27. Encroachments

Before the Enclosure Act of 1815 certain men had been enclosing pieces of land for their own use, apparently without permission. On June 13th 1734 there is a memorandum in the Parish books that certain "encroachments" had taken place. These amounted to 577 acres. It was agreed that the persons who had encroached should pay to the township officers a penny per rood per year for ever.

On Feb 26th 1767 "a meeting of the owners and proprieters of lands, tenements and hereditaryments in the Township of Sutton was held at the house of James Hewitt". Next follows a list of the men present. Then follows this involved sentence - "The consideration of the several Encroachments by Enclosures having been agree upon to call this present meeting to consider and determine about". This evidently is intended to show what business of the meeting was.

"The same was fully debated and the following resolution come to by the persons present. That the Erecting and endowing a free school for teaching and instructing the Children of the Inhabitants of this Township in reading English and in writing and accounts, gratis, would be a very suitable thing, and meets unanimously with the assent of every person present, and which they will endeavour to promote to the utmost of their power. That it is the opinion of every person present unanimously, that the Persons possessed of the Enclosures ought to pay for or towards the Salary of a person to be employed as a master of the said School as a consideration for their continuing in possession of the said Enclosures either annually or otherwise."

In the same year the appointment of a school master is recorded. From time to time there is the entry that coals for the school have been bought with the township money.