Letter – Nicholas Walton to John Ibbetson – 20 Aug 1793

John Ibbetson Esq						Farnacres 20th August 1793



Sir

	I recd the Boards Minutes which shall be attended to. I should have sooner acknowledged the rect of them had I not been eversince engaged, on acct of the Hexhamshire and Allendale	& Grindon, Thorngrafton and Langley Divisions.

	The Boundaries of Hexhamshire and Allendale Common were rode or perambulated, upon the 7th & 8th Inst, and the first Meeting of the Commissioners for the Division thereof, is to be at Hexham on Monday the 9th of next Month, for the purpose of taking in Claims which may Affect the Boundaries, and, also Claims of Right of Common.

	We have had a Meeting of the Commissioners appointed to Divide and Allot Grindon, Langley, and Thorngrafton Commons, for the like purposes as are above mentioned, at which I delivered in, the Claims, on behalf of the Hospital, for the several Estates, in respect of wch Common Right is Claimed on those Commons, and 46 Claims were made, by others, for Estates in respect of which they Claim to be entitled to Right of Common; so that the business is ‘going’ on, as well as can be expected, which, I assure you, gives me much satisfaction, as the benefit to Greenwich Hospital, in consequence of the improvement of the several Commons, will be very great.

	The whole of the Hospitals Tenants, except for East and West Millhills and Lypwood and Lypwood well Farms, have requested to take the benefit of the Clauses inserted in. the Grindon and Langley Acts, for settling the additional or increase Rents and Compensations for Allotments, to be made in respect of the Farms and, of which they are in possession for Terms of Years; and the Hexhamshire Tenants, have all desired to leave the settling of the additional Rents for their Allotments, to the Commissioners appointed to Divide and Allot the Hexhamshire and Allendale Common; and Printed Forms for the requests have been filled up and signed by the whole, except as above.

	As there is a probability of our having some trifling disputes concerning Boundaries of Incroachments, where they touch upon the ancient Inclosed Grounds, and at the rough Plans made for the Receiver’s use, tho’ sufficient for the general purposes for which they were made are not so accurately drawn at the Fair Plans made by Mr Thompson in 1736, now in the Hospitals possession, wch are bound up in a Book, and the whole delineated upon Vellum, we beg leave to request to have that Book sent down, so as that we may receive it by the beginning of next Month, which will give Time for the examination of it, before the 2d Meeting of the Commissioners appointed to Divide and Allot Grindon and Langley Commons.

	The principal Estate consists of five detached Parcels every one surrounded by the Hospitals Ground and in occupation whereof much inconvenience arise to the Hospitals Tenants as well as to the Farmers of the Five Parcels of Ground. The Freehold of them is in Sir Edwd Blackett but they are Leased to a Mr John Craig for a long Term of Years. He has every reason to believe that the Lessor, as well as the Lessee, is desirous that an Exchange sh[oul]d take place & that the Equivalent shd be taken from a part of Haydon Town Farm so as that the whole of Sir Edwards Estate at Haydon shd lie together. The situation of the several parcels of Ground will be best seen by referring to the inclosed sketch which shews the whole, including the Ground belonging the Hospital from whence the equivalent for the five detached parcels is proposed to be given & which you will observe is coloured upon the Boundary as Yellow. The Church Lands Freehold is not an object as to the Exchange as no detached pieces belong to it. Those Lands that are Freehold property of the same Mr John Craig who has the Lands Leased under Sir Edwd Blackett and shd the Exchange take place he will have his Freehold and Leasehold all together & the Hospital will have an entire Estate save only what he will afterwards have in possession and this extending from Haydon Bridge on the Northside of Tyne Eastwd to Allerwash. The Sketch is drawn upon a Scale of Four Chains to one Inch.

      The next object of Exchange is that of a small parcel of Freehold which lies in Rattenraw Fields quite surrounded by the Hospitals Property & and for which an equivalent may be given from Broomhill Fore Field & Piece. It is impossible that anything can be more inconvenient than the occupation of this parcel of Ground both to the Hospital and the Owner and we hope he will be agreeable to have an exchange to take place. It is certain nothing cod be more advantageous to the respective Proprietors but Mr Matthew Parker the Owner is a strange perverse Man and unless the proposition comes from himself it is imagined no exchange can take place.

	The third Estate in which it is probable that an exchange may take place is with Haydon Bridge School Trustees who are desirous to have the whole of the School Land laid together. Not knowing their wishes sufficiently to be enabled to state to the Board exactly what they would have done, I can only say that from what I have heard the Trustees would like to have some part of the Common and part of the Hospitals Freehold near to the School laid to it and to give an equivalent to Greenwich Hospital from their remaining Allotment of Common & that wd be a desirable thing on the part of the Hospital as well as on theirs.

	The last circumstance in which it can be at present seen to be proper that an exchange shd take place, is with the Owners of Stawards Estate, for a Field called Dewey Syke, which joins upon that Estate, on the East, West, and North, and upon Langley South Common on the South, and has no Housing belonging to it. The Commissioners and Governors of Greenwich Hospital are the Owners and as it only consists of 12¾ Acres and is at a considerable distance from any other inclosed Grounds belonging the Hospital it wd be an advantage to give it in exchange for an equivalent from the Allotment to be made in respect of the Staward Estate but there being a Minor who is a Ward of Chancery I very much doubt whether an exchange will not be thereby prevented.

I am for Sir John Turner & Self

	Sir Your most Obedt Servant

		Nich Walton Junr