Thomas Lewis Land Entry
Thomas Lewis’ Will passes down his land and home to his daughter, Susan Lewis and her heirs ‘forever’. Thanks to the National Library of Wales’ Cynefin project we can view the disposition of his land in the Tithe Maps and records of the time.
His land actually straddles the boundary between Newchurch (East and West) and Itton though only 13 perches lie within Itton and these are included in the Newchurch East and West Map.
Note that the contemporary Tithe Map is shown on the left, alongside the same area on a modern OS Map.
He owns three fields in Newchurch (East and West) – namely those numbered 340, 341, and 342. He also owns field 227 on the Itton Map but that seems to be included within 342 on the map reproduced above. The dot and dash line lying within field 342 is the boundary with Itton.
This entry shows the sizes of the fields 340, 341 and 342. Field 227 on the Itton map is a further 13 perches but as field 342 on the map shown includes this area, it may be that the 13 perches are included in the area of field 342.
Not shown in the above entry is the fact that the “overall” owner of this land is the Duke of Beaufort and that Thomas Lewis is entered as an Occupier. However, Thomas’ Will seems to imply that the arrangement is “in perpetuity” as this is how he passes the land on in his Will.
Area of Land
In the Tithe Entry the sizes of the fields are given in 3 figures – Acres, Roods and Perches. Their relationship is as follows – there are 40 Perches to 1 Rood, and there are 4 Roods to 1 Acre. An acre is, in area, 43,560 square feet and is 1/640th of a square mile.
The above entry shows that, in total, Thomas Lewis owns an area of 2 acres 3 roods and 16 perches (plus a further 13 perches in Itton if not included in the above) and that the tithe due was 2/- (2 shillings). I do not know the frequency of the tithe payment but it is most likely per annum.