The Feoffees of Ecclesfield was originally created in 1574. The word "

Feoffee Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use ...

s" translates into modern language as the word "Trustees" and that is in effect what the Feoffees are.

Ecclesfield Ecclesfield is a village and civil parish in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, approximately 6 miles (9 km) north of Sheffield City Centre. Ecclesfield civil parish had a population of 32,073 at the 2011 Census. Ecclesfiel ...

is a village on the northern perimeter of the City of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. When originally created, the Feoffees were much more than trustees. Land and properties were donated by a wealthy landowner and the trustees were in effect the "Elders and Rulers" of the village of Ecclesfield and several surrounding villages. The key responsibilities were the following: * Maintenance of Divine Service in the Parish Church of Eglesfield (Ecclesfield) * Relief of the poor in the parish * Repairs to the church and its ornaments * Amending of

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

s in the parish The original 1574

deed A deed is a legal document that is signed and delivered, especially concerning the ownership of property or legal rights. Specifically, in common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right ...

was regularised in 1617 and the equivalent of a modern trust deed was created. In practice, the Feoffees were for a period of time responsible for law, order, punishment and maintenance of the streets as well as one of the main sources of funding for the village. The parish of Ecclesfield in 1574 amounted to and was bounded to the north by

Penistone Penistone ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 13,270 at the 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in ...

, to the east by

and

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

, on the south by the boundary between

and

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

and on the west, it came within of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. One of the largest parishes in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Until the 1950s, the Feoffees main income was through rents collected from and land and buildings. The last property was sold in the 1970s and income is now from the interest from invested capital although the trust secretary still retains the title "collector". The Feoffees of Ecclesfield continue to exist and are a

Registered Charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

reference 222979, and carry out the duties, largely as set down way back in 1574 although maintenance of roads passed to the

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

long ago. The Feoffees Trust receives monies from wills and

donation A donation is a gift for Charity (practice), charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, Service (economics), services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donati ...

s and from anyone wanting to help and improve Ecclesfield village. Currently, grants are made from time to time for the poor and needy in Ecclesfield and also to Ecclesfield Parish Church. Other requests, within the scope of the charity, are considered. Current trustees are:- Andrew Robinson (Chairman), Jonathan Robinson (Treasurer), Philip Jeffcock (Collector/Secretary), Sir William Jeffcock, Revd. Dr. Tim Gill, David Hawley, Philip Hirst, Mrs. Andrea Whittaker. David Fairchild.

References

External links

David Hey David G. Hey (18 July 1938 – 14 February 2016) was an English historian, and was an authority on surnames and the local history of Yorkshire. Hey was the president of the British Association for Local History, and was a published author of sev ...

Tudor and Stuart Yorkshire
* Ecclesfield Parish Church: http://www.stmarysecclesfield.com * Ecclesfield Village: http://www.spick.co.uk
Commission RegisterRegisteredCharityNumber=222979 Ecclesfield Feoffees
{Dead link, date=February 2024 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Ecclesfield