Lord of The Manor - Current Status

Current Status

There are three elements to a Manor (collectively called an Honour):

1. the Lordship or Dignity - this is the title granted by the manor,
2. the Manorial - this is the manor and its land,
3. the Seignory - these are the rights granted to the holder of the Manor.

These three elements may exist separately or be combined, the first element being the title may be held in moieties and may not be subdivided, this is prohibited by the Statute of Quia Emptores preventing subinfeudation whereas the second and third elements can be subdivided.

The Historical Manuscripts Commission maintains two Manorial Documents Registers that cover southern England. One register is arranged under parishes, the other is arranged under manors and shows the last-known whereabouts of the manorial records, the records are often very limited. The National Archives at Kew, London and County Record Offices maintain many documents that mention manors or manorial rights, in some cases manorial court rolls have survived, such documents are now protected by law.

The issues of land claims were raised in the UK Parliament in 2004 and were debated with a reply on the subject from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs acknowledging 'need for reform of the remnants of feudal and manorial law' as a case was highlighted in Peterstone Wentloog, Wales where villagers were being charged excessive fees to cross manorial land to access their homes.

In 2007, a caution against first registration caused houses to stop selling in Alstonefield after Mark Roberts, a businessman from Wales also previously involved in the Peterstone Wentloog case registered a caution against first registration for 25,000 acres (100 km2) after purchasing the lordship of the manor of Alstonefield for £10,000 in 1999. Judith Bray, land law expert from Buckingham University, speaking to BBC about the case, said that "the legal situation is very confusing because a piece of legislation in the 1920s separated manorial rights from the ownership of land."

In reports about the Alstonefield case, the BBC stated, "Scores of titles are bought and sold every year, some like the one Chris Eubank bought for fun, others seen as a business opportunity. It is entirely lawful, and there is no doubt the titles can be valuable. As well as rights to land like wastes and commons, they can also give the holder rights over land." The report goes on to say that the Law Commission in England and Wales were considering a project to abolish feudal land law but would not review manorial rights.

In many cases, the title of Lord of the Manor may not have any land or rights, and in such cases the title is known as an 'incorporeal hereditament'. Before the Land Registration Act 2002 it was possible to volunteer to register lordship titles with HM Land Registry; most did not seek to register. Dealings in previously registered Manors are subject to compulsory registration, however lords of manors may opt to de-register their titles and they will continue to exist unregistered. Manorial rights, such as mineral rights will no longer be able to become registerable after midnight 12 October 2013 after an affected property is sold or transferred after that date.

A manorial lordship or ladyship is not connected to the British honours system, but rather the feudal system. Ownership of a manorial lordship will be noted on request in British passports through an official observation worded, 'THE HOLDER IS THE LORD OF THE MANOR OF ................', although a Manorial title (i.e. Lord of the Manor) is not a title of nobility, and as stated in the journal Justice of the Peace Local Government Law the courts are yet to determine whether it is a title of honour or a dignity. Like their English counterparts, by 1600 manorial titles in the formerly Norman territories in France and Italy did not ennoble their holders in the same way as, for example, a barony.