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The History of Kettlewell Village - Arthur Raistrick
The Trust Lords of Kettlewell
In 1628 the king, Charles I, granted the manor, by Letters Patent, to four citizens of London, who in 1656 sold it to Matthew Hewitt of Linton, and William Fawcett, Thomas Ripley, John Bolland, Thomas Coates, James Bolland, John Ibbotson and Edmond Tennant, all of Kettlewell.
This group, acting as trustees then sold the various properties in Kettlewell to the tenants, but reserved the whole of the manorial dues, fishing and hunting, mines, courts and all kinds of perquisites of the manor, to be held in trust for ever for the freeholders of Kettlewell.
At later dates as trustees died off new ones were appointed. In 1883 a new trust deed was drawn up and the whole procedure put on proper record
"more especially to fix and establish for the future the trust and guardianship of the manor and lordship of Kettlewell to and for such use and uses as were at the time of purchasing the same intended for the benefit of the real owners and proprietors."
"All and every person then or at any time thereafter holding any messuage land, etc. within the manor"
who pays a proportion towards the ancient rent of £17.13.7,
"should have annually from the date thereof in proportion to his or her share of such rent, the rents issues and profits of the said manor."
Thus were created the Trust Lords of Kettlewell, who still look after the affairs of the manor. They were to appoint a gamekeeper, shepherd, barmaster and to hold courts Leet and Baron and to exercise all the duties of lords of the manor.
The creation of the Trust Lords effectually changed the status of Kettlewell from that of a dependent semi-mediaeval manor to that of an independent largely self-governing community and so its history falls naturally into two principal sections.
Perhaps life prior to the seventeenth century appears to have gone on in a quiet way with little more for excitement than the markets and fairs, but this view may in fact, only be the result of lack of precise records.
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