Great Wigborough-cum-Salcott

Together with Samphire Island: about seventy acres in extent and valuable wild fowling rights.

The Lordship of Great Wigborough was also known as the Lordship of Abbess or Abbots Hall. It is situated on the River Blackwater, four miles south of Colchester, Essex. The area of the lordship is about one thousand acres.

The Nunnery of Barking owned this lordship in King Edward the Confessor’s time. After the Norman Conquest, King William the Conqueror allowed the Nunnery to retain the lordship. The manor is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the lordship was vested by Act of Parliament in the person of his Late Majesty King Henry VIII. On the 10th April 1540 he granted this lordship to Thomas Lord Cromwell. When he was executed the lordship was forfeited to the Crown and its revenues used for the support of Princess Mary, later Queen Mary I.

In 1555 the lordship was granted to Sir Charles Tuke, Secretary to Cardinal Wolsey at the time of his death. By 1562 the lordship had come to Queen Elizabeth I. She granted it to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. Ten years later he was executed for treason and, once again, this lordship reverted to the Crown. This time Queen Elizabeth retained the lordship for a further twenty-two years but, in 1594, she granted it to Thomas the old Duke of Norfolk’s son by his second wife Margaret, daughter of Lord Dudley.

In 1603 he was created Earl of Suffolk and he died, lord of the manor, in 1626. The Suffolk family retained the lordship until 1640, when it was conveyed to Sir Mark Guyon. On his death, in 1686, the lordship passed to his daughter Rachel, who carried the manor in marriage to John Bullock.

The Bullock family retained the lordship until 1809, when Sir Henry Bullock, M.P., died lord of the manor. In 1811 Henry Cline acquired the lordship. From Henry Cline the lordship came to the family of the present lord of the manor.

There are valuable oyster layings in the River Blackwater. For centuries these provided an extra income to the lord of the manor. The Court Rolls from 1661 show the rents received. Under the 1922 Law of Property Act, these copyhold tenancies were enfranchised for a payment. Thus, the actual oyster layings in the river are no longer manorial property, but they could be repurchased in the future.

The freehold of “Samphire Island”, known locally as Sunken Island, about seventy acres, will be conveyed with the lordship, together with wild fowling rights let for £200 per annum. The new lord of the manor will have this income transferred to him.

Rights, customs and incidents

Together with Samphire Island: about seventy acres in extent and valuable wild fowling rights.
The freehold of “Samphire Island”, known locally as Sunken Island, about seventy acres, will be conveyed with the lordship, together with wild fowling rights let for £200 per annum.

Associated manorial documents / archive references

• 1 Royal Letters Patent, King Henry VIII 1540
• 2 Royal Letters Patent, King Henry VIII 1545
• 3 Court rolls (with other manors) 1565-1810
• 4 Court books (with index to each) 1730-1786
• 5 Compotus 1639
• 6 Compoti 1642, 1643
• 7 Survey (and copy 1596) 1596, 1641
• 8 Two Surveys 1596, 1641
• 9 Rentals of the manors of “Wigborough als. Abbeshall” and “Salcott” 1644
• 10 Rental c.1645
• 11 Rental of “Great Wigborough with Salcott” 1772
• 12 List of customary tenants c.1850
• 13 Court book index 1885-1927

Historical holder / succession information

1. Sir Charles Tuke, Secretary to Cardinal Wolsey [source claim requiring identity review]
   1555 · granted_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: In 1555 the lordship was granted to Sir Charles Tuke, Secretary to Cardinal Wolsey at the time of his death.
2. Sir Mark Guyon
   1640 · conveyed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: The Suffolk family retained the lordship until 1640, when it was conveyed to Sir Mark Guyon.
3. his daughter Rachel [source claim requiring identity review]
   1686 · passed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: On his death, in 1686, the lordship passed to his daughter Rachel, who carried the manor in marriage to John Bullock.
4. In 1811 Henry Cline [source claim requiring identity review]
   1811 · purchased · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: In 1811 Henry Cline acquired the lordship.
5. family of the present lord of the manor [source claim requiring identity review]
   passed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: From Henry Cline the lordship came to the family of the present lord of the manor.
6. him [source claim requiring identity review]
   conveyed_to · historical_holder_or_transferee
   Source wording: The new lord of the manor will have this income transferred to him.