Lord of The Manor - Later History

Later History

The tenure of the freeholders was protected by the royal courts. After the Black Death, labour was in demand and so it became difficult for the lords of manors to impose duties on serfs. However their customary tenure continued and in the 16th century the royal courts also began to protect these customary tenants, who became known as copyholders. The name arises because the tenant was given a copy of the court's record of the fact as a title deed. During the 19th century manor courts were phased out. In 1925, copyhold tenure formally ended with the enactment of Law of Property Acts, 1922 and 1924, converting copyhold to fee simple. Although copyhold was abolished, the title of Lord of the Manor remains, and some of the property rights attached to it will also remain if registered under the Land Registration Act 2002, the act which ends manorial incidents not protected by registration at HM Land Registry by October 2013. The Land Registration Act 2002 does not affect the existence of unregistered lordships after October 2013, only the rights that would have previously been attached to the same.

During the latter part of the 20th century, many of these titles were sold to wealthy individuals seeking a distinction. However, some of the purchasers, such as Mark Roberts, went on controversially to exploit the right to claim unregistered land.