Liddel

Formerly Lyddale in Eskdale

Liddel or Lyddale comprised what later became the parishes of Arthuret and Kirk Andrews upon Esk but consisted then of Esk, Arthuret, Stubhill, Carwindlaw, Speer Sykes, Randelinton, Eston, North Eston, Brackenbill, Nicol Forest, and the English part of the Debateable lands. Situated immediately adjoining the border of England with Scotland the region is an area of outstanding beauty characterised by moors, high fells, dales, lakes and rivers. Due to constant troubles with the savage northern and Scottish tribes, the Roman Emperor Hadrian commissioned the great stone barrier from this point through Cumberland and across Northumberland.

The Norman Conquest of England from 1066, the Battle of Hastings, reached the further and wider extremities of the country much later. In consequence they are not mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086 though evidently several were initially governed by Norman overlords with palatine powers. Successively each Norman King granted tracts of land with Feudal duties, administrative and tax raising powers to loyal nobles. Each Lordship or Manor carried the obligation to provide a number or parts of Knights services, being the undertaking to provide troops or financial consideration for the purpose of both war and government. The higher ranking nobles held under a term Serganty, Grand Serganty, requiring service only at Coronations whilst Petit Serganty required service at regular intervals such as the organisation and maintenance of troops at strategic points or castles.

The greater Norman Lords were permitted by a process of subinfeudation to subdivide or apportion their extensive fiefs among somewhat lesser nobles, again in return for services and fines thus delegating management and order. The earliest reference to the Barony of Liddel is a grant by Ranulph de Meschines, Lord of Carlisle, to Turgert Brundey or Turgis I Brundos, a Flemish noble some time before 1121. In turn King Henry I confirmed this grant. In 1130 William Brundy, sometimes called William de Rosedale held it during the Reign of Henry II and had a son Turgis III. How the Barony passed to the Stuteville family or whether they were the same is not immediately apparent but in 1174 Nicolas I de Stuteville is recorded as in possession of the Barony.

In the 5th year of Henry III, 1220, a reference in the Exchequer Rolls states that Nicolas de Stuteville stood charged to the King for 250 Marks for his ransom. Evidently he agreed to pay in instalments though if he did not make payment, on each occasion he failed the instalment, interest of £50 was to be added to his debt. Robert de Stuteville and Walter Soureby are recorded as standing as Guarantors or Maucaptors to the extent that if Nicolas did not meet his obligations they also could forfeit their lands. The fief appears to have been settled since in 1219 Nicolas III leased the Honour of Liddel to Eustace, son of Robert, who was the eldest son of Nicolas I. When Eustace died in 1241 the Barony passed temporarily to Joan, daughter and heiress of Nicolas II.

Joan de Stuteville married firstly Hugh Wake and secondly High Bigod, but following her death, the Barony of Liddel passed to Baldwin Wake who was Joan's first son by her first husband. The Barony then remained in the Wake family and Thomas Wake, Lord of Liddel is recorded in 1330 as holding two and a half Knights fees in Glentham and Stenigot. Continuing in this family line, the Barony of Liddel passed to Joan, known as "The Fair Maid of Kent" who had married Edward the Black Prince and who later became Edward III.

The Barony of Liddel thus returned to the Crown and remained in the ownership of successive Sovereigns until 1603 when James I by letters patent, dated 20th February, granted the Barony with an extensive estate to George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland. By further letters patent dated 31st March 1611, James I granted additional estates in the locality to Frances Clifford his son who had then succeeded as Earl of Cumberland. These extensive estates, the Honour, Barony and constituent Lordships were sold by Frances Earl of Cumberland to Richard Graham Esq created Baronet 1629. King Charles I confirmed this grant in the fourth year of his reign on 11th July 1629. The records indicate that the entirety of the lands included in the grants of King James I to George and Frances, Earls of Cumberland were included in the conveyance to Richard Graham.

Richard Graham had been a gentleman of the horse to James I and was created Baronet on 20th March 1629 by King Charles I in the style of Sir Richard Graham of Esk. Having purchased what were known as the Honour and Barony of Liddel, the Netherby Estate and other estates and manors extending to the order of 100,000 acres from Frances Earl of Cumberland, Sir Richard went on to distinguish himself under the Royal Banner particularly at the Battle of Edge Hill in 1642. Sir Richard died in 1653 leaving two sons, George and Richard. Sir George Graham succeeded his father to the barony manors and estates, but on his death they passed to his daughter Lady Widdrington. In turn, on her death, she bequeathed the barony, manors and estates to the Reverend Robert Graham DD, a grandson of Sir George Graham of Esk. Robert had married Frances and when he died in 1801 he left three sons, Charles, James and Fergus. James had been made first Baronet of Netherby in 1783, inherited it and had four sons, James, Charles, William and George. The first of these, James Robert George Graham became second Baronet of Netherby and through him the estates passed to his son Frederick Ulric Graham born 1820 who became the 3rd Baronet of Netherby. Slaters directory of 1869 records Frederick Ulric Graham as holding the Barony of Liddel with other manors and extensive estates in the locality.

The manors and estates, together with the barony, passed to Sir Richard James Graham, the fourth Baronet who was born in 1859. He was appointed High Sheriff for Cumberland in 1894 and had two sons, Frederick and Richard. The Barony and those manors retained continued in the Graham family to the present owner Sir James Graham.

Reference works associated with the Barony of Liddel

The Barony of Liddel and its occupants (Pedigree of the Graham family by T H B Graham) 16th-17th c. Cumberland Record Office

The Grahams of Esk (Graham of Bracken Hill) 17th-18th c. T H B Graham

The Grahams or Graemes of the Debateable Lands (Baine Joseph) 1886 Archaeological Journal

The Border Grahams, their origin and distribution 1961 W C Reed

The Graham clans and lands on the eve of the Jacobean pacification 1980 R T Spence

Other reference books Cumberland Record Office

The Barony of Liddel was granted by Ranulph de Meschines, Lord of Carlisle, to Turgert Brundey or Turgis I Brundos before 1121, with confirmation by Henry I. William Brundy, also called William de Rosedale, held it in 1130. Nicolas I de Stuteville was in possession by 1174. The fief was leased by Nicolas III de Stuteville to Eustace, son of Robert, in 1219; after Eustace's death in 1241 it passed temporarily to Joan de Stuteville. Through Joan's marriage to Hugh Wake, it passed to the Wake family, including Baldwin Wake and Thomas Wake. It subsequently passed through Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent, to the Crown. James I granted the Barony and associated estates to George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, in 1603, with further grants to Frances Clifford in 1611. Frances sold the estates to Richard Graham, whose descendants retained the barony and associated manors and estates into the modern period.