, CA 2443, CA 2445-2561, CA 7950)
Nottinghamshire Archives holds schoolwardens' accounts from the eighteenth century. A school rental for 1594 survives (reference: CA 2602) and there are others from 1722. In addition there is the account for the tithe of hay for 1598-1637 (reference: CA 2758).
A copy of the will of Dame Agnes Mellers is recorded in the 'burgess ledger' (reference: CA 1567)
Copy of letters patent by Henry VIII granting a licence to found the school, 1512 (reference: CA 4050)
A large number of title deeds and leases survive for properties owned by the Corporation and private. These cover a wide range of dates from the middle ages to the modern period. There are also a number of records relating to the Amyas estate. This was property owned by William de Amyas, who also founded the Amyas Chantry at St Mary's church. His estate was privately owned but some properties mentioned in title deeds were owned by the corporation. The records include lists, terriers and deeds between 1313-1476 (references: CA various). There are also records of the Amyas Chantry, including gifts, grants and petitions between 1324 and 1539 (references: CA various).
Illustrations
Top left: Chamberlains' accounts, 1464 (reference: CA 1601a).
- See these accounts in more detail here [PDF 2643KB]
- Read a transcript of the accounts here [PDF 52KB]
Above left: Picture of the Old Trent Bridge (reference: X/PR/15/1). See this picture in more detail here [PDF 831KB]
Above right: Picture of the Old Trent Bridge (reference: X/PR/15/4/2). See this picture in more detail here [PDF 302KB]
Bottom right: The will of Dame Agnes of 1513 (reference: CA 1567). See this will in more detail here [PDF 2425KB]
