AGRICULTURE
In 1086 Burton abbey had land at Stapenhill for 4
ploughteams, of which 2 were on the demesne and 2
were worked by villani. There was 4 a. of meadow, and
woodland measured 1 league in length and 3 furlongs
in breadth. The manor was worth 60s. (fn. 9) In the early
12th century there was enough demesne land for three,
or two 'very strong', ploughteams. Over half the
tenanted land was held by villeins who owed fixed
labour services and a reeve was recorded in each of the
abbey's early 12th-century surveys: a villein called
Godric in the first and a rent-payer called Aethelric
in the second. (fn. 10)
Medieval Grange A granger for Stapenhill was
appointed at the manor court in the earlier 14th
century, (fn. 11) and what was called 'the site of the manor'
of Stapenhill in 1455 was described as a grange in 1522,
when it was held by a lessee. (fn. 12) The grange house, which
probably stood in the village, was known as Stapenhill
Great Farm in the 18th century. (fn. 13)
Open Fields and Common Land The fields of Stapenhill were mentioned in the early 13th century
and included one called Ridgway, south-east of the
village between Stanton Road and Rosliston Road.
Ridgway field was one of four open fields recorded
in 1598; the others were Wood field and Leaway
(later Lewer) field, both east of the village, and
Water field to the south. (fn. 14) There was also arable
land in the north of the township, stretching towards
Burton bridge: corn was being grown at 'the bridge
end' in 1333, and three fields recorded at 'the bridge
foot' in 1546 were known later in the century as
Chaplens fields. (fn. 1)
Horse holme, formerly an island in the river Trent
mentioned by that name in the 1180s, lay within
Stapenhill, and was probably the main area of
meadow in the township. (fn. 2) In the late 16th century
the common waste lay in small pieces mainly on the
township boundary: at Waterside and the Hollow in
the south-west and at Stapenhill heath in the southeast. Stapenhill people also claimed rights in Winshill
wood and on Scalpcliff hill, and between midsummer
and Candlemas (2 February) they had access to the
'mill holmes', probably the islands in Burton Extra
where the upper mill was sited. (fn. 3)
In 1255 Sir William de la Ward, apparently the lord
of Stanton, granted Burton abbey pasture rights in
Stanton and 'Ravenildestre hill', evidently all year
round on the waste but not on the arable or meadow
when corn and grass were growing. About the same
time the abbey also acquired from Geoffrey de Gresley,
the lord of Drakelow, similar pasture rights in Drakelow and Cauldwell and in places called 'Ruyhull' and
'Rodemor' after cropping had taken place. In the late
15th century the rights claimed by Stapenhill tenants in
Stanton were exercised from the time the corn or hay
was cut up to Candlemas (2 February) and every third
year for the whole year. In 1488 the abbey exchanged
those rights for a parcel of land in Stanton. (fn. 4)
Inclosure There was evidently piecemeal inclosure
during the 17th and 18th century, but when inclosure
took place in 1773 under an Act of 1771 there was still
128 a. of open land in Lewer field, 114 a. in Water field,
34 a. in Ridgway field, and 18 a. in Wood field.
Stapenhill heath covered 80 a. when inclosed in 1773
under the Act of 1771, about 2/3 being allotted to Lord
Paget and 1/3 to the vicar of Stapenhill. Lord Paget was
allotted the whole of the common on the north side of
Scalpcliff hill (52 a.), Hollow common (15 a.), and the
common at Waterside (6 a.). A further 14 a. was also
inclosed at Church meadow (the present Stapenhill
Hollows) on the west side of Stapenhill Road. (fn. 5)
Modern Farms In the earlier 18th century before
parliamentary inclosure the main farms, besides that
at Brizlincote, were Stapenhill Great Farm (the former
monastic grange) and Bridge End Farm (with some of
its land in Winshill). (fn. 6) As Stapenhill village expanded in
the 19th century, agricultural land was confined to
Brizlincote and the area of the township added to
Drakelow in 1894.
RABBIT WARRENS
In 1522 Stapenhill grange included a rabbit warren,
possibly on Scalpcliff hill where a 'clapper' (a manmade burrow) was constructed in 1567 and a lodge
built in 1577. (fn. 7) The warren had been abandoned by the
early 1620s. (fn. 8) There may have been another warren on the
township's boundary south-east of the village, where land
called 'Coneygre' was recorded in the later 18th century. (fn. 9)
MILLS
One of the tenants recorded in the early 12th-century
surveys of Stapenhill, Leofwine the goldsmith, had a
mill, as did Thorald the carpenter; a third tenant paid a
rent for a mill-sluice (exclusagium). (fn. 10) A mill was again
recorded in the 1180s. (fn. 11) In 1407 what was called
'Chaumbre' mill stood near Stapenhill holme, possibly
identifiable as the later Horse holme. (fn. 12)
INDUSTRY
A boy was apprenticed to a Stapenhill bricklayer named
Nicholas Cross in 1696, and other brickmakers at
Stapenhill were named in the 1720s. (fn. 13) In 1734 a
brickmaker named Samuel Ault leased a plot of land
on Stanton Road, (fn. 14) and by 1748 Benjamin Cross (d.
1798) was making bricks on land adjoining Scalpcliff
hill. (fn. 15) There were several brickmakers in Stapenhill in
1846, and the opening of new yards caused an influx of
labourers. (fn. 16) By the late 1870s there were yards on the
west side of Hill Street and on the east side of Rosliston
Road near the later Saxon Street. There was also a
brickyard further south on the west side of Stanton
Road at its junction with Sycamore Road, and another
on the east side of Rosliston Road near the Derbyshire
boundary. (fn. 17) The main employers in 1881 were James
Ballard and William Elveston, the former in association
with a building contractor, Joseph Chamberlain. (fn. 18)
A mineral water manufactory in Stanton Road, in
existence by 1900, was run in 1904 by the licensee of
the Barley Mow in Main Street. In 1912 it was owned
by the Burton and District licensed victuallers' association, which moved the works to Lichfield Street, in
Burton, in the later 1920s. (fn. 19)