An Indenture
By Rowena Jay
Imagine my delight when I was given an ancient document that was supposedly referring to a property in Alphington village or the Parish of Alphington, although, I was so dismayed to see the very poor condition of the document. It had been found in a damp shed and unfortunately it had suffered greatly from water damage.
My first job was to gently flatten out the one corner that had curled and was crumbling away. I did this by carefully placing the document on paper on a table. I very carefully uncurled the corner and place more paper on top, then a heavy book. The document as a whole was protected and left for a couple of weeks.
As the document was so fragile I did not attempt to flatten the other numerous creases caused by damp. My priority was to frame it to stop any further deterioration. I used acid-free mounts to hold it in place on a backing board.
Now that the document was protected I could start to read as much of it as possible and study the map. I was able to confirm that the document, an indenture, related to tenements in the Manor of Alphington and also to date it, 2nd February 1747.
From a map/plan I was able to read names of fields and parcels of land as follows:
- Dwelling House, out houses and cottages, gardens, orchards
- Higher Meadow
- Lower Meadow
- Weekes Lane Field
- Mulberry
- Churchill
- Landscore
- Nursery
- Higher Broom Close
- Lower Broom Close
I would imagine that the Weekes Lane Field was named after the Weekes family who resided in the village. From records I found a John Weekes who was christened at Alphington on 21st August 1698 and married Martha Pidgeon on 18th March 1722.
Next, I was able to read the following names
- Sir William Courtenay
- Edward Collins Esq
- Mr Burgoine
- Mr John Cross
- Mr Richard Cross
- Mrs Anne Walkey
- Mrs Joan Sowdon
- Mr John Burnet
- the late Mr Pitfields
- Mr Ben Ivie
- Mrs Sealy
- Mr John Glanville
I searched records for more of these family names and I found John Burnet who was born in Alphington and married Dorothey Carpenter on 9th November 1742.
Benjamin Merchant Ivie of Powderham was born about 1656 and he married Frances Courtney (Courteney) of Powderham in about 1686. He was, therefore, related to the Lord of the Alphington Manor.
My research on this document is continuing and I will be updating this page at intervals.
In the future I will be seeking professional advice on restoration and preservation.
An Alphington Indenture
From a private collection.