I too would be extremely surprised if turbary referred to anything other than peat. I would expect a rent for coal mines to appear under the heading miner' carbonorum.
In a manor where peat was available, the tenants of the manor would almost certainly have the right to cut peat as a customary right, but for their own domestic use only. The fact that there was a rent paid suggests that some one was selling peat outside the manor or conceivably using it for some non-domestic process. The supply of fuel to a local town is the more likely source of the rent in my view.
Peter King
49, Stourbridge Road,
Hagley,
Stourbridge
West Midlands
DY9 0QS
01562-720368
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-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Phil Newman
Sent: 03 March 2011 14:30
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Coal and Turbary 1535/6
Latin scholars can no doubt provide more precise information but I'm pretty certain the word Turbary is derived from medieval latin 'Turba' meaning peat. The Right of Turbary is a fairly universal term used over the whole of Britain and Ireland meaning a right to cut peat or turf. In the 16th century, it is very likely that people with access to turf and the right to cut it, would be more likely to use it in domestic hearths than coal, even if coal sources were nearby. The right of turbary was often a customary right for many tenants and usually meant that they could cut what they needed for their own domestic use free of charge. My study of the topic is restricted to the 18 and 19th centuries but if money changed hands it was either for turf cut by someone without the necessary rights or possibly someone cutting it to sell commercially or perhaps to manufacture charcoal.
Phil Newman
-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ian Spensley
Sent: 03 March 2011 13:09
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Coal and Turbary 1535/6
Dear list
Does anyone have an opinion on the term 'Turbary', my thoughts are that it
only applies to turf or peat on the surface of the land, but could it also
have include coal at a date of 1535/6?
The full reference is;-
Farm of the Turbary: And of 5s for the farm of the turbary in the Lord’s
moor there, to be paid yearly at the terms there usual as in the preceding.
Sum 5s.
The point is that if it does not refer to coal, then it gives a date when
coal mining on Preston Under Scar moor was not in operation. Turbary is not
mentioned in accounts for other villages in the same document.
Thanks
Ian Spensley
