LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The lord of Bergholt Hall manor claimed view of frankpledge,
gallows, and the assizes of bread and of ale in
1273-4. He was granted free warren in 1347-8. (fn. 36)
Courts leet were held until 1645 and courts
baron until 1918; thereafter land transfers
and enfranchisements took place out of court. (fn. )
Two constables were elected in 1488 and the
office was last recorded in 1642. (fn. 38) Two aletasters were recorded in 1413 and continued to
be elected annually until 1615. (fn. 39) Court fines
were assessed by two affeerors in 1413, but by
the whole homage from 1495. (fn. 40) Surveyors of
highways and rangers of the commons were first
elected in 1632. The rangers were last recorded
in 1827. (fn. 41)
The medieval and early modern courts of
Bergholt Hall manor dealt with varied business.
Transfers of land were recorded, pleas of debt
heard, pannage collected, and orders were given
to maintain the hedges and gates next to the
common, and to ring pigs. Regular offences
included breaches of the assizes of bread and of
ale, trespasses of stock, theft of timber, the wast-
ing of tenements, overcharging the common,
breaking the lord's pound, and assaults. (fn. 42) In
1505 the court confiscated the chattels of a fugitive tenant who had committed a felony. (fn. 43) In the
early 16th century arbitrators were appointed to
settle disputes, in 1516 on penalty of forfeiture
of 6s. 8d. to West Bergholt church. (fn. 44) From the
later 16th century business was largely confined
to the transfer of copyholds and the regulation
of the heath. (fn. 45)
The manor of Cooks Hall, Netherhall, or
Beaumonds also had courts leet, first recorded
in 1542. They were irregular from the later 16th
century and last recorded in 1656. The court
baron met until 1897 and thereafter land trans-
fers took place in the steward's office. (fn. 46) A single
constable was usually elected annually from
1576 to 1650. Fines were assessed by the whole
homage from 1577. (fn. 47) The operation of the court
leet on the site of Cooks Hall was challenged by
the lords of Bergholt Hall manor as an infringe-
ment of their own court's jurisdiction, Cooks
Hall, although not Netherhall, being a freehold
of Bergholt manor. (fn. 48) The courts concentrated
upon land transfers and orders to scour ditches,
ring pigs, and to repair Joyers bridge. (fn. 49) Attendance at the leet declined from the later 16th century but, as on Bergholt manor, the 17th- and
18th-century courts dealt with a rising number
of cases involving the heath. (fn. 50)
Few records of vestry government survive.
There were three constables 1578 and two surveyors of highways in 1608. (fn. 51) The Bergholt Hall
manor pound probably lay between the Hall and
Lexden Road where Pound field survived in
1843. (fn. 52) Stock was rescued from Cooks Hall
pound in 1823. (fn. 53) The brickbuilt parish cage
stood on a triangle of waste on the crossroads
near the White Hart in 1857. It was demolished
about 1870. (fn. 54)
In 1776 a poor rate raised £100 7s. 6d.
Expenditure had nearly doubled by 1783-5 and
reached a peak of £831 19s. 8d. in 1801. It fell
quite sharply to £249 10s. 10d. in 1804 but then
crept upwards again, averaging c. £418 between
1805 and 1823. In 1824 expenditure suddenly
leapt to £810 1s. and was generally high
throughout the rest of the 1820s. Expenditure
in 1830 fell to £234 2s. but averaged c. £581
between 1831 and 1836. Throughout poor relief
expenditure per head of population was one of
the lowest in the hundred. (fn. 55)
The three almshouses 'on the green' in 1768,
probably unendowed, may have later become
the parish workhouse sited on the heath edge
south-west of New Church Road near its junc-
tion with Lexden Road. It presumably shut and
was demolished c. 1834. (fn. 56)