Thomas de Weylaund & a Deer Park at Stapleford Tawney

In England, the medieval deer park provided a visible demonstration of the wealth of a lord. The park allowed the owner the opportunity to hunt and provided him with a managed supply of fresh venison. The park was a partially wooded area, enclosed by a banked and 'paled' boundary of height sufficient to contain the deer. The size of such a park would vary from a few acres to more than a thousand acres. The construction of the park would have required considerable investment of both labour and materials, and the upkeep of the pale would have involved significant running costs. The most notable local example of such a deer park, and the earliest recorded in England, is thought to have been the Anglo-Saxon Ongar Great Park.

Thirty-seven such parks are mentioned in Domesday, but by 1300, there were probably around 160 deer parks in Essex alone, out of a national total of maybe more than 3,200. This figure is arrived at through careful research into medieval documentary sources and listing the location of such parks where known.

Amongst these early records, the first reference to a park in Stapleford Tawney occurs in 1286. Thomas de Weylaund obtained a licence to empark within two small woods. From Westminster, Edward I is recorded as granting a licence on 29 April 1286:

Licence, after inquisition ad quod damnum by Roger le Strange, justice of the forest this side of the Trent, for Thomas de Weylaund to enclose and impark two groves in Chigenhale, Tany and Wytele, containing 14 acres, and 6 acres within the bounds of the Forest of Essex.

As stated, this is confusing. The parishes of Writtle and Chignal do have a common boundary, but the acreages cannot be readily identified with their locations. Nevertheless, it does appear that there was a deer park in Stapleford Tawney.

Now the pursuit of further references to the Tany deer park takes a sharp turn and Thomas de Weylaund comes into focus.

In a further reference, from the same volume of state papers, it is recorded, on 23 June 1288, from Edward I again from Westminster, that:

Commission to Thomas de Weylaund, John de Luvetot, John de Cobeham and including Ralph de Sandwich, keeper of the City of London, on complaint by many of the inhabitants that they are annoyed by the lime-kilns in the said city and suburb at Suthwerk, wherein the lime was formerly burnt by logs of wood is now burnt by sea-coal, so that the air is infected and corrupted, to view the same in conjunction with the sheriffs of London and bailiff of Southward to provide remedies.

How enlightened! Thomas is appointed to a four-man commission, the purpose of which is to examine the environmental consequences of using sea-coal instead of wood for burning lime. The commission is to 'provide remedies'.

Thomas was a man of substance. His family background and his education had earned him respect. He was trained as a clerk and became a subdeacon. He was made a justice itinerant in Essex and Hertfordshire in the period 1271 to 1272. In 1278, he was appointed chief justice at the Westminster bench, but during the next eleven years it is recorded that 'he showed great activity in the administration of the law, but neglected no opportunity of furthering his own interest and building up a great landed estate'. Thomas exceeded his powers during the Edward's absence from the country in the years 1286 to 1289. During this period he bought a number of properties and estates in Gloucestershire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, spending about £150 per year on these acquisitions.

Edward I returned in August 1289 to receive widespread criticism of the behaviour of the judiciary. In taking steps to restore confidence Thomas was the first in line. Two of his servants had committed a murder at a local fair and Thomas had failed to have them arrested, though he was aware of their involvement.

He was indicted but escaped before arrest. He fled to sanctuary in the Franciscan priory of Babwell just outside of Bury St Edmunds. Sir Robert Malet was sent to apprehend Thomas. Forty days were allowed for the fugitive to be given up; after such a period, with Thomas still in the convent, Malet resolved to starve him out. The application of such harsh measures and the fact that Thomas was a subdeacon caused friction between king and clergy, who claimed immunity for the beleaguered Thomas. The king confiscated his lands and appointed a new chief justice.

Unsurprisingly, Thomas de Weylaund was duly starved out but earned safe conduct to the Tower. There, Thomas was offered a choice of three options: to stand trial, to endure perpetual imprisonment or to abjure the realm. With further dark clouds threatening, as a result of other misdemeanours, he chose to abjure the realm; not only would he be banished for ever, he would also renounce his property within England and Ireland.

He was allowed 9 days to reach Dover on foot. There his life and liberty were exchanged for a confession. Thomas de Weylaund embarked, bare-footed, head uncovered and cross in hand. His wife, Margaret, and her son were permitted to benefit from his property only after considerable legal process and rather against the intention of abjuration.

In 1292, Thomas was living in Paris. Around 1297, he was pardoned by Edward I and returned to live in his wife's manor at Brundon, now in Suffolk.

Now where was the park at Stapleford Tawney?