So where was Bradford Castle – if it even existed! I am including a link to a very detailed and convincing article below about a castle or fortified manor. However, my view is that the evidence for the location being close to the Church of St. Peter is stronger. Furthermore, the hamlet/village that Bradford consisted of in the 14th Century, was clearly founded in the flat area close to the beck, namely Hall Ings. I have not come across much evidence of a large settlement at the top end of town, namely Westgate. Either way – interesting stuff! From “Pen and Pencil Pictures of Old Bradford” by William Scruton (1891): Upon the death of Henry, Earl of Lincoln, who was the last Lacy who owned the Manor of Bradford, an Inquisition of all his lands and possessions was taken at Pontefract on the 3rd day of March, 1311. This document throws a flood of light upon the position held by Bradford in the earlier part of the fourteenth century. The following are some of the items mentioned in it The Earl had at Bradford a Hall (Aulum} or Manor-house, with chambers, and it is nothing worth beyond necessary repairs, and there are forty acres in demesne, demised to divers tenants at will, and the value whereof yearly is (8d. an acre) £1. 6s. 8d. And there is one Water-mill valued by the year at £10, and a Fulling mill which is worth yearly £1. And there is a certain Market every seventh day, upon the Lords Day, the toll of which is worth yearly £3. And there is a certain Fair which is held annually upon the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the toll of which is worth yearly £3. And there are certain Villains who hold twenty-three oxgangs of land in bondage, and render yearly, at the Feast of Saint Martin, (4s. for every oxgang) £4 16s. Od. And the same Villains do work in autumn, which is worth yearly, for every oxgang 3d. Commenting on the facts set out in this Inquisition, Dr. Whitaker says - The Parish of Bradford is about fifteen miles in length, and at an average four in breadth; it contains therefore, forty thousand acres, more or less. Of these, little more than fifteen hundred appear to have been reclaimed at the time of the Inquisition. There were twenty-eight burgage-houses, a few free tenants at will, and a few in bondage, but from the smallness of their rents their numbers cannot have been considerable. If we suppose them to have equalled the burgesses it will perhaps give a fair estimate of the population of the town. The profits of the Corn mill amounted to more than one-fourth of all the lords receipts for the parish. The soke must therefore have extended over the whole. From the existence of a Fulling mill I do not see how we can avoid inferring that the cloth manufactory had been commenced. The market was held on the Lords-day, a concession (however inexcusable) to the circumstances of the greater part of the parish; for the church was situated at one extremity, and few, perhaps, would have resorted to it from the more distant quarters, who had not the additional inducement of purchasing and carrying home necessaries for their families. The glebe of the church was eight oxgangs, or one carucate, which, according to another survey, extended to ninety-six acres, so that the oxgang at Bradford equalled twelve acres. Mr. James, while giving Dr. Whitaker credit for being the best of all our topographers, at the same time takes exception to some of his conclusions, and especially his statement that the Soke must have extended over the whole parish. He maintains that there is every reason for believing that it merely extended over the same district as in recent times. He also differs from him in his estimate of the population of the town, and bases his own estimate upon the following figures. Allowing ten acres of land for every family in the town, including bondmen, cotters, and the lowest rabble, the number of families would be one hundred. There were also twenty-nine burgage-houses, and reckoning one family to each, the whole number of families would be about 130, which, at five persons to a family, gives a population of 650 persons. It seems pretty certain that Bradford could boast of a castle at this period of its history, which would be built by the Lacies as a halting place in their passage to and from Blackburnshire, and those portions of the south which they were occasionally in the habit of visiting, its probable locality being near the spot where the Bermondsey Hotel recently stood. An interesting read: thelocalleader.co.uk/history/blackcastle/
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 22:20:38 +0000