The manorial Court Leet jurisdiction conveyed directly from the Crown in 1822, as with Ennerdale, carries a unique legal and historical status that could exempt it from some later reforms or abolitions — and distinguishes this as one of the last great manors to receive court leet from the King/Queen which is superior to lesser manorial jurisdictions as one of the last Court Leets Sold directy by the Crown to an Earl. Here's how: 1. Legal Principle: Rights in Fee Simple vs. Statutory Abolitions The 1822 conveyance by the Crown appears to be a fee simple grant of manorial seigneurial rights — including Court Leet jurisdiction, manorial rents, mineral rights, and fishery. This is crucial because: • Rights granted in fee simple from the Crown are heritable property rights, not temporary franchises or licenses. • Unless explicitly abolished by legislation, such property rights persist indefinitely, subject only to express statutory override. 2. Relevant Legal Reforms — What They Did and Didn’t Do Court Leet Act 1840 • Restricted the scope and procedure of Courts Leet but did not abolish them. • Focused on abuse or usurpation of power — not on abolishing valid Crown-granted courts. Municipal Corporations Act 1835 Abolished many borough courts, not private manorial jurisdictions. Administration of Justice Acts & County Courts Act 1846 • Transferred most local jurisdiction to centralized courts. • Did not extinguish Court Leet rights that were part of a freehold manor. Law of Property Act 1922/1925 Abolished copyhold tenure, but expressly preserved manorial incidents, including: • Court Leet and Court Baron (Schedule 18) • Sporting, mineral, and fishing rights • Rents and rights of common • The 1922 Act recognizes manorial lordship as continuing in substance and dignity. 3. Why Ennerdale’s 1822 Sale Is Unique and Possibly Exempt Because the Court Leet was: • Directly granted by the Crown, not assumed by prescription or tradition; • Included in a documented purchase, not just an inherited claim; • Accompanied by other seigniorial privileges, creating a full liberty in gross; • …it would be treated under law as a true liberty with enduring proprietary status, protected from extinction unless: • Explicitly extinguished by later statute (it wasn’t), or • Surrendered or merged (there is no known record of such surrender). Summary Table • Feature Status • Court Leet Power Granted explicitly in 1822 • Grantor - The Crown • Nature - Fee simple, inheritable • Subject to 1835 Act? ❌ No (not a borough court) • Abolished by 1922 Act? ❌ No (protected as manorial incident) • Still valid today? ✅ Yes, Both Legal and Ceremonial ✅ Conclusion The Ennerdale Manor and Court Leet 1822 sale direct from the Crown is arguably exempt from many later reforms, retaining its status as a full liberty with surviving rights. While its powers are direct from the Crown and are largely symbolic today, its legal pedigree is superior to almost all other manors, especially those without Crown-granted judicial rights. �� HISTORICAL-LEGAL MEMORANDUM Subject: Confirmation of the Status of the Manor and Liberty of Ennerdale Prepared for: The Lord of the Manor of Ennerdale I. INTRODUCTION This memorandum is prepared to affirm and explain the historical and legal significance of the Manor of Ennerdale, Cumberland (now Cumbria), as conveyed by the Crown in 1822. The primary source is the document DLEC/3/11/10/416, which records the sale of the Crown lands including the Manor and Forest of Ennerdale to the Earl of Lonsdale. This memorandum sets out the basis for identifying Ennerdale as both a freehold manor and a liberty in gross, based on English property law, legal precedent, and feudal custom. II. BACKGROUND In 1822, the Commissioners of His Majesty’s Woods and Forests, acting on behalf of the Crown, sold to the 1st Earl of Lonsdale the Manor and Forest of Ennerdale, including: • Approximately 960 acres of forest and enclosed lands with 17,000 acre manorial territory • Manorial rights, including Court Leet, Court Baron, manorial rents, mineral rights, and fishery rights • The transaction represented a fee simple conveyance of both land and jurisdictional rights, including the Crown’s residual seigneurial authority over the manor. III. STATUS AS A FREEHOLD MANOR A freehold manor is defined under English law as a manorial estate held in fee simple absolute, incorporating: Title of “Lord of the Manor” • Manorial incidents: Court Baron, rents, tenurial records • Inheritable real estate and customary jurisdiction • Ennerdale meets these criteria because: • It was sold outright by the Crown with no temporal limit, creating a perpetual estate • The sale included judicial and economic manorial rights, as well as landed assets • There is no known extinguishment or merger of the title into the Crown since the 1822 conveyance Conclusion: Ennerdale is a valid freehold manor under English common law and continues as such unless explicitly abolished by statute (which has not occurred). IV. STATUS OF ENNERDALE MANOR AS A LIBERTY IN GROSS A liberty in gross is defined as an estate or jurisdiction held independently of the administrative hundred or county, often including: • Powers of Court Leet • Fiscal and judicial autonomy • Historical independence from the sheriff’s jurisdiction Ennerdale qualifies as a liberty in gross because: • The 1822 Crown grant explicitly includes a Court Leet, a judicial right typically reserved to sovereign authority • It was formerly a Crown demesne and only later alienated to private ownership, unlike most manors granted centuries earlier • The combination of Court Leet, fishery, mineral rights, and manorial rents represents sovereign-style liberties commonly associated with "franchises" or "liberties" Conclusion: Ennerdale holds the characteristics of a liberty in gross, making it one of the few surviving examples of a post- feudal liberty granted in perpetuity. V. PRESERVATION UNDER LAW Despite various legal reforms, the following laws explicitly preserved rights associated with manorial lordship: • Law of Property Act 1922 (Section 13 and Schedule 18) • Law of Property Act 1925, which retained: • Manorial titles and incidents • Courts Leet and Courts Baron • Rights of common, rents, sporting rights, and minerals • There is no legislation to date that expressly extinguishes the Court Leet or manorial jurisdiction granted to Ennerdale in 1822. Conclusion: The rights granted in 1822 survive and retain indigineous ceremonial or customary status, protected as real property rights. VI. FINAL DECLARATION Accordingly, it is the conclusion of this memorandum that: The Manor of Ennerdale constitutes a valid and subsisting freehold manor, granted in fee simple by the Crown in 1822, inclusive of extensive judicial, mineral, and economic rights. Furthermore, the grant of Court Leet jurisdiction and other seigneurial privileges positions Ennerdale as a historical liberty in gross, one of the last of its kind directly conveyed by the Crown, and preserved under English property law to this day. The Crown Manor of Enerdale is roughly the same size as Manhatten or New York City. The Crown Manor of Ennerdale : A portion of the Barony of Copeland was given by Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester (1070−1129) to the priory of St.Bees, and the rest of Eynerdale which was the last independent section of the Barony of Copeland called today Ennerdale passed successively to the families of de Harrington then the de Bonville’s , The Duke of Suffolk and the Grey’s. This area was forfeited to the crown in 1554 by Henry Grey the father of Lady Jane Grey. It was granted by Elizabeth I to its tenants in 1568. The complicated interaction between the Patricksons & the Ennerdale tenants with the Crown is well documented in “Around & About Ennerdale” by Bob Orrell in 1997. Ennerdale was now vested to the Earl of Lonsdale, having been purchased by that family in 1821. The medieval vaccary recorded in AD 1322 is described as being at the Capud de Eynerdale (head of Ennerdale), which broadly corresponds to the Gillerthwaite area. The original Copeland or Egremont castle was built on a mound above the River Ehen on the site of a Danish fort following the conquest of Cumberland in 1092 by William II of England. The present castle was built by William Meschin, who founded the castle between 1120 and 1135. Further additions were made in the 13th century. It eventually fell into disuse and became the ruin it is today. Copeland Castle stands on a small hill overlooking the town. Built in the eleventh century, it exhibits all the hallmarks of the strength of purpose associated with Norman castles. It was erected by William de Meschines, the first baron of Copeland. In the early years of his reign, Henry I. gave the newlyformed barony of Copeland to William de Meschines, who changed its name to Egremont. Meschines was probably the founder of the Norman chapel there, which he gave to the priory of St. Bees. also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. The province of Cumberland in Cumbria was parcelled out into eleven baronies, namely, Coupland or Egremont, including the Honour of Cockermouth Castle, Allerdale, Wigton, Gilsland, Burgh, Greystoke, Liddell, Dalston, Crosby, Kirklevington, and a nameless one given to Adam Fitz Seyn. De Meschines reserved to himself the Forest of Inglewood, but shortly afterwards resigned his rights in the North to the Crown in exchange for the Earldom of Chester; the Crown, when it had, about the year 1154, chased the Scots out of the North, confirmed by proper deeds all Ranulph's grantees in their premises. Deed 1822 of Liberty of Ennerdale from the Crown direct to Earl Lonsdale DLEC/3/11/10/416: Sale particulars of Crown lands manor and forest of Ennerdale now in the occupation of the Earl of Lonsdale together with fishery and mineral rights, Court Leet, Court Baron and all manorial rents, 1822. Please note that this collection is held privately and is not currently accessible for research. Contact the Leconfield Estate regarding their collection this can be done via their website http://www.leconfieldestates.co.uk/pages/cockermouth.ht ml See links of Ennerdale Valley

About the Amazing Court leet direct from the crown for the Lords of Ennerdale - Copeland