ECONOMIC HISTORY:
AGRICULTURE. In 1086
the demesne of Alkerton manor was cultivated by 3
servi with one plough, (fn. 69) and in 1322 it comprised
23 a. of arable, 10 a. of meadow, and 4 a. of pasture.
The demesne of Eastington manor was apparently
a fairly large acreage in 1322 to judge from the
works owed by the customary tenants; both there
and on Alkerton manor, however, the tenants
apparently had the option of paying the cash value of
the works. (fn. 70) About 1552 the demesne of the manors
of Eastington and Alkerton comprised 28 a. of
arable, 8 a. of common meadow, 65 a. of several
pasture, and pasture for 100 sheep, 32 beasts, and
4 horses; a further 49 a. of former demesne was
held by copyhold tenants. (fn. 71)
In 1322 there were 10 or 11 free tenants holding
from Eastington manor, and 29 customary tenants.
One customary tenant held a yardland, for which he
owed 4 days' work and 1 day's ploughing each week
except those of Easter, Whitsun, and Christmas;
each day's work, valued at ½d. between October and
July, was worth three times as much in August
and twice as much in September, and each day's
ploughing was worth 2d. Fourteen tenants held
half-yardlands and owed half the works of the
yardlander, 4 held fardels and owed a quarter of the
works, 2 held 1/5-yardlands and owed cash rents and
4 bedrips, and there were 8 cottagers owing cash
rents, two of whom owed in addition a day's mowing
and a day's reaping. On Alkerton manor in 1322
there were 7 free tenants; 3 held yardlands, one a
half-yardland, and 3 smaller estates. There were 5
customary tenants: two held 8 a. and owed 2 days'
work a week, except the three festival weeks, from
October to July, and 3 days' work in August and
September, two held 4 a. and owed 1 day's work from
October to July and two days during August and
September, and a cottager owed a cash rent and 3
bedrips in autumn. (fn. 72) One of the customary tenements on Alkerton manor was described as a
mondayland in 1451. The custom of widow's
freebench was recorded on Eastington manor from
1454. (fn. 73)
About 1552 there were 24 copyholders holding
for up to three lives on Eastington manor; the largest
estate was 65 a. and comprised two former holdings,
three were c. 40 a., eight were 20-30 a., six 10-20 a.,
and six under 10 a. Alkerton manor then had 10
copyholders, four holding c. 30 a., three 10-20 a.,
and three c. 5 a. (fn. 74) By 1611 the copyholds on Eastington manor were reduced to 13, and on Alkerton
manor (including Amey Court) to 5. (fn. 75) In the early
18th century there were 7 leaseholders for lives and
one copyholder on Eastington manor, and 6 leaseholders for lives and a tenant-at-will on Alkerton
manor; most of the leaseholders owed heriots. One
of the farms on Alkerton manor was 50 a., another
40 a., and two on Eastington manor 24 a.; the
remainder were under 20 a. (fn. 76)
There were separate groups of open fields for
Eastington and Alkerton. In 1439 the arable of an
Eastington tenant was divided between Budlow
field east of Nupend, West field south-west of
Westend, and Nast field (fn. 77) lying east of Nastend and
shared with Stonehouse. (fn. 78) In the mid 16th century
the arable of the manor lay in 8 main fields -
Budlow, West, and Nast fields, Westlow on the
north near Mole Grove, North, Top, and Long
Riding, and the Ham, presumably converted
meadow-land. Most of the Eastington copyhold
tenants had a few acres in 5 or 6 of the fields, and
some had arable crofts. (fn. 79) Of the open fields of
Alkerton manor Mead field, lying north and east
of Claypits, and Middlecroft were mentioned in
1329, and Park field, apparently to the south of
Alkerton village, in 1426; (fn. 80)
c. 1552 those three
fields with Nast field, probably that later called
Stanley field near the boundary with Leonard Stanley,
were the main Alkerton fields. A three-course
rotation was followed in each group of fields c.
1552. The Eastington tenants then had meadowland, usually 1 a. or less, in Eastington Meadow,
apparently that later called Westend Meadow
lying between West field and the river, and the
Alkerton tenants in Alkerton Meadow on the
opposite side of the river; both were lot meadows. (fn. 81)
There were small acreages of several pasture in most
of the open fields of the parish, and most tenants
had c. 5-10 a. in closes. The common of pasture was
mainly in the open fields and meadows; the largest
holdings in Eastington manor had pasture for c. 40
sheep, c. 14 beasts, and one or two horses, and the
larger holdings in Alkerton, for c. 20 sheep, c. 8
beasts, and usually one horse. The stint was then
only very roughly proportionate to the size of
holding, (fn. 82) although the Alkerton manor court had
laid down a stint of 60 sheep to the yardland and 30
to the ½-yardland in 1455 (fn. 83) and the common on that
manor was again apportioned at 40 sheep, 16 cattle,
and one horse to the yardland, in 1609. (fn. 84)
The gradual inclosure of the open fields, which had
evidently begun by the mid 16th century, continued
throughout the next three centuries: in the early
17th century the glebe included 18½ a. in several
closes in Park field, (fn. 85) and a 'tyning' taken out of
Budlow field was mentioned in 1674; (fn. 86) inclosure
by exchange was taking place in Mead field,
Middlecroft, and Nast field (Alkerton) in 1696, (fn. 87)
and in Nast field (Eastington) and West field in
1774. (fn. 88) By 1839 c. 190 a. of the parish lay in
'tynings' inclosed out of the open fields. In Eastington tithing only Budlow field with c. 24 a. remained
an open field, although at least 16 a. in West field
and some land in Westlow had still been open in
1802. Stanley field in Alkerton tithing had at least
15 a. open in 1802, but by 1839 all the uninclosed
land in the tithing lay in Mead field, then comprising an upper division with c. 46 a. and a lower
division with c. 30 a. Westend Meadow still had
c. 9 a. uninclosed in 1839, but Alkerton Meadow,
which in 1802 had comprised 36 a. almost all
belonging to the manorial estate, had been inclosed. (fn. 89)
The inclosure of 69 a. in Upper and Lower Mead
fields by Act of Parliament in 1867 apparently
completed the process of inclosure in the parish. (fn. 90)
The parish was said to consist mainly of pasture
c. 1775, (fn. 91) and in 1778 the manorial estate (704 a.)
had only 128 a. arable. (fn. 92) In 1794 268 a. in the
parish were under crops, mainly wheat, beans, and
barley, with smaller acreages of peas and oats; (fn. 93)
in 1801 there were also small acreages of turnips
and potatoes. (fn. 94) About 1820 36 a. in the parish were
growing teasels for use in the cloth-mills, (fn. 95) and a
teasel-dealer lived in the parish in 1845. (fn. 96) There
was a withy-bed in Alkerton Meadow c. 1830, (fn. 97)
and osiers used by itinerant basket-makers were
grown in the parish until the early 20th century. (fn. 98)
There was some increase in arable in the early 19th
century: c. 1830 the four largest estates, a total of
1,232 a., had 325 a., (fn. 99) and in 1839 520 a. out of a
total acreage of 2,043 a. were arable. (fn. 1) In 1901 the
reduced parish had 196 a. of arable. (fn. 2)
In 1778 the manorial estate included c. 10 farms,
of which 6 were of 50 a. or more; Alkerton farm was
100 a. and Westend farm and one other were each
c. 130 a. (fn. 3) By 1839 Alkerton farm had grown to
178 a. and Westend farm to 183 a., while there were
4 other farms of over 100 a. and 8 of 50-60 a. (fn. 4)
The total number of farms was about the same in
1906 (fn. 5) and in 1939 when there were 6 at Alkerton,
3 near Middle Street and Cress Green, and 2 each
at Nupend, Nastend, and Westend. (fn. 6) In 1968 the
land was used mainly for dairying and stock-raising.
MILLS.
The mill of Eastington manor recorded
from 1390 was apparently Churchend Mill. It was
held before 1390 by John Bridley and in that year
his successor as tenant asked for a reduction in rent
because the mill was dilapidated. (fn. 7) In 1439 the mill
estate, which included a cottage, corn-mill, fullingmill, and 14 a. of land, was held by Richard Bridley; (fn. 8)
Bridley surrendered it to the lord of the manor in
1444 and it was leased instead to Thomas Webb.
The mill had been described as ruinous in 1440
and Thomas was being ordered to rebuild it in
1448 and later. (fn. 9) Thomas or his son of the same name
held it until at least 1491. (fn. 10) A Thomas Webb died
c. 1509, leaving the furnace and vats in his dyehouse to his son John; his widow Margery married a
fuller, John Clutterbuck, who may have held the
mill at his death in 1524, and have been succeeded
by Walter Clutterbuck, mentioned as a cloth-maker
in 1525. (fn. 11) In 1540 the mill was granted by copy to
Catherine Clutterbuck, a widow, and her sons, (fn. 12)
and in 1547 and 1554 the tenant was Walter Clutterbuck. (fn. 13) In 1547 the Crown granted the mill to
Thomas Seymour, Lord Seymour of Sudeley, (fn. 14)
and in 1550 to John Dudley, Earl of Warwick,
later Duke of Northumberland; (fn. 15) after Dudley's
attainder the Crown granted it in 1554 to William
Wytt and William Breton. (fn. 16) By another grant later
in 1550, however, the same mill was granted to Sir
William Herbert, (fn. 17) later Earl of Pembroke (d. 1570),
and in 1575 his son Henry, Earl of Pembroke, sold it
to a group including Richard and Edward Stephens. (fn. 18)
In 1588 Churchend Mill was being worked by the
clothier James Stephens, brother of the lord of the
manor, (fn. 19) and he owned the mill and 44 a. at his
death in 1591. He was succeeded by his son Edward,
who was recorded as a clothier in 1608 (fn. 20) and was
still alive in 1653 when his son Nathaniel was also
mentioned. (fn. 21) The son was presumably that Nathaniel
Stephens who owned the mill in 1674 and died before
1696. (fn. 22) In 1729 Edward Stephens was described
as a clothier of Churchend, and his son Edward
was living at Churchend in 1735. (fn. 23) In 1770 Churchend Mill, which still combined a grist-mill and
fulling-mill, was settled on the marriage of Mary
Sinclair, a widow, and Thomas Oliver, who sold
it in 1771 to Ellis James. Ellis James settled it on
the marriage of his son Ellis in 1773; the younger
Ellis was dead by 1775 when his widow Elizabeth
conveyed her life interest in the mill to her husband's
brother and heir John James. John James's trustees
sold the mill in 1799 to Henry Hicks; (fn. 24) its later
history is given below.
Millend Mill was perhaps the mill recorded in
Alkerton manor in 1086. (fn. 25) There was certainly a
mill on or near the site by 1329, (fn. 26) and it was probably
the mill of Alkerton mentioned in 1379, (fn. 27) Millend
Mill had become the property of Leonard Stanley
Priory by 1456, (fn. 28) and it was the fulling-mill
held by Thomas Clutterbuck and sold with the
other priory land to Anthony Bourchier in 1548,
and to John Sandford in 1549; (fn. 29) John Sandford
sold it c. 1552 to Richard Clutterbuck, and the
descendants of Richard's son, William, owned the
mill until the end of the 18th century, although
they may not have worked it after the mid 17th
century. (fn. 30)
From 1785 Millend Mill was leased by William
Fryer to the partnership of Henry Hicks and Edward
Sheppard who worked it in conjunction with a mill
at Uley until 1795 or later. (fn. 31) Hicks, who became lord
of the manor in 1806, (fn. 32) acquired Churchend Mill
in 1799 and rebuilt it before 1806, (fn. 33) and he had
bought and rebuilt Millend Mill by 1820. (fn. 34) Hicks
also built a third mill, Meadow Mill to the northwest of Churchend, which was presumably the New
Mill he was occupying in 1811. (fn. 35) In 1833 the three
mills were managed by Charles Hooper for Hicks
Bros. Steam-engines had been installed by then,
but water-power, said to be very irregular, was still
used; c. 300 people were employed at the mills and
c. 200 outdoor weavers. (fn. 36) After Henry Hicks's
death in 1836 the mills were worked by lessees
although the Hicks family retained ownership of
Millend Mill until 1872 and Churchend and Meadow
Mills until c. 1900. (fn. 37) In 1839 Charles Hooper was
manufacturing cloth at Churchend and Millend
Mills, and had 59 handlooms at work in them.
Meadow Mill was occupied in 1839 by H. Fletcher &
Son, (fn. 38) but their clothing machinery there was for
sale in 1841, (fn. 39) and soon afterwards Meadow Mill
too was occupied by Charles Hooper. (fn. 40) The business, known as Charles Hooper & Co., was inherited
at Hooper's death in 1869 by his son, Charles Henry
Hooper, (fn. 41) and in the later 19th century the three
mills were worked in conjunction with Bond's
Mill, Stonehouse, and Beard's Mill, Leonard
Stanley, each housing different processes. (fn. 42) The
mills continued to employ a large proportion of the
population of the parish until the three at Eastington
closed down c. 1906. (fn. 43) Churchend Mill, which in
1892 comprised a new block of four stories, an old
mill with one water-wheel, and other buildings, (fn. 44)
was demolished c. 1912; (fn. 45) it stood just to the southeast of the school. (fn. 46) Meadow Mill was occupied
in 1910 and until 1935 by a firm of leather-board
manufacturers, and in 1939 by a firm making fibreboard; in 1968 it housed an engineering works.
Millend Mill apparently housed the Automatic
Malting Co. which was recorded in the parish between 1914 and 1931; it was operating as a cornmill in 1939, (fn. 47) but was unoccupied in 1968. Meadow
Mill comprises a three-story main block of stone
with a longer and lower brick range adjoining, and
Millend Mill a stone block of four stories and attics
with brick additions; in the late 19th century each
mill had four water-wheels. (fn. 48)
OTHER INDUSTRY AND TRADE
A weekly market
and a fair in July were granted to the lord of
Alkerton manor in 1304; (fn. 49) tolls were leased from the
manor in 1402, (fn. 50) but no later record of either market
or fair has been found.
A dyer was a tenant of Eastington manor in
1322, (fn. 51) the earliest record of the clothing industry
in the parish. From the 16th century or earlier a
large proportion of the inhabitants were employed
by or in the cloth-mills of the parish. In 1608 51
people associated with the industry were recorded
and 16 in other trades, compared with 31 in agriculture. The clothworkers included 5 clothiers,
10 tuckers, and 36 broadweavers. (fn. 52) In 1831, when
there was evidently still a fairly high number of
outdoor weavers, (fn. 53) 206 families in the parish were
supported by trade compared with 88 by agriculture. (fn. 54) Among clothiers of the parish recorded
in the 17th and 18th centuries were the Blanch
family of Alkerton: Giles Blanch was mentioned in
1608, (fn. 55) and Richard Blanch died in 1636; William
Blanch, possibly Richard's son, (fn. 56) was mentioned
in 1653, (fn. 57) John Blanch in 1688, (fn. 58) and Thomas
Blanch in 1691; (fn. 59) Alice Blanch, Thomas's widow,
lived at Millend in 1710. (fn. 60)
A mason lived in the parish c. 1425. (fn. 61) In 1608 the
majority of the weavers and other craftsmen lived in
Alkerton tithing; they included 4 carpenters, a
smith, a cobbler, 2 tailors, and a glover. In Eastington
tithing there were 2 tailors, a hosier, a miller,
presumably working the corn-mill at Churchend,
and a shipwright (fn. 62) who may have lived in the detached part of the parish at Framilode. Tailors were
fairly regularly mentioned in the parish until the
late 19th century. (fn. 63) Shoemakers were recorded in
1677 and 1798; (fn. 64) there were at least two in the
parish in the 1840s, (fn. 65) and two bootmakers and a
shoemaker at Alkerton in 1879. (fn. 66) A carpenter was
mentioned in 1686, (fn. 67) and two wheelwrights and three
carpenters in the 1840s; (fn. 68) a wheelwright was working
at Alkerton in 1879, and two carpenters in 1906.
There was a cabinet-works at Middle Street in
1935. (fn. 69) A blacksmith was mentioned in 1844, (fn. 70) and
there were two in the parish in 1856; (fn. 71) there were
two at Alkerton in 1879, (fn. 72) and a smithy stood at the
fork in the road there until 1914. (fn. 73) In the early
19th century there was a brick-yard on the south
side of Middle Street. (fn. 74) A butcher and a pig-killer
lived in the parish in 1789. (fn. 75) Two bakers and a
grocer were recorded in 1842, (fn. 76) and the parish had
6 butchers and 3 grocers in 1856. (fn. 77) A malt-house in
the parish was owned by Samuel Purnell of Nupend
in 1790. (fn. 78) With the closure of the cloth-mills in the
early 20th century a number of the inhabitants
began to go outside the parish to work, some to
Dursley; in 1968 the great majority of the inhabitants
worked in the factories of Stonehouse and the
locality. (fn. 79)