13th CENTURY AUSTHWAITE CHARTERS
Sciant omnes tam presentes quam futuri. Quod ego Wills. filius Henrici filii Arturi concessi & hac presentu carta mea confirmam Benedicto filio Ketelli & heredibus suis Terra quam pater meus dedit ei pro homagio & seruitos suo. Scilicet Auestwait per has diuisas. Per bircherhebec contra montes usque ad rivulum qui descendit de musco sub Satgodard. & inde usque ad alius rivulium qui cadit de eadem musco in duvokeswater. & sicut lindebec cadit de duvokeswater usque in esch. & esch contra montes usque ad Bircherhebec. Hanc terras tenebit ipse & heredes sui de me & de heredibus meis. libere & quiete & honorifice. reddendo annuatim mei & heredibus meis decem & octo denarios. dimidium ad festum sancti michaeli & dimidium ad pascha. Salvo praeterea mei & heredibus meis cervo & cerva & apro & sue silvestris & pannagio porcoris hominem suoris qui infra has divisas manserunt. secundum consuetudiem parte. scilicet vicesimum porcum. Hiis testibus. radulfo Corbet. Willo. filio Ketlli. Ricardo f'alani, Willo. f'hugonis. Ricardo de morthing. Alexandro f'ulfui. Willo. f'Waldrui. & multis aliis |
Let all know, both at present and in the future that I, William son of Henry son of Arthur [of Millom] concede and with this, my present charter, confirm to Benedict son of Ketl and his heirs the land which my father gave to him [in return] for his homage and services Specifically, Austhwaite, by these boundaries: By Birker Beck, upstream [=against the slope] to the rivulet which descends from the moss below Seat and from that to another rivulet which flows [=falls] from the same moss into Devokewater and with the flow of Linbeck from Devokewater into the Esk and upsteam along the Esk up to Birkerbeck He and his heirs are to hold these lands from me and my heirs freely and quietly [i.e. in peace] and honourably paying annually to me and my heirs 18 pence half at the feast of St. Michael [29 Sep] and half at Easter reserving exceptionally for me and my heirs deer and hind and boar and swine of the woods and [an entitlement to] forage for the pigs of their men who live within these boundaries subject to the customary division, specifically 1 pig in 20 These witnesses- Ralph Corbet, William son of Ketl, Ricard son of Alan, William son of Hugh, Richard of Morthing, Alexander son of Ulfr, William son of Waldr and many others |
For this map, I have assumed that the moss below Seat {Satgodard) is Tewit Moss, north of the hill. Also, of course, the map shows things like roads and buildings which did not necessarily exist in the 13th century. Some of the later names are taken from the Dalegarth charter shown below.
infra has divisas. incipiendo ad aquam que vocatur Birkerbeck et sic descendendo per eusdem aquam usque in Eske et sic descedendo per Eske usque ad quercum que vocatur Crossithake et sic ex transuerso usque Brindestub ad exteriorem partem de Wynterscaletheyth et sic usque in aquam que vocatur Blakesyke usque in sepem et sic de illa sepe usque in Birkerbeck una cum quadam mansione apud Birker quam Robertus de Birker quondam tenuit, cum toto clausu pertinente ad eandem mansionem | within these bounds starting at the stream called Birkerbeck and so descending by that stream to the Esk and so descending by the Esk to the oak called [the crossed oak] and so across to [the burnt stump] on the outside of [winter hut clearing] and so to the stream called Black Beck to the boundary [perhaps a fence or just a marker] and so from this boundary to Birkerbeck with a certain large house at Birker which Robert of Birker formerly possessed with all the inclosed land belonging to that large house |