Newminster Charters : Discussion

The boundaries of the various grants given above are simply those considered most likely. Many of the names given in the charters cannot be firmly identified with modern features and toponyms so other interpretations are possible. Indeed it is hoped that plotting out the record of the charters in this way will stimulate further discussion and hopefully perhaps field evaluation.

Something of the scale of investment the monasteries were putting into the Coquetdale uplands in the 12th and 13th centuries can be gauged from these and other documents. From the inquest post mortem for Gilbert de Umfraville I in 1245 we learn that the monks of Newminster had a grange in Rowhope (CalDocScot i, no.1667).

Given the proximity of the fulling mill, which the Cistercians were permitted by Gilbert to build a little further down stream at Hepden (Barrowburn), it is tempting to see these installations as part of an integrated operation, with the fleeces from flocks shorn at the grange being processed at the fulling mill. The manner in which the Abbey and the Umfravilles marked their boundaries where there were no natural or pre-existing man-made features such as burns and roads is clearly evinced in the charters, with references to a ditch (fossatum) dug by the monks of Newminster (bounder 3) and several mentions of crosses (bounders 2 and 4), including the manner in which these were erected in front of representatives from both parties ('ad crucem quam praedicti monachi posuerunt per visum militum meorum ibi' - bounder 2).

Also hinted at is the continuing uncertainty, in the later 12th century, regarding the actual line of the border with Scotland along the high Cheviot ridges, expressed in William de Umfraville's cautious phrase 'as much as belongs to me there' (bounder 2 - cf. Barrow 1966, 38). It is likely that use of the Kidland pastures was largely on a seasonal basis, reflected in the numerous way-leaves the abbey negotiated with neighbouring landowners to enable its servants, flocks and herds to make the long journey in late springtime from the monastery's lowland granges and estates, returning as autumn approached. In undertaking this transhumance, the herdsmen and livestock will inevitably have passed beneath the towering walls of Harbottle Castle, before dispersing into the different tributary hopes of upper Coquetdale.

Smaller areas had already been granted to individuals, the chief tenants or followers of the Umfravilles, men like William Bataille, whose logia (shieling) has given its name to present-day Batailshiel, John of Letelwell and Henry the Crossbowman, whose holding was purchased by the monks through Richard de Umfraville c. 1226. These individuals doubtless exploited the uplands as the Umfravilles themselves did, either by grazing their own stock on the pasture or by leasing it out to the ordinary tenants of the liberty and the ten townships who made use of the uplands through regular seasonal transhumance.

The importance of pastoralism in the economy of the liberty is well demonstrated by the figures given in Gilbert de Umfravilles inquest post mortem in 1245 (CalDocScot i, no.1667), where the lord was said to have held pasture for 1140 sheep, pasture for mares worth 12l, and 1400 acres of cattle pasture - or perhaps pasture for 1400 cattle. Later inquisitions refer to the existence of vaccaries (cattle farms) and berveries (sheep farms) held in demesne (Cal IPM v no. 47 - 1308; vii, no.208 - 1330; see Selected Sources and Surveys no. 2), and the Umfravilles were already rearing horses on the pastures of Cottonshope in upper Redesdale in the later 12th century (Liber de Calchou; reproduced by Hodgson 1827, 15-18). The vaccaries and berveries, too, were doubtless situated in many of the hopes of upper Coquetdale and upper Redesdale, though, regrettably, the inquisitions do not identify the location of any of these seigneurial ranches.

Explicit evidence for seasonal, pastoralist transhumance by the tenantry of the two valleys is hard to find before the later-medieval era, but it may be inferred from the agistment valuations (i.e. the sums payed for grazing rights) recorded for the upland hopes in the inquisitions post mortem of the Umfraville lords (Cal IPM v, no.47; vii, no.390; Selected Sources and Surveys nos. 2, 4), and in placename evidence (Batailshiel, Davyshiel and Garretshiel), the latter suggesting that the practice pre-dated the later 13th century.  Indeed it is likely that the late-springtime journey, with livestock, from permanent valley-bottom settlement to high pasture had a long history amongst the communities of Coquetdale and Redesdale.

The motivation of the Umfravilles in such extensive awards to Newminster were doubtless mixed. In part they were probably concerned to benefit their souls and reduce their term in purgatory, which the grateful prayers of the monks could help to secure, as reflected in the conventional expressions of piety in the documents. Odinel de Umfraville may well have been partially motivated by a realisation of impending mortality when he made the first of 'grants', but it is clear that transaction was essentially a straightforward lease, for which the Abbey had to pay a considerable sum - 228 marks in 1181, with a further 40 marks to Odinel's heir in 1184 to confirm the lease.

Later grants by Richard, William and then Gilbert de Umfraville I appear more generous. Gilbert de Umfraville in particular, expresses direct concern for the soul of his father, Richard, and his other ancestors, when he gives the monks exclusive the hunting rights on the Cheviot and Coquetdale moors, which the Umfravilles had reserved to themselves in previous grants. However, in his confirmation of his predecessors grants, in 1270, Gilbert de Umfraville II reveals that up until that date the Umfravilles were still receiving a significant sum - 18 marks - every year from the monastery for the use of the Kidland pastures (NC 79-80).

For the Umfravilles the transfer of pasturage rights to the monastery was perhaps an ideal, albeit indirect means of exploiting the upland tracts of their liberty, enabling them to benefit from the energetic, well-managed agricultural endeavour and investment which the monastery could provide. The rental brought in a steady income, with occasional opportunities for lump sum payments in the form of further 'grants' or fees for reconfirmation of previous agreements, without involving the lord in the trouble and expense of having to manage the sheep and cattle farming himself.

Over time the petitions of the abbey would have helped to bring about a gradual increase in the extent of the grants and the privileges attached to them and a relaxation in their financial terms, but until the later 13th century, at least, the Umfravilles must have found their dealings with Newminster financially as well as spiritually beneficial.

The security provided by the castle at Harbottle, newly fortified under Henry II, and clearly intended henceforth to serve as the caput of the lordship, may have been an important factor in stimulating monastic interest in developing the uppermost reaches of Coquetdale. Certainly there is a notable contrast between the extent of monastic holdings in upper Coquetdale and Redesdale. Though each valley had its own, small, religious establishment - the Benedictine nunnery at Holystone and the hospital at Elishaw - Redesdale attracted little interest on the part of external monastic houses to compare with Newminster's extensive pastures in Kidland and the Cheviot moors.

The sum total, in fact, is restricted to the carucate (100 acres of ploughland) held by Jedburgh Abbey in Troughend (Liber Feodorum ii, 1122 - AD 1242), and the grant, to Kelso Abbey, of a tithe of the foals from the Cottonshope stud range, made by Odinel de Umfraville in the later 12th century and confirmed by his successors (Liber de Calchou; reproduced by Hodgson 1827, 15-18).