What was a manor and what are they now?

What was a manor, in feudal times?

In medieval England, a manor was the basic unit of local landholding and administration. A lord of the manor held an estate granted (directly or indirectly) by the Crown, and in return owed service or loyalty upward while exercising authority over the tenants and land below. The lord typically ran a manorial court, which settled local disputes, recorded land transfers between tenants, and enforced customs particular to that manor. Manors often came with rights over things like common land, mills, fairs and markets, and sometimes minerals beneath the soil.

 

What is a manor now?

Over the centuries, the practical powers of a manor were stripped away by changing law and social change — manorial courts stopped functioning, feudal tenure was abolished, and the physical land itself was usually sold off separately from the title long ago. What's left today, in the vast majority of cases (Belper included), is the title "Lord of the Manor" — a piece of intangible property with no tenants and no legal authority attached to it. It's recognised in English law as a form of ownership that can be bought, sold, and inherited, rather like owning a historic name. 

In some cases however, the lord of the manor still technically owns, or can claim the freehold, of 'waste' land within their notional manorial lands and there may be other ancient rights that can still be exercised. Every so often there are legal cases where manorial rights or obligations present themselves in the modern world with a real, tangible impact.

In short, the Lordship of the Manor of Belper today is a matter of history and heritage rather than practical power — a link to a title that can be traced back through nearly a thousand years of documented succession.