Peter Flint and the Totley Hall Estate
by Josie Dunsmore
Totley Hall Estate, consisting of two adjacent farms or “parcels of land”, the Hall and abutting fields, together with several pieces of woodland, was held in the 17th and 18th centuries in three separate parts (or moieties) by absentee landowners who rented it out to local tenants. However, all three parts came together in 1791 under joint ownership of Rev D’Ewes Coke of Brookhill Hall, Pinxton, Mansfield, and his wife Hannah, who had three sons D’Ewes, William and John, and a daughter Hannah. However it is doubtful if Rev D’Ewes Coke even visited Totley during the twenty years he held the estate – relying on agents and tenant farmers to maintain the land while he took their rental money.
One of the Coke tenants in Totley was Peter Flint, son of John and Jane, who was baptised on 10 Sept 1758 and married Ann Sanderson at Dronfield on 7 Dec 1783. Records show that the couple had three children – Jane, Sarah and William. However, during 1798 – 99, wife Ann and infant children Sarah and William all died, and within a year Peter remarried Elizabeth Fearnehough, aged 28, by Licence on 26 Sept 1799. Peter’s age is given as 36 years, when in fact he was 41, but he is described as a “farmer of Totley”.
It may be that Peter was given the tenancy of one of the two Totley Hall farms as early as 1791 when the Rev D’Ewes Coke and his wife Hannah inherited the Totley Hall Estate. Peter’s name appears in Totley records in 1794 as serving on the Overseers of the Poor Committee, which was made up of “substantial men” chosen by the Landholders in the Hamlet of Totley. This would indicate that he was well-known and respected in Totley at that time.
By at least 1801 Peter was tenant farmer of Totley Hall, living in the farm on Totley Hall Lane with his second wife Elizabeth; whilst the second estate farmers were the Platt family – first Robert, who was a tenant in the 1780s, and then Thomas. The Platt family appeared to be struggling to cope as, in 1807, Peter Flint took over half their farm which abutted his own, and then took on both farms a year later. From this date Totley Hall Farm seems to have been much as it is in 2016, farmed by Edwin and Jenny Pocock, with a few exchanges and the addition of 30 acres of Broad Carr by the 1841 Totley Inclosure Award. During this time three girls were born to Peter and Elizabeth at Totley Hall Farm, but only two, Martha and Ann, survived infancy.
When Peter Flint took on the tenancy of Platt’s Farm as well as his own, Fairbanks, Surveyors of Sheffield, were commissioned in 1809 to survey the united farmland by John Coke Esq (who was acting for his father Rev. D’Ewes Coke). The result was that Peter Flint produced a rough “Eye Sketch” which may be the first map of the farm. Fairbanks added two detailed lists of field names, acreage and land use to the sketch of “Old” Farm (Peter Flint’s, 55 acres) and “New” Farm (Thomas Platt’s, 47 acres). Both farms were mostly pasture and meadow with some arable land growing oats, wheat and turnips. (See Plan 1.)
Plan 1. Peter Flint's rough "Eye Sketch", 1809
It is interesting to note that a block of Peter Flint’s fields had names which indicate ancient woodland – Near Stor Ley, Far Stor Ley, Upper Far Stor Ley, Knowle Field (also known as Nether Far Stor Ley) and Stubbing with adjacent Hustard having young oak trees recorded grown there in the latter part of the C 16th. Platt’s Farm also had Upper and Nether Lee Fields. (Stor, star or storth refer to young woodland, whilst lee or ley imply a clearing in the wood.) The former ancient woodland is an area being explored by FOGW, who will hopefully shed more light on the extent of the woodland in ancient times.
Another interesting field name is Kiln Field (sited in the area of the Totley Hall Lane playing field) which probably had a kiln for pottery, corn drying or smelting). Tenter Field (where woven cloth was stretched out on tenter hooks to dry) had lost its earlier 1600’s name and become simply Housecroft. The ruined foundations of a barn can still be found in Barn Field.
The two farms now formed a compact block of land either side of Totley Hall Lane and bordered Gillfield Wood. There was also a block of three outlying fields above the Shepley Spitfire where the allotments are now, named Bridge, Francis and Trickett fields. The Estate also owned Trickett Wood, Upper and Nether Gillfield Wood and Barkers Wood (now known as Little Wood). Peter Flint paid £90 rental twice a year on Lady Day and Michaelmas for the joint farms and £3-15s-9d property tax for the woodland.
In 1811 Rev D’Ewes Coke died and the Totley and Brimington Estates (which had come into the family through Hannah, nee Heywood of Brimington Hall via her uncle Anthony Gallimore) were passed back to his wife with the rents going to her second son William. He was Chief Justice of Ceylon, so was another absentee landlord. His interests were overseen by his brothers D’Ewes and John Coke.
After the death of his father, D’Ewes Coke commissioned Fairbanks to do a survey of the Totley Estate on his brother’s behalf. In 1813 Fairbanks produced a detailed sketch of the farm and woodland in his field/note book, which he later converted into a map.
The orientation of the field book sketch is opposite to other maps. Presumably Fairbanks started his drawing in Totley Hall Lane. What is special about this is that he made a detailed drawing of the farms and buildings. Peter Flint’s plot had a House (the old Totley Hall), Barn with Threshing floor, Stable, Fodder and Cow house, Folds and Garden. Platt’s old farm had a Barn, Cow house, Fodder Sheds, Corn Chamber, Stock Yards and Folds with two Houses and Garden on a Plot by the Lane (Pocock’s). (See Plan 2.)
Plan 2. Fairbanks 1813 sketch map
By 1818 it seems that Totley Hall Farm buildings and farmland were in a run-down condition. A detailed report by Jonah Fairbanks for D’Ewes Coke was made on 10 May 1818. Fairbanks reported that Peter Flint’s farmhouse walls needed pointing as well as slates at the west end. Half of the barn at the Old Farm (8) was “in great want of repair” and needed the roof removed and new lathes before slating over and pointing at an estimated cost of £15 – 15s – 0d. Peter Flint offered to see to the much needed repairs of doors to most of the outbuildings himself.
Fairbanks commented that the farm was being better managed than in 1813 but there was still room for improvement. The pasture land was overgrown with thistles and many weeds were being allowed to seed in the stubble of the arable fields.
A number of specific fields were referred to by name as needing attention. The Hustard (15) (which abuts Pheasant Wood) needed draining and ditches scouring. This field was covered in oak wavers (i.e. 25 - 30 year old), single stemmed trees in 1574. The clear felling of the trees would have made the land wetter. There is still an old ditch along the north edge of Pheasant Wood draining into Totley Brook which may be one of the ones referred to on the report.
Another field singled out for improvement was Upper Hustard (22) which needed clearing of bushes to make it more productive, but the few mature trees should remain. There was a Quarry spoil heap in Nether Lee Field (30) and barn in ruinous condition in Long Field (26). Fairbanks recommended that the barn be taken down and the stone and strong timber reused to build a smaller animal shelter-type shed for the cattle. New fencing and the planting of a white thorn hedge were also recommended in Nether Lee (29). It is perhaps worth noting that all bar one of the fields needing attention were on the original Platt farmland and not Flint’s. (See Plan 3.)
Plan 3. Fairbanks 1813 map with 1818 reports superimposed
The reason for the farm having become so run down becomes apparent from Fairbanks additional notes. He recommends a reduction to be made to the rental in consequence of the decrease of agricultural stock and the considerable increase in parochial assessments since 1813. Fairbanks is unsure how much to allow in order for Peter Flint (and the other tenants) to discharge their arrears in rent. Peter Flint reckoned he could pay off his arrears of £55 within two years. These had accrued as a result of some of his crops failing very much in the summer of 1817. It is worth noting that this crop failure was not confined to Peter Flint as D’Ewes Coke’s other tenants in Dore, John Grey, John Flint and William Taylor (farming for his widowed mother-in-law Mary Watson) were also in arrears due to crop failure.
In July 1818 the tenants had written a letter to acting agent John Coke making “great complaints” and stating their inability to pay rent as valued by Fairbanks some years previously - Peter Flint’s annual rental being £170. John Coke sought Fairbanks’ opinion on whether he thought their complaints justified. The outcome was that when D’Ewes Coke inherited the Dore and Totley Estates from his mother, who died in Sept 1818, he decided to acquiesce to the tenants’ request and actually visit the properties at the same time as Fairbanks to see the new survey plans.
From correspondence, accounts and the farm reports it is obvious that Peter Flint was just not coping with the running of the two amalgamated farms. Despite all the faults that Fairbanks found in 1818 he noted improvements since 1813, so it seems that Peter Flint was making an effort to make a go of things. The poor harvest of 1817 and increasing debt must have added additional worries to his heavy burden. He found his new Landlord very different to his previous masters. D’Ewes Coke was a hands-on sort of landowner and, as the Duke of Rutland’s land agent since 1811, very used to getting the best use out of the land. By the end of 1820 the writing was on the wall for Peter Flint. After a new survey and report on the Totley property made by John Wyck, D’Ewes Coke wrote to Fairbanks that “he speaks so unfavourably of its condition and possible management that I have stated to P. Flint my intention to remove him on Lady Day”. He asked Fairbanks if they could recommend an “industrious man” to take over though he proposed to keep the Hall in his own hands and let the farmhouse to the new tenant of the Farm. D’Ewes Coke mentioned taking on the three Trickett fields and maybe four or five more acres himself if it was desired to reduce the extent of the farm, perhaps acknowledging that it was overly large for one man to manage.
In 1821 when he left the farm, Peter Flint was 62 years old and had tenanted Totley Hall Estate Farm for well over 20 years. However, it seems that he was not left destitute. Dore Inclosure Award c1827 shows Peter Flint had a self-owned a house in Townhead Road above Cromwell Cottages with an adjacent garden and croft, as well as an allotment on Blackamoor. He was also a tenant of three fields in Totley (Upper, Middle and Nether Flatt) owned by Offley Shore, until his death in 1836, aged 78. He was buried in Dronfield but his wife Elizabeth, a midwife, outlived him.
After Peter Flint left the Totley Estate Farm the new tenant farmer appointed appears to be John Wilson.
Peter Flint wasn’t the only person to be given his marching orders due to inefficiency when D’Ewes Coke took a hand in setting the Totley Estate back on its feet. In 1831 D’Ewes Coke quarrelled with Surveyors and Agents Fairbanks. D’Ewes Coke had asked for a new map of the Totley Estate but, instead, Fairbanks produced new Maps of the Coke Estate in Dore and Brimington. D’Ewes sarcastically thanked them for these, but refused to pay, saying that it was the Totley map he wanted. He had been unimpressed by the 1813 map and had suggested previous errors should be rectified and adjacent landowners indicated. The 1809 map was merely a sketch by the farmer, while in 1818, Fairbanks had merely revised the 1813 map, renumbering the fields and providing a written report. Lord Middleton (Lord of the Manor) allowed his Agent to make a copy of his own 1821 Survey of Totley for D’Ewes Coke’s use instead, so a map of Totley by Fairbanks was no longer needed.
By 1831 the well-organized, efficient D’Ewes Coke, who didn’t suffer fools gladly, had had enough. The missing Totley map was the last straw and he dispensed with the services of Fairbanks. This put an end to an extremely fertile source of information regarding Totley Farm Estate in the early 19th century. It is possible to discover the names of future tenant farmers and owners using censuses and directories, but there are few details about the ups and downs of farming available for research as in the tenancy of Peter Flint.
Plan 1: Sheffield Archives – FC/CP 11(1)
Plan 2: Sheffield Archives – FC/CP 11(19)
Plan 3: Sheffield Archives – FC/DRO 73S
(Documents published by kind permission of Sheffield City Council, Libraries, Archives and Information)