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The Sokens is a name often used to describe the area containing the traditional parishes of Thorpe,
Kirby Kirby may refer to: Buildings * Kirby Building, a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas, United States * Kirby Lofts, a building in Houston, Texas, United States * Kirby Hall, an Elizabethan country house near Corby, Northamptonshire, England * Kirby Ho ...
and Walton, which now lie in
Tendring Tendring is a village and civil parish in Essex. It gives its name to the Tendring District and before that the Tendring Hundred. Its name was given to the larger groupings because it was at the centre, not because it was larger than the othe ...
district in the
Naze The Naze is a headland on the east coast of England. It is on the coast of Essex just north of River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater and projects into the North Sea. This area is south of the double estuary of the River Stour, Suffolk, River St ...
area of northeast
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. The significance of this grouping is now mostly historical. The name 'Soken' is derived from the Saxon '' 'soc' '' or '' 'soca', '' signifying immunity, peculiar privileges and jurisdiction. It refers in particular to the power to administer justice within itself, and likewise the circuit within which such power was exercised. Among others was the claim that no bailiff except the lord's bailiff could arrest any person within the parish.


History

Thorpe, Kirby and Walton once made up the ancient manor of Adulvesnasa. This name probably refers to the
promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...
or Naze where Walton now lies, and may denote a former landowner. The
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
states that, in 1066, the manor was owned by the Dean and
Chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...
of St. Paul's in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and was assessed at 27 hides. It may have been granted to them by King Athelstan. The manor was held directly of the King, forming a peculiar jurisdiction or soke. The first indication of subdivision into three dependent manors comes in 1150. The Chapter retained the area until 1544, when it was exchanged with the
Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...
for other estates. In 1551 the manorial rights were granted by the young
Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...
to Thomas Darcy, Baron Darcy of Chiche. The manor descended with the Barons Darcy and earls of Rochford, until being sold by the fourth earl to
Richard Rigby Richard Rigby PC (February 1722 – 8 April 1788), was an English civil servant and politician who sat in the British House of Commons for 43 years from 1745 to 1788. He served as Chief Secretary for Ireland and Paymaster of the Forces. Rigby ...
in 1775 to pay debts. Since then, the rights have been sold numerous times. The Sokens formed a peculiar jurisdiction within the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
, with its own
ecclesiastical court In organized Christianity, an ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain non-adversarial courts conducted by church-approved officials having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. Histo ...
under the responsibility of a commissary appointed by the lord of the manor. This court dealt with a range of matters that has lessened over time. In earlier years it would have included dealing with disciplinary offences such as adultery, fornication and drunkenness. In later years it was limited to more administrative matters such as the proving of wills and granting of marriage licences. (In neighbouring parishes, this business would have been conducted in the court of the
Archdeacon of Colchester The Archdeacon of Colchester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Chelmsford – she or he has responsibilities within her archdeaconry (the Archdeaconry of Colchester) including oversight of church buildings and some supervision, ...
.) Much of the soken court's business was taken away by the
Probate In common law jurisdictions, probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased; or whereby, in the absence of a legal will, the e ...
and Matrimonial Causes acts of 1857. From the 16th century onwards, the court generally sat in Thorpe church. The last session was held in 1861. The last commissary was William Burgess, in office from 1823-1862. He was also
vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...
of all three parishes.
Manorial Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, ...
courts continued for a few decades more, until the late 19th century. Wood (1975) p.7


Notes


References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sokens, The Tendring