1630’s - Detailed extensions to buildings
We have a long account by John Lowther dated 1640, towards the end of his life, of progress over the previous century and details of cropping and of husbandry during the latter years, for example:
"The building between the two towers (a pair of traditional 14th Century Pele Towers) was new built by my father in 1630... and he built a new bakehouse; the new tower westwards was built by my great grandfather, Richard Lowther, when he was in the Tower of London for entertaining the Queen of Scots in Queen Elizabeth's time from whence he was happily delivered... after he had been twice there imprisoned to his great cost as appeareth by his books of expense" (which we still have);
"Whale Inge was new walled by my father, the tenants of Whale having the fogge and springage of... for 5 shillings per annum... to order the water to make it wet or dry at pleasure by which means it may be much helped... which it is worthie of, meadow being precious in these parts and the nature of the grass is cleane altered by this means being formerly generally strong seaves and rushes" (an example of a periodically flooded water meadow - now farmed by us and passed by the tour - now a lambing and summer grazing field);
"I entered into Lowther upon my father's death at Michaelmas 1637... In 1640/1641 I built the new granary do novo and the new oxhouse and barn over it; I limed Rowlandfield and made it thereby much more fruitfull" (part of the present day farm, grazing land, but indicating past cultivation by most of it being rigg and furrow);
"I always left my ground in greate heart and lett it lye either upon bigg stubble well manured or very rich, whereby I found contrary to the common opinion the grass was much richer and fatted much better; I felled Jack Crofte Wood, you may perceve by an owld deede that one of our ancestors tooke the same for one croppe and sew acorns upon it in the time of Edward the First which crop was not taken off until I cut the same, there was many goodly okes the wood being worth near £400 the ground being but about 4 acres being good discretion to cutt it for the okes were decaying."... and so on for about 100 pages on cropping, hedges and forestry, with homilies on husbandry, and costs, particularly of oxen as motive power.
"The building between the two towers (a pair of traditional 14th Century Pele Towers) was new built by my father in 1630... and he built a new bakehouse; the new tower westwards was built by my great grandfather, Richard Lowther, when he was in the Tower of London for entertaining the Queen of Scots in Queen Elizabeth's time from whence he was happily delivered... after he had been twice there imprisoned to his great cost as appeareth by his books of expense" (which we still have);
"Whale Inge was new walled by my father, the tenants of Whale having the fogge and springage of... for 5 shillings per annum... to order the water to make it wet or dry at pleasure by which means it may be much helped... which it is worthie of, meadow being precious in these parts and the nature of the grass is cleane altered by this means being formerly generally strong seaves and rushes" (an example of a periodically flooded water meadow - now farmed by us and passed by the tour - now a lambing and summer grazing field);
"I entered into Lowther upon my father's death at Michaelmas 1637... In 1640/1641 I built the new granary do novo and the new oxhouse and barn over it; I limed Rowlandfield and made it thereby much more fruitfull" (part of the present day farm, grazing land, but indicating past cultivation by most of it being rigg and furrow);
"I always left my ground in greate heart and lett it lye either upon bigg stubble well manured or very rich, whereby I found contrary to the common opinion the grass was much richer and fatted much better; I felled Jack Crofte Wood, you may perceve by an owld deede that one of our ancestors tooke the same for one croppe and sew acorns upon it in the time of Edward the First which crop was not taken off until I cut the same, there was many goodly okes the wood being worth near £400 the ground being but about 4 acres being good discretion to cutt it for the okes were decaying."... and so on for about 100 pages on cropping, hedges and forestry, with homilies on husbandry, and costs, particularly of oxen as motive power.