FREEFORD
Freeford, south-east of Lichfield, was formerly a township of 378 a. in St. Michael's
parish, Lichfield. (fn. 1) Most of it was an estate
centred on Freeford Manor, the home of the
Dyott family; the rest was centred on Freeford
House. In 1934 Freeford became part of the new
civil parish of Swinfen and Packington. A
boundary change in 1980 transferred 5½ a.
around Freeford House to Lichfield, from
which 172 a. east of Lichfield Eastern Bypass
was added to Swinfen and Packington. (fn. 2)
Part of Freeford's north-western boundary
follows the upper reaches of Darnford brook; on
the east the boundary with Whittington runs
along the Tamworth road. The subsoil is Bunter
Sandstone and Pebble Beds, except for an area
of Keuper Sandstone north of Freeford
Manor. (fn. 3) The soil is loam. (fn. 4) The ground lies at
226 ft. (69 m.) on the boundary with Lichfield
by Freeford House; to the south it rises to 259 ft.
(79 m.) at Freeford Manor and 328 ft. (100 m.)
on the boundary east of Home Farm.
Six people were assessed for tax in 1327 and
13 in 1332–3. (fn. 5) Two householders were assessed
for hearth tax in 1666. (fn. 6) Freeford's population
was 27 in 1841, 23 in 1851, 12 in 1861, 15 in
1871, and 54 in 1881. (fn. 7) By 1901 it was 100,
falling to 75 in 1911 and 59 in 1921. In 1931,
when it was last recorded separately, the population was 64. (fn. 8)
Freeford derives its name from a ford on the
Lichfield-Tamworth road over Darnford
brook. The ford was 'free' in the sense that it
was open or accessible, presumably in contrast
to Darnford, the hidden or secret ford, further
downstream in Streethay. A medieval leper hospital stood south of the junction of two roads
from Lichfield, on the site later occupied by
Freeford House; (fn. 9) there was a house next to the
hospital's chapel in 1466. (fn. 10) A green, mentioned
in 1327, (fn. 11) may have lain around the road junction. Freeford Manor to the south may stand on
or near the site of a medieval house. The site of
Freeford Farm to the west, in Lichfield, was
settled in the earlier 18th century. (fn. 12) In 1837 a
cottage was built south of Freeford Manor on
the site of Home Farm, itself dating from the
later 19th century, and between 1861 and 1871
two cottages were built in Barkers Lane. (fn. 13) Several houses were built along the Tamworth road
and south of Freeford Farm in the 1930s. (fn. 14) East
of Home Farm the club house for Whittington
golf club was built in the early 20th century. A
new club house was opened on the Whittington
side of the boundary c. 1960 and the old one
became a private house, called Lochranza,
where commercial dog kennels were later
built. (fn. 15)
The Lichfield-Tamworth road was turnpiked
in 1770 and disturnpiked in 1882. A tollgate east
of Darnford brook was removed in 1882, and
North Lodge was built on its site. (fn. 16) A new
stretch of the road was constructed over
Lichfield Eastern Bypass, which was opened in
1971. (fn. 17) Part of the former road was converted
into a compound for lorries using the bypass;
two houses were later built near by.
When Lichfield council took an electricity
supply from Walsall in 1926, it supplied Freeford free of charge because poles carrying the
cable to the city ran across the Dyott estate. (fn. 18)
Edward II stopped at Freeford in 1326 before
entering Lichfield city. (fn. 19)
MANOR AND OTHER ESTATES.
In 1086
FREEFORD was a member of the bishop of
Chester's manor of Lichfield (later Longdon). (fn. 20)
It was assessed at 3 hides c. 1255. (fn. 21) It remained a
member of the bishop's (later the Paget family's)
manor of Longdon until at least the later 18th
century. (fn. 22)
Ranulf held the manor of the bishop in
1086. He also held Timmor in Fisherwick, and
by 1135 Freeford formed a knight's fee with
Timmor and with Fradswell in Colwich. (fn. 23) By
1242–3 the lords of Timmor held Freeford as
mesne lords, and in the 1260s William of Timmor and his son Hugh granted the terre tenant,
Robert of Freeford, freedom of marriage for
himself and his heirs. (fn. 24) The mesne lordship
survived in 1298. (fn. 25)
In 1242–3 William of Freeford held the
manor as ½ knight's fee. (fn. 26) By the 1260s it was
held by his son Robert, who was still alive in
1289. (fn. 27) William of Freeford held it by 1294 and
was still alive in 1332. (fn. 28) In 1323 he settled
Freeford on his younger son John, who was
M.P. for Staffordshire in 1337 and had been
knighted by 1338. (fn. 29) John died in 1366, leaving
three daughters as his heirs. (fn. 30) The manor remained divided until it was re-united by John
Dyott of Lichfield and his son Anthony between
1563 and 1616.
Figure 22:
FREEFORD 1985
By the late 14th century a third share of the
manor had passed from Margaret, one of Sir
John Freeford's daughters, to her daughter
Alice and Alice's husband Henry Brown of
Lichfield (d. c. 1403). Afterwards it passed to
their son John, who was still alive in 1440. (fn. 31) His
heirs were two daughters, of whom Elizabeth
inherited the interest in Freeford. Her daughter
Margaret, who was recorded as holding a share
of Freeford through her husband John Harcourt
of Ranton in 1512 and in her own name in 1514,
died in 1522. (fn. 32) Her interest passed to her grandson John Harcourt, who let a house and barn at
Freeford to John Dyott of Lichfield in 1549.
Harcourt died soon after, and his interest in
Freeford passed to his son Robert (d. 1558), who
left his estate to his mistress Cassandra Cooke
and their four sons. In 1584 she and two of the
sons conveyed their rights in Freeford to John
Dyott's son Anthony. (fn. 33)
By 1421 another third of Freeford was held by
Sir William Lichfield, evidently as heir of Elizabeth, one of Sir John Freeford's daughters and
wife of John Bachecote. (fn. 34) William was succeeded in 1446 by his daughter Margaret, wife
of Humphrey Stafford of Bishop's Frome
(Herefs.). (fn. 35) The share evidently passed to Sir
William Stafford of Bishop's Frome, whose
daughter Margaret married Sir George de Vere.
In 1537 Margaret assigned her share to her
daughter Elizabeth and Elizabeth's husband
Sir Anthony Wingfield. (fn. 36) By c. 1600 the share
had passed to Jane Kniveton. In 1603 Jane's son
William Kniveton conveyed it to Ralph Jarman,
a Lichfield innkeeper (d. 1612). In 1616 Jarman's widow Margaret relinquished her rights
to Anthony Dyott. (fn. 37)
The remaining third share was further
divided. One part was held by Thomas Andrews
in 1512 and by William Andrews in 1514. In
1563 Humphrey Andrews conveyed it to John
Dyott. (fn. 38) The other part was held in 1512 by
Thomas Swinfen of Swinfen in Weeford and in
the later 16th century by William Swinfen. In
1606 John Swinfen sold it to Anthony Dyott's
wife Dorothy and their son Richard. (fn. 39)
John Dyott, a barrister and three times bailiff
of Lichfield, was probably the original of the
'little John Doit of Staffordshire', the boon
companion of Shakespeare's Justice Shallow in
their youth. (fn. 40) He was granted a crest in 1560 and
a coat of arms in 1563. (fn. 41) He was succeeded in
1578 (fn. 42) by his son Anthony Dyott, a barrister and
M.P. for Lichfield in 1601 and 1603, who died
in 1622. (fn. 43) He was succeeded by his son Richard,
a barrister, who in 1610 had married Dorothy,
daughter and heir of Richard Dorrington of
Stafford. Knighted in 1635, he was M.P. for
Lichfield in the 1620s and in 1640 and a prominent royalist. (fn. 44) He was succeeded in 1660 by his
son Anthony (d. 1662), another barrister, whose
heir was his brother Richard. (fn. 45) Richard, who
had accompanied Charles II into exile, was
elected M.P. for Lichfield in 1667. (fn. 46)
On Richard's death in 1677 his son, another
Richard, succeeded. He was M.P. for Lichfield
in most parliaments 1690–1715 and died in
1719. (fn. 47) His heir was his son Richard, the first of
the family to live at Freeford rather than
Lichfield. He died in 1769 and was succeeded
by his son Richard. In 1776 Richard was living
at Ashbourne (Derb.) and in 1784 at Leicester,
where he died in 1787. (fn. 48) He was succeeded by
his son Richard, who lived at Freeford from
1784 and was recorder of Lichfield from 1808.
He was succeeded in 1813 by his brother Lt.-Gen. William Dyott, a regular soldier who was
promoted to full general in 1830. An edition of
the diary which William kept from 1781 to
1845 was published in 1907. (fn. 49) William was
succeeded in 1847 by his son Richard (d. 1891),
M.P. for Lichfield 1865–74. Richard was succeeded by Lt.-Col. Richard Burnaby, grandson
of William Dyott's sister Lucy. Burnaby, who
changed his name to Dyott, was succeeded in
1903 by his grandson Richard (d. 1965). He
was followed by his grandson Richard Burnaby
Dyott, formerly Shaw, who remained the
owner in 1985. (fn. 50)
Freeford Manor, known as Freeford Hall
until the 1930s, (fn. 51) may stand on or near the site of
a medieval house. In 1366 Sir John Freeford's
widow was granted a licence for an oratory in
her house, possibly at Freeford. (fn. 52) In the 17th
century the Dyott family preferred to live in
Lichfield, and in 1719 there was only 'a little
house' at Freeford. It was probably incorporated in the brick house which Richard Dyott
built there in the early 1730s, (fn. 53) improving the
site by planting apple, cherry, nectarine, peach,
pear, and plum trees next to the house. (fn. 54) The
house itself was small and had a west front of
three bays. A drawing room, later the library,
was added on the south in the mid 18th century,
and by the late 18th century another large room
had been added to it on the east. A two-storey
service range on the north side of the house had
also been built by the late 18th century. Over the
main doorway there was by then an inscription
'Nil nisi bonum, portus amicis', still in place in
1985. (fn. 55) The house was approached on the north
through a courtyard, whose entrance was
flanked by a pair of square buildings.
On gaining possession of the house in 1826 on
the death of his brother's widow, William Dyott
engaged the architect Joseph Potter the elder of
Lichfield to make alterations. The work included resetting the 18th-century main staircase
in the south-west corner of the original house
and adding bedrooms over the drawing room. (fn. 56)
The house was further extended and remodelled
in 1848–9. The first bay of the 18th-century
service wing was rebuilt to restore the symmetry
of the west front, and the south front was also
made symmetrical. The east wing was given an
upper storey and was extended north and east. A
shallow stone porch of two storeys was built to
emphasize the main west entrance, probably in
1851–2. (fn. 57) A bay window was later added on the
south side of the library, and in the 20th century
various changes were made to the service buildings on the north. The stables north of the house
were built in the late 18th or early 19th century,
when a kitchen garden nearby was also laid out.
The icehouse in the wood south of the house was
built in 1842. (fn. 58)
There was an enclosed park by the earlier
17th century: in 1646 the estate could not be let
because 'the fence is so down and carried
away'. (fn. 59) The parkland was used for grazing
sheep and cattle in the early 18th century, (fn. 60) and
in the later 1790s it united 'the utility and profits
of farming with the pleasurable beauties of the
ornamental landscape'. (fn. 61) Small plantations of
trees were established by William Dyott in the
early 19th century. (fn. 62) The pool west of the house
may have originated as a mill pond in the
Middle Ages. In the early 20th century it
covered nearly 4 a. (fn. 63)
By the later 18th century the main approach
to the house was along an avenue from the east,
and a lodge on the Tamworth road was renovated in 1839. (fn. 64) In the mid 18th century an
avenue ran west of the house towards London
Road across the recently inclosed part of Old
Field. (fn. 65) It was replaced as the main approach to
the house, probably in the early 1840s, by a road
slightly to the north passing near Freeford
Farm. A double lodge was built on London
Road in 1843. The northern part was demolished before 1900 and the southern in 1958
when London Road was widened. (fn. 66) The eastern
avenue then became the main approach once
more; the lodge there had been rebuilt apparently in the late 19th century. A service road laid
out in 1845 joined the Tamworth road at the
tollgate replaced in 1882 by North Lodge. (fn. 67)
FREEFORD HOUSE
FREEFORD HOUSE occupies the site of the
leper hospital of St. Leonard, established by the
mid 13th century. The hospital appears to have
ceased to function by the later 14th century, and
in 1496 its estate was added to that of the
almshouse of St. John the Baptist in Lichfield. (fn. 68)
In 1508 the master of St. John's let a house at
Freeford, reserving the former chapel of St.
Leonard; that house was presumably part of the
St. John's estate in Freeford worth 30s. in 1535. (fn. 69)
In the early 1720s the estate comprised 18 a. (fn. 70) In
1813 the house and land were sold to Jonathan
Mallet, evidently the tenant. (fn. 71) He died in 1835
leaving his estate to his sisters Harriet (d. 1853) (fn. 72)
and Mary Ann (d. 1854). Subject to two life
interests the estate passed to Mary Ann's great-nephew Thomas Mallet. Thomas was farming
at Freeford in 1861 (fn. 73) and died in 1906 leaving the
estate in trust for his wife Lucy (d. 1949). In
1950 her heir or executor, Mrs. Fanny Lear,
sold the house to W. G. McKie. He in turn sold
it in 1967 to Mr. M. H. L. Farrant, the owner in
1985.
Freeford House is a brick building of the
earlier 18th century, joined at right angles to a
range which runs east-west along the Tamworth road. That range, of the 16th or 17th
century, was timber-framed on a sandstone
plinth; most of the timber was replaced by brick
at various dates in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In the 19th century the range was divided near
its west end, presumably to give access to the
back of the house. The gap was filled with a
small house, Princes Villa, in 1892. (fn. 74)
The great and small tithes of Freeford belonged to the prebendary of Freeford in Lichfield cathedral. From 1660 or earlier a modus
of 11s. 2d. was paid for both sorts, although in
the late 1770s the lessee of the prebend made an
unsuccessful attempt to have the great tithes
paid in kind. (fn. 75)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
Agriculture.
In
1086 Freeford had land for six ploughteams. (fn. 76)
About 1330 two open fields were mentioned,
Mere field and Nether field. (fn. 77) There was evidently some sheepfarming in the late 15th century: a flock of over 100 sheep was mentioned in
1480. (fn. 78)
About 1610 the lordship of Freeford consisted
of 240 a. of meadow, pasture, and woodland,
with Freeford marshes, evidently along Darnford brook, and heathland in Lichfield called
Old Field. Crops then grown included oats, rye,
white wheat, red wheat, barley, and peas, and
there were 14 cows, 10 young beasts, 6 calves,
and a bull. Sheepfarming was evidently important: there were 149 wethers 'fat enough for the
shambles', and 80 ewes and 60 lambs kept in
Town field in Lichfield. The estate was thought
to be worth £120 a year, improvable by inclosure, liming, and a good stock of animals. (fn. 79)
The inclosure of Old Field in Lichfield in the
late 17th and early 18th century added c. 175 a.
of arable land to the Dyott estate. It provided
land for Old Field (later Freeford) farm, which
included 166 a. in Lichfield in the mid 18th
century, when there was a farmhouse on the
present site. The home farm, which was worked
from Freeford Hall and covered 165 a. at the
same date, probably included the Bispells estate
in Lichfield held by the Dyotts as lessees. A
third mid 18th-century farm, Upper (later
Home) farm south of Freeford Hall, covered
171 a. (fn. 80) On the home farm in 1725 there were 34
cows (10 of them milkers), 4 calves, a bull and
202 sheep. In the 1730s there were c. 400 sheep;
by 1750 the flock had increased to nearly 490,
and there were then regular sales of sheep and
wool. (fn. 81) In the 1760s over 300 sheep were
sheared each year. (fn. 82)
Richard Dyott (d. 1813), who farmed the
home farm from 1784 and also farmed at Tamhorn in Fisherwick, was an agricultural improver and was elected president of the Staffordshire Agricultural Society on its establishment
in 1800. (fn. 83) At Freeford he drained much of the
land to create firm pasture. By 1792 he had a
flock of 940 sheep and lambs. Nearly 600 sheep
were sheared that year, 463 of them at Tamhorn
but the rest at Freeford; the breeding ewes
numbered 260 and produced 300 lambs a year.
In the 1790s sales of fattened sheep and of wool
at Freeford averaged £650 a year. Fattened
bullocks and heifers were included in the annual
sales, and the stock had been improved by the
purchase of heifers from the experimental
breeder John Princep of Croxall (Derb.) and of
Scotch steers. Only c. 30 a. of wheat were grown
at Freeford and 70 a. of turnips as winter food
for the sheep; the turnips were followed by
barley and then grass for one or two years. (fn. 84) The
Freeford sales continued in the early 19th century; that of 1810, which took place the day after
a meeting of the Staffordshire Agricultural Society at Lichfield, included 100 fat ewes, 50
theaves, and several rams, all apparently of the
Leicester breed, and 10 blackfaced wethers, 10
Scotch bullocks, 6 cows, and a bull. Some sales
also included racehorses. (fn. 85)
William Dyott improved the farm buildings
and in 1829 bought a haymaking machine, having had trouble with his labourers. (fn. 86) In the later
1830s and early 1840s he was growing turnips,
swedes, carrots, and mangolds as feed for his
cattle and sheep; he also grew some wheat,
barley, and potatoes. (fn. 87) Freeford farm and Upper
farm were let. They were worked together until
1838, when Upper farm was let separately to
Joseph Booth, who also farmed as the tenant at
Fulfen in Streethay. Because there was no living
accommodation at Upper farm, a cottage was
built there in 1837 for Booth's use. (fn. 88) Richard
Dyott (d. 1891) replaced the cottage with a
farmhouse for the amalgamated home farm and
Upper farm, known as Home farm by 1872. (fn. 89)
Richard was a pioneer breeder of Shropshire
sheep and won prizes with rams at the 1863 and
1865 Royal Shows. The flock was still kept in
the late 1920s. (fn. 90)
Thomas Baxter, knighted in 1943 for services
to agriculture, was lessee of Freeford farm from
1903 to 1927 and of Home farm from 1909 to
1921. In 1917 he farmed 612 a., of which 65 a.
were devoted to barley (chiefly for brewing in
Lichfield), 55 a. to wheat, 54 a. to swedes, and
15 a. to mangolds. There was four-course rotation of barley (with clover), clover, wheat (or
early potatoes), and roots. The potatoes were sold
locally, while much of the root crop was used to
feed 550 Shropshire sheep, 50 dairy cows, and
other cattle. The yearly sale of milk in 1917 was
26,000 gallons. In 1923 Baxter was one of the first
farmers in the county to sow sugar beet. (fn. 91)
In 1985 the Dyott estate in Freeford and
Lichfield comprised some 625 a. with a further
145 a. in Whittington. Farming was chiefly
dairying and cattle rearing. (fn. 92)
Fishery and warren.
The fishery of a pool at
Freeford was reserved when Richard Dyott let
the estate in 1632. (fn. 93) Carp were turned into
ponds there in 1759, and in 1763 ponds were
stocked with carp and trout; tench were introduced in 1765. (fn. 94) When the pool was drained in
1784 it yielded 80 carp, 3 perch, and 3 pike. In
1785 it was restocked with 200 carp, 200 perch,
100 trout, and 6 pike, and further stockings of
trout were made in 1786 and 1787. The pool was
enlarged in 1793 and continued to be fished. (fn. 95)
Soon after 1827 regular fishing seems to have
been abandoned, as the pool became increasingly choked. (fn. 96)
In 1585 a lessee of Freeford manor was liccensed to kill rabbits. (fn. 97) Pasture called 'cunney-greays' in the 18th century was presumably the
site of a former warren. (fn. 98)
Mill.
In the early 13th century Roger Gray,
son of Simon Gray, granted Thomas Brown a
mill at Freeford. (fn. 99) A share in a mill there was
acquired by Henry son of Walter of Lichfield in
the later 13th century. (fn. 100) Henry's son Richard
later conveyed four parts of the mill, possibly its
entirety, to Robert of Freeford. (fn. 101) The mill may
have stood below the pool west of Freeford
Manor.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
In 1293 Freeford
township made presentments at the great court
of Longdon manor. (fn. 102) In 1327 it sent two frank-pledges but only one by 1370. One was still
chosen at the Longdon court in 1642. (fn. 103) Freeford
remained a constituent township of Longdon
manor in 1760, when a headborough for Freeford was recorded among the manorial officials. (fn. 104) The Dyott family evidently resented the
dependency: in the early 1740s Richard Dyott
claimed that he had the right to hunt his own
land, but he was forced to admit that Freeford
was a township only and not a manor and that all
rights to game belonged to the earl of Uxbridge
as lord of Longdon. (fn. 105) About the same time
Dyott alleged that courts baron had formerly
been held at Freeford but that no court rolls
survived, having been 'lost during the Civil
Wars'. (fn. 106) There was a constable by 1377, (fn. 107) and
election to the office at the Longdon great court
was recorded by the late 16th century. (fn. 108) In the
late 1790s it was the practice that the constable
was chosen by the head of the Dyott family from
among his household. (fn. 109)
Parochially Freeford was in St. Michael's
parish, Lichfield, and in 1820 it had a sidesman
at that church. (fn. 110) Freeford, however, had no
organization for administering the poor and was
regarded as extra-parochial by the late 1790s. It
became a civil parish in 1858, and in the same
year was placed in Lichfield poor-law union. (fn. 111)
In 1934 it was joined with the Swinfen and
Packington portion of Weeford to form the civil
parish of Swinfen and Packington. (fn. 112)
Freeford subscribed to the Whittington Association for the Prosecution of Felons, formed by
1780 and surviving in 1828. (fn. 113)
CHURCH.
Once St. Leonard's hospital was no
longer a leper-house, its chapel was evidently
used for services by local people. Dean Buckingham included Freeford chapel as part of his
intended visitation of Freeford prebend in 1356,
giving no indication that it was other than a
chapel of ease. (fn. 114) At some date in the 15th
century the chapel possessed vestments, books,
a cross, a censer, a pyx, and two candlesticks. (fn. 115)
Anthony Dyott (d. 1662) and later members
of his family were buried in St. Mary's, Lichfield, the church which earlier members had
attended as Lichfield residents. (fn. 116) It was a tradition by the early 19th century that the burials
took place at night, (fn. 117) a practice which elsewhere
in the country originated in the 17th century. (fn. 118)
The last burial at St. Mary's was that of Richard
Dyott in 1891, after which the Dyotts were
buried at Whittington. (fn. 119) From at least the later
18th century the inhabitants of Freeford went to
Whittington church. (fn. 120) In 1983 Freeford was
added to the ecclesiastical parish of Whittington, except for the area around Freeford House
west of Lichfield Eastern Bypass which was
added to St. Michael's, Lichfield. (fn. 121)
NONCONFORMITY.
None known.
EDUCATION.
No evidence.
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
None known.