{"id":1051,"date":"2016-04-13T23:21:54","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T22:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/?p=1051"},"modified":"2018-12-09T01:18:29","modified_gmt":"2018-12-09T01:18:29","slug":"thomas-atcherley-and-his-marton-tannery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.atcherley.org.uk\/wp\/thomas-atcherley-and-his-marton-tannery\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Atcherley and his Marton tannery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Quote\"\u00a0There is a kneeling in this Peiw, which belongs to that chiefe house in Marton which Thomas Acherley purchased of Lloyd Peirce, Esq.; it is not that house wherein Andrew Acherley now dwelles but the house which stands on the right hand as wee go from the street to Andrew Acherley’s dwelling house, and is now made use of for malting roomes and corne chambers; and the barne that stands on the west side of it is all the building that beelongs to it. I can give noe account of the family of Lloyd Peirce, neither is it necessary; but I shall give an account of the Acherleyes, since they had any estate in this parish. \"Unquote\"\u00a0\u2014 Richard Gough (1701), Antiquities and Memoirs of the Parish of Myddle<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The amazing account of the deeds (and misdeeds) of the parishioners of Middle (or Myddle) in Shropshire written by Richard Gough\u00a0[<\/a><\/strong>] includes stories relating to the first few generations of the Atcherleys of Marton. The information provided by Gough regarding those early Atcherleys does have to be treated with some caution given that it is, at best, second-hand \u2013 the events he described took place before he was born. Nevertheless, in Richard Gough\u2019s Antiquities and Memoirs of the Parish of Myddle<\/em> we have a starting point for learning about the origins of the Marton Atcherleys, and the source of their wealth.<\/p>\n

\"Quote\"\u00a0There was one Richard Acherley\u00a0[<\/a><\/strong>], a younger brother of that antient and substantiall family of the Acherleyes of Stanwardine in the feilds. He was a tanner, and had his tan-house in Stanwardine in the feild, but he lived (as a tenant) at Wicherley Hall. Hee purchased lands in Marton of David Owen, and one Twiford. I supose these two had married co-heiresses, for I finde noe mention of butt one house of the lands, and that stood on a sandy banke on this side of Mr. Acherley’s new barnes. Richard Acherley had ishue, Thomas Acherley\u00a0[<\/a><\/strong>], to whom he hee gave these lands in Marton.\u00a0\"Unquote\"<\/p>\n

\"Map<\/p>\n

Marton, in the parish of Middle, is situated less than two miles (just under three kilometres) away from Stanwardine in the Fields, in the adjoining parish of Baschurch (the map above shows Baschurch, Stanwardine and Marton in the 1830s). There are records of Atcherleys at Stanwardine which date back to at least the thirteenth century, so there are no grounds to doubt that the Atcherleys of Marton came from there as stated by Gough. Unfortunately, while the parish registers of Middle began in 1541, we have none for Baschurch until 1600. A baptism record for the first Thomas Atcherley of Marton is therefore lacking (as indeed are many other events for which I dearly wish there were records!).<\/p>\n

\u201cGough the Historian\u201d, as Richard is sometimes known, was clearly a little puzzled about the former owners of the Marton lands acquired by Richard Atcherley. It was modern-day historian David Hey who managed to crack the conundrum . At the UK National Archives David found a record of a Chancery court case from 1623, which I have since looked at, photographed, and transcribed myself. This reveals that on 8 February 1612\/13 a John Windell of London purchased \u201cOne Messuage or Tenement & ye Lands and Tenements thereunto belonging, of him the saide Roger Twyford lyeing and being in Marton in the parrish of Middle in the saide Countie of Salop then or late in the possession or occupacon of William Baker, and David Owen, or one of them\u201d.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, according to David Hey, \u201cThis property changed hands several times until Richard Atcherley’s son, Thomas, finally bought it in 1622\u201d. The Chancery case shows that one of those changes of hands, in 1617, brought the property into the holding of \u201cRichard Atcherley of Stannardine in the Countie of Salop aforesaide Gent\u201d.<\/p>\n

So the lands at Marton which \u201cone Twiford\u201d had owned, which David Owen had occupied, and which Richard Atcherley \u201cof Stannardine\u201d later held, were not given<\/em> by Richard to Thomas Atcherley: Thomas had purchased them in his own right. Indeed, in Thomas\u2019s own words he \u201cdid purchase to him and his heires the sd Mesuage and lands for a verie valuable consideracion given for the same and att a Deare Rate\u201d. It was stated at Chancery that Thomas had entered into \u201cthree or fower sureties bounde in Statute bonde or Recognizaunce of Six or Eight hondred pounds\u201d in order to free the lands he had bought from all incumbrances. Once he had acquired the lands, Thomas \u201cDoth Lett and sett some parte thereof\u201d while other parts were kept \u201cin his owne possession\u201d.<\/p>\n

To return to Gough\u2019s Antiquities and Memoirs:<\/em> \u201cThis Thomas was a tanner and dwelt in Marton, and held Mr. Lloyd Peirce his house there, and dwelt in it, and suffered the other to go to decay. He built a tan-house, which is now standing by the old mill brooke.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tan house, which was standing when Richard Gough put pen to paper in 1700-01, still stands today (the image of the house below is from Google Street View). Long since converted into a dwelling house, it is a Grade III listed building. According to David Hey (writing in 1974):<\/p>\n

\"Quote\"\u00a0The house which stands so attractively in its garden at the top of the bank that slopes down to the Old Mill Brook is still known as the Tan House and belonged to the owners of Marton Hall until 1954 […] one is led to wonder from the name and from Gough’s account whether it was originally built as a tannery or a storage building, with perhaps some accommodation for the servants who worked there. The Atcherleys were the richest family in the parish during the seventeenth century and could well have afforded a high-class building of this kind.\u00a0\"Unquote\"<\/p>\n