surveyed in the year 1778 by John Snape' (NELA:524/A/9/3)
In the years that followed, adjoining and nearby parishes had their own revolutions. It cannot, of course, have harmed the process of emulation in the area if the soils that were being farmed were themselves similar to those at Normanby. They may not have had the unity of ownership which the Sheffields had been able to exploit, and instead they had to rely on the, increasingly
popular, parliamentary act with its award; Alkborough in 1768, Waddingham cum Stainton, 1770; Scawby in 1771; Winterton, 1772, West Halton, 1773 and Whitton in 1773. Each of these parishes certainly had its own extra reasons for enclosure, but the exemplar of progress and achievement may very well have been the Normanby estate of the Sheffield family.
As a physical expression of fitness to be a member of gentry
The squire, in the scheme of things, was dominant in the small parishes of north Lincolnshire. He was the centre of power and society, the patron of most things that went on in the parish, the trendsetter and the opinion maker. If agricultural improvement was needed in the countryside, he would likely lead its advance and new machinery, techniques and crops would first see the light of day on his land. Only he was likely to be able to understand the legalities of enclosure and have the wherewithal to take the process from idea into reality.87 This was the function of the squire or the leading resident landowner in the parish and to maintain his status in the eyes of his tenants and other smaller owners, this was the thing that he had to do. And so it was that, in some parishes, the need to use enclosure and agricultural improvement as a physical expression of fitness to be a member of gentry, will have been a motive of the process itself.
It is probable that this will have been one of the reasons that persuaded the Goulton family to enclose the unenclosed portions of Alkborough in 1768 and the neighbouring parish of Whitton in 1773. At the time of Thomas Goulton’s decease in 1825, he was still increasing his holding in Alkborough and was virtually the sole owner of Whitton. Mills thought that the motivation for purchases such as these, had to do with the fact ‘that it took more than the acreage of one parish of average size to sustain a gentry family.’88
In Manton parish the Darwins bought up and enclosed piecemeal, the township of Cleatham between about 1624 and 1710. Because more than one generation was involved in a determined project like this, it was not the whim of one man but the mission of the family to dominate the township. Richard Darwyn, inherited land at Marton near Gainsborough and elsewhere, and in his will, dated 1584, ‘bequeathed the sum of 3s. 4d. towards the settynge up of the Queene's Majestie's armes over the quearie doore in the parishe churche of Marton.’ Richard’s son William Darwin, who was described as ‘gentleman,’ appears to have been a successful man and while retaining his ancestral land at Marton, he acquired through his wife, and by purchase, an estate at Cleatham, twenty miles to the north-east and went to live in that township.89
An account of the lengthy piecemeal process of enclosure was published by Eleanor Russell using records lent to her by the owners of Cleatham Hall.90 In 1624 William Darwin (d.1644) of Cleatham and his son, also William, began acquiring property in the township. In that year they bought a toft and cottage;
Thomas Lee of Cleatham, Yeoman, sells to (in consideration of £15) Mr William Darwin, Gent, of the same place and William his son and heir, 'All that Toft and Cottage in Cleatham with Croft adjoining, together with the Commons and Common of Pasture Right.' 91
In 1628 they purchased a large estate, including the Hall for £700, which must have been a major part of the township.
Feofment between Francis Bickley Citizen and Draper of London and William Darwin the Elder of Cletham or Cleatham, and William Darwin the Younger; Francis Bickley grants to William Darwin Senior and William Darwin Junior for £700. That Capital Messuage or Tenement with buildings and gardens, etc. in Cleatham. 11 oxgangs of Land, Meadow and Pasture in Cleatham. That other messuage...and one close called The Hall West Garth abutting onto the highway east and a certain
meadow west Cottage abutting on the highway east and Postlands West. One Hempland Close of meadow or pasture called Dove Coat Close abutting on the aforesaid way west, and the Church lane, east. Park Close or Waste Lane. Welbeck Close Lamberbeck meadow or pasture next Church Way east and Little Moor west. Close of meadow or pasture adjoining to a hill abutting on Churchway west and Bromby south.92
William Darwin, the younger (1620-1675) served as Captain-Lieutenant in a troop of horse during the Civil war and when the royal armies dispersed or retreated to Scotland, his estates at Cleatham were sequestrated by Parliament, and only redeemed on his signing the Solemn League and Covenant, and by his paying a large fine. During the Commonwealth, William Darwin became a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, and during that time he married the daughter of Erasmus Earle, serjeant-at-law.93 The family continued to buy property and land in nineteen further transactions. For example in 1644:
Robert Bennett of Hibaldstow, Labourer, and Ann his wife, Christopher Spalding of Toft Newton, Yeoman, and Mary his wife. Daughters and co- heirs of Hugh Bracken late of Cleatham deceased, to Mary Darwin of Cleatham, widow. Messuage with Croft with buildings and all the estate etc.94
It seems as though William senior’s widow, Mary had taken the opportunity to buy some land and buildings when it came onto the market, at the death of a neighbour. In 1650 Mary, and her son, made a substantial purchase of land and property from the well-known Anderson family, both in Cleatham township and in the next parish, Hibaldstow:
Indenture between Edmund Anderson of Dunholme, Gent, and William Anderson son and heir, and Mary Darwin and William Darwin, for £335 paid by Darwins for all their messuages, pastures, closes feedings
woods underwoods, together with all the houses etc. in Cleatham and Hiberstow.95
Many of the purchases include land that is already in closes, so there is often the prospect of enclosed land being consolidated into larger blocks. In 1707 the family took the opportunity to buy 162 acres of property, mostly in closes, from a gentlemen who was evidently turning part of his inheritance into cash.96
These purchases continue until 1710, when the last was one was made, and by then the family owned most of Cleatham, apart from some common land. William‘s eldest son, another William (1655-1682) married into the Wareing family and his wife Anne inherited Elston manor and hall near Newark. William and Anne ended the time of the Darwins in Lincolnshire by moving from Cleatham to Elston and so climbed another rung in the social ladder.
A manifestation of the continuing superiority of the gentry after enclosure was the emergence of game shooting as a popular sport.97 This too might have been a motivation to reorganise the landscape. In north Lincolnshire in 1805, soon after the main thrust of enclosure had been completed and the commons and wastes had been divided, there was already evidence that the leading landowners saw the countryside as a place of recreation to be jealously guarded against trespassers. In the Stamford Mercury (plate 11, below) three of the main landowners in the study area, Sir John Sheffield, William Watson and Thomas Goulton, reminded all and sundry to stay away from the newly enclosed estates.