Royal Manor of Portland Records from 1577

The earliest record we have so far found of the Portland Flanns is in the Manorial Court Books of 1577-88 in the London Record Office. These are in Latin but the name “fflon” occurs frequently. This is the spelling current at the time, and the double “ff” gave way to a capital “F” through the years. These Manorial Records have given many glimpses of the early fflons or Flanns and Portland’s status as a Royal Manor had considerable effect on the manner in which the Portlanders conducted their affairs. To follow the fortunes of the Portlanders it is necessary to know something of the way in which governance was carried out in those days.

The Royal Manor came into being following the Norman Conquest in 1066 when to administer it, England was divided into huge estates that were granted to William’s noble Norman friends and supporters as tenants in chief, so long as they remained loyal, and not surprisingly with conditions attached. The most usual of these was the obligation to provide knights, archers and men-at-arms when required. The tenant-in-chief then customarily divided his estate amongst his friends and supporters, and the smallest of these holdings so created was called a Manor. It was as we know it today, devolution of power.

Portland, probably because of its fortress nature and its strategic position was retained by the Crown, hence it being a Royal manor. Although on occasions it was granted for life to subjects as the Earl of Gloucester in 1142, or formed part of the dowry of royal consorts including four of Henry VIII’s (1491-1547) six wives. On these manors the lands were granted to tenants who in return had to give military or other services. These tenants in turn employed laborers, who were practically serfs, to work the Crown lands for their own benefit and that of the Lord of the Manor. He appointed a Steward, who then employed a Bailiff for the day-to- day management. The lands of the tenants being worked in common on the ancient “strip” system, and to secure efficiency and fairness between them the tenants appointed a “Reeve”.

These strip fields were laid out in the 900’s and in Saxon times when Portland was divided into eight named great open fields which in turn were generally split into strips called furlongs-220 yards or the length of a furrow. These were subdivided into a total of some 2400 strip fields (acres) that by tradition is that area that could be ploughed by one horse team in a day. These strips became individually owned, and as we shall see were sold or passed on by inheritance.

The body appointing the Reeve was known as the Court Leet and Portland being a Royal Manor meant that it could deal directly with the Monarch when problems arose. In a way this whole scheme of things was, for the times quite a democratic arrangement.