Manor of Dunsford , Wandsworth

The Manor of Dunsford developed out of lands held at Dunsford in the parish of Wandsworth by Merton Priory. According to the Victoria County History of Surrey, "by 1535 the possessions of the house {i.e. the Priory} in Wandsworth and Dunsford formed an estate of considerable value".

At the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538 the Manor passed to Charles Duke of Suffolk, who sold it in 1539 to Thomas Cromwell. When Thomas Cromwell was attainted, the Manor passed, in 1540, to the Crown, which held it until 1563 when it was granted to Lord Robert Dudley. Dudley sold it in the same year to Sir William Cecil, who in turn sold it in 1564 to John Swift (see E/BER/S/T/II/B/1/2). John Swift sold it to Thomas Smith in 1569 (see E/BER/S/T/II/B/1/3), and it stayed in the possession of his descendants until 1664 when it was sold to Sir Alan Brodrick. It passed in 1730 to his great nephew, Alan 2nd Viscount Middleton, and remained in the Middleton family until it was apparently sold to James Clark in 1851 (see ACC/1720/011 and ACC/1720/023).

As the title deeds in this collection show, a process of enfranchisement (that is, the process whereby copyhold tenants of the Manor bought the freehold to their property) had got under way by 1800 and continued throughout the century (see ACC/1720/023), leading to the disintegration of the Manor. This process is also indicated by the cessation of Courts Baron and Leet soon after James Clark bought the Manor.