Rights and Protections for Isle of Axholme Tenants – Summary of the Mowbray Charter of 1360.

The tenants of the Isle of Axholme petitioned their lord, Sir John Mowbray, to resolve disputes caused by his officials. In response, Mowbray granted a series of rights and protections to all tenants and residents of the Isle, to apply permanently to them and their heirs.

Key points granted:

• No enclosure or “improvement”:
  Mowbray and his heirs are forbidden from enclosing, approving, or taking into private use any of the Isle’s wastes, moors, woods, or waters.
• Common rights confirmed:
  Tenants retain all traditional common rights attached to their freehold properties, as used “time out of mind.”
• Turbary and resource rights:
  Tenants may dig turf, peat, trees, and roots in the moors and marshes for fuel, building, and household needs.
• Pounds for stray animals:
  Two half‑acre pounds (in Belton Carr and Haxey Carr) are to be built for the tenants’ convenience.
  Only one annual “chase” of commoners’ animals is allowed, and animals must be returned properly.
• Protection from wrongful impounding:
  Tenants’ animals must not be seized in the lord’s open, unenclosed lands; they may only be driven out gently.
• Building materials:
  Tenants may take turf, earth, and flags from the wastes for building and repairing their houses and walls.
• Rights connected to the River Trent:
  Tenants may take trees from the wastes to repair the riverbanks when needed.
• No fines for failing to “ring” swine:
  Tenants cannot be punished for not presenting pigs for ringing.
• Hemp retting:
  Tenants may soak hemp in all waters of the Isle except the lord’s private “skires.”
• Protection of tenants’ dogs:
  The lord’s officers may not harass or seize tenants’ dogs.
• Fishing rights:
  Tenants may fish freely in all waters and wastes except the lord’s private skires.
• Right to dig earth to improve land:
  Tenants may dig turf and earth anywhere in the wastes to improve their fields.
• Fair legal process:
  Tenants cannot be fined for trespass unless they have answered in court and been judged by their peers.
• Underwood for hedging:
  Tenants responsible for enclosing the lord’s woods may take necessary underwood for hedges without interference.
• Interpretation in favour of tenants:
  Any ambiguous clause in the charter must be interpreted to the benefit of the tenants and their heirs.

The charter was sealed by both parties at Epworth on 1 May, 33 Edward III (1360).

The full text of the charter as quoted by Peck, in his ‘Topographical Account of the Isle of Axholme’, can be found here