Top 10 Reasons The Bailiwick of Ennerdale is the Rembrandt of All Liberty's and English Manors

12 Amazing Things About the Bailiwick of Ennerdale – England’s Most Fascinating Liberty and Manor

The Bailiwick of Ennerdale is one of the most remarkable manorial liberties in all of England. Its history, geography, and legal standing make it unique not only in Britain but in the world. Here are ten reasons why Ennerdale stands apart:

1. A UNESCO Heritage Site of Global Importance
Ennerdale is regarded as a UNESCO heritage landscape of international value, standing in the company of world treasures such as the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids of Giza. The Manor of Ennerdale has now become the 9th largest "National Nature Reserve" in England covering over 3000 hectares of landscape comprising water, forests, glacial lakes, forests, and mountains.

2. One of the Largest Private Lordships
Among the ancient liberties and manors of England, Ennerdale ranks as one of the fifteen largest privately held lordships. It has the unique distinction of being a:  Bailiwick, Manor, Royal Forest, and Liberty with a court leet.

3. A Land of Glacial Lakes and Ancient Ruins
Ennerdale is home to breathtaking glacial lakes, Anglo-Saxon ruins, and ancient standing stones—living reminders of England’s deep history.

4. A Liberty Once Alienated by the Crown
Uniquely, Ennerdale may be the only bailiwick and liberty in English history to have been alienated outright for money by both the Crown and the Government in 1822.

5. A Royal Forest and Crown Manor
For centuries, Ennerdale was a Crown Manor and Royal Forest, with bailiffs directly appointed by the monarchy to administer its lands.

6. A Source of England’s Purest Waters
The region holds one of the richest and purest water supplies in all of England, a natural treasure of immense value.

7. Royal and Noble Ownership
Ennerdale has passed through the hands of historic figures, including Lady Jane Grey, the Nine-Day Queen, Prince Charles, and later KingCharles I. Bailiffs included the Earls of Northrumbia.

8. The Only Privately Owned Bailiwick in the World
No other liberty or bailiwick in world history is known to exist under private ownership, making Ennerdale wholly unique. The title would look like this in various EU languages.

9. A Court Leet and Court Baron Sold in Fee Simple
In one of the rarest acts of English history, the rights of Court Leet and Court Baron were sold by Crown and Government in fee simple, in perpetuity, to Earl Lonsdale.

10. A Land of Ancient Kingdoms
Ennerdale’s roots stretch far back—once part of Scotland, and earlier still under the dominions of Rome, Strathclyde, Rheged, and the Kingdoms of Northumbria.

11. 11,000 acres of Manorial Waste - Vast Manor of  Mountains and Highlands Lands, Glacial Lakes, Waterfals, Rivers and Forests. There are many Fells or Mountains in or surrounding Ennedale Valley including Kirk, Haycock, Caw, Lank Rigg, Grike, Great Borne, Red Pike, High Stile, The Pillar, Scoat Fell, Ennerdale Fell, and Great Gable. Wainwrights are the 214 English peaks (known locally as fells) described in Alfred Wainwright's seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells (1955–66).  Grike is a hill in the west of the English Lake District, near Ennerdale Water. It is part of the Lank Rigg group, the most westerly Wainwright as the fells diminish toward the coastal plain. It can be climbed from Kinniside or Ennerdale Bridge

12. Power of Seals, Crests and Arms - Ennerdale may be the only manor, liberty and bailiwick in private hands where the liberty has the rights to create custom Seals, Crests and Arms in relation to a private manor. Not heraldry, but rather jurisdictional arms.

Ennerdale as an Ancient Manor “from Time Immemorial”

1. Celtic Kingdoms and Chieftains

• Long before England existed, Ennerdale was part of the lands of the Carvetii and Brigantes, Celtic tribes that dominated Cumbria.

• In the post-Roman period, Ennerdale fell within the Celtic kingdoms of Strathclyde and Rheged — ruled by chiefs and warrior-kings celebrated in early bardic poetry.

• Power here was exercised by Celtic chieftains and warlords, who commanded loyalty through kinship and war-bands.

• Ancient cairns, standing stones, and hill-forts in the Ennerdale region bear witness to this earliest phase of rule.

2. Anglo-Saxon Thegns and Kings

• By the 7th century, the Kings of Northumbria extended their power into Cumbria.

• Ennerdale was absorbed into the Anglo-Saxon system of hundreds, tithings, and manorial estates, governed by local thegns and reeves.

• The Saxon rulers introduced manorial custom, courts, and dues, binding Ennerdale into the early English state.

• Here, Saxon kings and their appointed lords held sway, blending older Celtic customs with Saxon landholding law.

3. Norse Jarls and Danish Warlords

• From the late 9th century, Norse settlers from Ireland and the Isle of Man colonized western Cumbria.

• The very name Ennerdale comes from Old Norse: Ehen (river) + dalr (valley) = “the valley of the River Ehen.”

• These Norse arrivals were led by jarls and warlords, who divided the land into dales and thwaites.

• The region also saw the influence of Danish war-bands who controlled much of the North of England during the Danelaw period.

• Ennerdale thus came under the rule of Norse jarls, Danish chiefs, and Viking warrior-leaders, who left behind a tenurial system that fused with Saxon and Celtic law.

4. Medieval Kings and Norman Bailiffs

• After 1066, the Normans recognized Ennerdale’s importance near the Scottish frontier.

• It was made a royal forest and bailiwick, with bailiffs appointed by the Crown.

• Yet the region’s traditions — Celtic tribal authority, Saxon landholding, Norse assemblies — persisted beneath the Norman overlay.

• Ennerdale thus remained a liberty with mixed inheritance, ruled in practice by a succession of kings, lords, and forest officials.

5. Continuity of Rule “From Time Immemorial”

English law defines time immemorial as “before the reign of Richard I (1189).” Ennerdale clearly predates this standard:

• Celtic Chiefs and Kings – Rulers of Rheged and Strathclyde before Saxon England.

• Saxon Thegns and Kings – Integration into Northumbrian and later Anglo-Saxon realms.

• Norse Jarls and Danish Warlords – Viking domination in the 9th–11th centuries, with the place-name itself proving Norse rule.

• Norman Kings and Bailiffs – The Crown’s administration as a manor, royal forest, liberty, and bailiwick.

✅ Conclusion:
Ennerdale is unique because it is not simply a Norman or medieval construct. It is a Celtic tribal territory, a Saxon manor, a Viking dale, and a royal forest-bailiwick, ruled over the centuries by jarls, warlords, chiefs, kings, and lords. This continuous layering of power makes Ennerdale one of the few manors in England that can truthfully be described as a jurisdiction and estate of time immemorial, with roots in Celtic, Norse, Danish, and Anglo-Saxon sovereignty.

Here’s how the title “Lord of the Bailiwick, Liberty, and Forest of Ennerdale” would look in various major EU languages, phrased in a sentence so it reads naturally:

English

He holds the title of Lord of the Bailiwick, Liberty, and Forest of Ennerdale.

French

Il porte le titre de Seigneur du Bailliage, de la Liberté et de la Forêt d’Ennerdale.

German

Er trägt den Titel Herr des Bailleiwicks, der Freiheit und des Waldes von Ennerdale.

Spanish

Él ostenta el título de Señor del Bailiazgo, la Libertad y el Bosque de Ennerdale.

Italian

Egli detiene il titolo di Signore del Baliato, della Libertà e della Foresta di Ennerdale.

Portuguese

Ele possui o título de Senhor do Baluarte, da Liberdade e da Floresta de Ennerdale.

Dutch

Hij draagt de titel Heer van het Baljuwschap, de Vrijheid en het Woud van Ennerdale.

Swedish

Han bär titeln Herre över Fogderiet, Friheten och Skogen i Ennerdale.

Danish

Han bærer titlen Herre af Fogderiet, Friheden og Skoven i Ennerdale.

Polish

On nosi tytuł Pan Bailiwicku, Wolności i Lasu Ennerdale.