The Bailiwick of Ennerdale Est 1251 - Hon. George Mentz JD MBA CWM

The Character and Extent of the Waste Lands of Ennerdale (c. 11,000 Acres)

1. Scale and Nature of the Waste

The estimate of 11,000 acres of waste within the Manor and Liberty of Ennerdale reflects the immense proportion of unenclosed, mountainous, and largely unproductive terrain that characterized this remote Cumbrian district. Early surveys and inquisitions consistently describe Ennerdale as a rugged valley surrounded by fells and moorland, where only limited tracts of land were suitable for cultivation.

The term waste in this context does not imply uselessness but rather denotes land that was outside regular tillage, often comprising heath, moor, bog, rock, and fell. These tracts, though poor for agriculture, were indispensable to the manorial economy as common grazing grounds, sources of peat and turf, and forested chases for deer.

2. Functional Uses and Economic Value

Despite its classification as waste, the Ennerdale moors were far from idle. The tenants of the manor exercised customary grazing rights across much of the unenclosed terrain and, in return, rendered a traditional rent known as Dalemale — a payment granting the privilege to depasture livestock on the commons and forest wastes.

The waste also retained value as part of the manorial hunting domain. Within the area known as the Fence — the enclosed deer park adjoining Ennerdale Water — red and fallow deer were maintained under the supervision of the foresters. Thus, while not arable, the waste lands supported a dual economy of pastoral and sporting use, providing essential sustenance to tenants and prestige to the lord of the liberty.

3. Variations and Discrepancies in Acreage

Contemporary records offer conflicting estimates of the extent of the waste, a common feature in early land surveys.

• A Parliamentary Survey of 1650 recorded approximately 3,000 acres of waste in the valley, though it acknowledged that the figure was based on statute acres and that local customary acres measured considerably larger.

• Later appraisals — including those cited in the Land Revenue Office records and the 19th-century historical abstracts — expanded the figure to 11,000 acres, possibly incorporating additional unenclosed fells and common lands beyond the original demesne.

The discrepancies likely arise from differing definitions of waste: some surveys counted only demesne waste under direct Crown management, while others included the broader moorlands and forest pastures accessible to tenants.

4. Boundaries, Disputes, and Neighboring Manors

The vastness of Ennerdale’s waste inevitably gave rise to boundary disputes and grazing controversies, particularly with adjoining manors such as Kelton, Lamplugh, and St. Bees. These disagreements often concerned:

• The extent of common pasture;

• Encroachments or attempted enclosures by neighboring tenants; and

• The division of herbage and turf-cutting rights in shared uplands.

Surviving manorial rolls and Crown correspondence reveal that such disputes were recurring matters before the Court Leet and Forest Steward, underscoring the administrative complexity of managing so large a tract of marginal land.

5. Summary and Significance

The so-called “waste of Ennerdale”, variously estimated between 3,000 in the valley and 11,000 acres in the territory, was a defining feature of the manor — a sweeping expanse of heath and fell integral to its identity as both a forest liberty and pastoral community. Though unproductive in the agricultural sense, it was economically and socially indispensable:

• It sustained local husbandry through common grazing;

• Provided hunting and timber resources for the lord’s demesne; and

• Defined the legal and territorial heart of the Liberty and Bailiwick of Ennerdale.

Its management and periodic disputes over usage reveal the delicate balance between Crown prerogative, manorial ownership, and customary rights that shaped the region’s history for centuries.