Broadwas Manor
The prior obtained a grant of free warren in the manor in 1256. From that time until the dissolution of the monastery the manor remained with the priory. Its value at the Dissolution was £35 18s. 10½d. yearly. Henry VIII granted it in 1542, with other possessions of the priory, to the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. This grant was confirmed by James I, but under the Commonwealth the manor was sold by the Parliamentary Trustees in 1650 to Henry Pitt. In the previous year the farm-house of the manor had been sold to Edmund Pitt. The manor was then charged with a yearly payment of £20 towards the maintenance of a free grammar school in the city of Worcester. It was restored to the Dean and Chapter of Worcester on the accession of Charles II, William and Mary confirming to them the manor and manorial rights in 1692, and they have continued to hold the manor until the present day.Edmund Pitt may have taken up botany near his home as a boy. He became an apothecary, and was indeed, a well-to-do city apothecary, in Worcester. In 1660 he lived at *6 Mealcheapen Street, Worcester, a large house of some historical interest. In his will he is described as a gentleman. He became a Worcester City councillor in 1646, served as mayor in 1656-57 and was made a permanent alderman in 1670.
Edmund Pitt was born in 1613, baptised in Colwall on the 20th May, 1614, died on 15th September, 1688, aged 75, and was buried at St. Martin's Church, Worcester on the 21 September, 1688.**Thomas Careles Sr - of Little Taddington, Hereford, gent, 25th September 1682.
But at present abiding with my son in law, Edmund Pitt alderman of Worcester.
daughter Olave, wife of John Rickards, daughter Mary, wife of William Hopkins, daughter Elizabeth, wife of James Edwards,
son Thomas Careles, daughter Martha, wife of Edmund Pitt; amount due from Susanna Sermon widow and Phillip Sermon her son of Upton.
Witnesses: Thomas Hide, Hannah Price, Stephen Careles.
Proved 23 Jan 1682/3 - Worcs; Ref FHL#98132.*Interestingly 6 Mealcheapen Street, Worcester, became famous for a well know gunsmith.
A BLUE heritage plaque is on the wall of 6 Mealcheapen Street in memory of John Perrins, master gun maker of Worcester and his sons John and Henry Perrins. John Perrins was a distant cousin of William Henry Perrins of Lea & Perrins Sauce fame.
John Perrins with his sons were prestigious provincial gunmakers applying highly skilled precision engineering to gun and pistol making. They created a successful, renowned business in Worcester between 1831-1892. John Perrins was born in Kidderminster in 1796 and at the age of 12 followed his brother Thomas into the gun trade to serve a seven year apprenticeship. By 1859 John Perrins & Son had moved to
6 Mealcheapen Street Worcester.
Edmund Pitt (1613-1688) and Sorbus domestica in Wyre Forest
A single specimen of the Service-tree, Sorbus domestica L., grew in the Wyre Forest apparently from ancient times until it was burned down in 1862. It was the only British specimen known to be growing in the wild.
In the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society for1678 an extract of a letter from Mr. Edmund Pitt, Alderman of Worcester, a very knowing Botanist, concerning the Sorbus Pyriformis' appears.
'Last year I found a Rarity growing in a Forest of this County of Worcester. It is described by L'Obelius under the name of Sorbus Pyriformis: as also by Mathiolus upon Dioscorides. And by Bauhimus (sic), under the name of Sorbus Procera. And they agree, that in France, Germany and Italy they are commonly found. But neither These, nor any of our own Country-men, as Gerard, Parkinson, Johnson, How, nor those Learned Authors Merrett or Ray, have taken notice of its being a Native of England. Nor have any of our English Writers so much as mentioned it. Saving, that Mr. Lyte, in his Translation of Dodonaeus, describes it under the name of the Sorb-Apple. But saith no more of the place, but that it groweth in Dutch-Land. It resembles the Ornus or Quicken Tree; only the Ornus bears the Flowers and Fruit at the end. This, on the sides of the branch. Next the Sun, the Fruit hath a dark-red blush: and is about the bigness of a small Juneting Pear. In September, so rough, as to be ready to strangle one. But being then gathered, and kept till October, they eat as well as any Medlar.'**The Careles Family 1587-1627
The Careles Family 1587–1627
The first definite evidence for the existence of The Vine and the identity of its occupiers is a schedule of the "Rents of the Lands and Tenements as well of Free Tenants as others, which are yearly paid to Roger Bodenham of Rotherwas Esquire – 1587" (which is actually a translation from the original Latin carried out by one John Caley, of Gray's Inn, on what appears to be 10 March 1800).
Roger Bodenham was clearly the Lord of the Manor of Tarrington at this date. He appears in fact to have been the last of the Bodenham Lords of the Manor, as his daughter Blanch married Edward Lingen in 1611 and the Lordship thus passed into the Lingen line.
In any event, on this unspecified date in 1587, as England braced herself for the onslaught of the Spanish Armada, a number of the villagers of Tarrington are listed with the amount of their rents payable to the Lord of the Manor. They include one "Thomas Careles of the Veyne", paying 6s 8d per year. Also appearing are John Godshall [sic], John Hodges "of le Pole end", Thomas Hodges, another John Hodges, William Careles and Thomas Careles (presumably a different Thomas from the first mentioned).
"Thomas Careles of the Vyne" re-appears soon after this, in the records of a Meeting of the Court Baron of Roger Bodenham held in "Tadington" on 18 October 1593 (again in John Caley's translation). Here he is cited for "Default of Suit" (failure to appear at, presumably, a previous meeting of the Court Baron). Also mentioned in the document are "John Hodgeys [sic] of Tadington" who "essoigned" (apologised for non-appearance), "Rob. Godsale", Robert Careles, "Rob Hodgys", "Thos. Careles of Sewards" (again presumably a different person from Thomas of "the Vyne") and Wm Careles.
As is clear from just these two documents, the Careles family was fairly prolific in Tarrington at this time. The Parish Records of the Church of St. Philip and St. James at Tarrington commence on 28 March 1561 and only the fifth entry records the baptism of Catherine, the daughter of Thomas Carles [sic]. As we will see, the family name is spelled in a variety of ways in the documents, Careles, Caroles, Carles, Carlis, Carlos and even Carilesse. This is of course not uncommon with surnames in this period. It will be recalled that the family name of Thomas Careles's contemporary, William Shakespeare, is found variously as Shakspere, Shakspeare, Shaxpcre and Schackspere! This Thomas, who became the father of Catherine in 1561, may have been the occupier of The Vine recorded in the documents of 1587 and 1591. Another Thomas, son of John Carlos, was baptised in the church in 1578 but he will have been too young to be the Thomas of the 1587/1591 documents.
During the years from 1561 to 1636, there are 28 references to members of this family in the Parish Register. In 1602 Thomas Carles signed the Parish Register as "Gardiani" (presumably a church-warden of sorts). His relation John Carles had fulfilled the same function in 1603 and 1607.
How long Thomas Careles/Carles – or his family before him – had lived at The Vine is unknown. As has been noted, the Parish Register commences only in 1561 and tracing the lives of Tarrington villagers before that date is very difficult. However, it is clear that, at the moment that the Register opens to us the world of Tarrington, the Careles family was already very extensive and it must be likely therefore that they had been settled for some years in the village by that date. Whether they, or a branch of the family, had also been in occupation of The Vine for some time is obviously impossible to say – though it is nice to think of some Thomas or John or Roger or Richard (which seem the most common family names) Careles or Carles erecting in the late 15th century the simple yeoman's dwelling which now comprises a Breakfast Room and Library!
Thomas Careles died in 1627. The Parish Register for this year records "Thomas Carelos of ye Vine" as being buried that year. What was the form and extent of the house, plus adjoining farmland, at the time of his death is unknown. However, the fact that Thomas was referred to consistently in the documents as "of the Vine" would seem to indicate that, by then at least, the house/farm was a prominent or at least distinguishable one in the Parish – perhaps by now more than the simple yeoman's dwelling that it may first have been.
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