King's Acre

King's Acre

A field within the great manorial East Field

 

King's Acre (Parcel 971) was a long, narrow two-acre field, originally within the great East Field of the Manor of Kingston. The name King's is probably possessive and related to a former owner of that name. Parcel 971 also included Little Pittard's Ground.

At the time of the 1846 Tithe Apportionment King's Acre was divided into two; one part was among the vast Yeovil land holdings of William Jones Prowse and let to Thomas Frost. King's Acre was used as arable and used for growing crops. It measured 2a 1r 25p. The other part, Parcel 971a, was labelled Lyde Lane in the Tithe Apportionment and was owned by Ann Tell and let to George Frost. It was an orchard and measured 1a 0r 6p.

King's Acre was bounded on the south by Meadway (today's Lyde Road), on the west by Penny's Close (Parcel 972), on the north by Pittard's Ground (Parcel 968) and on the east by Lyde Lane (Parcel 970).

Today the former King's Acre is occupied by a few houses and gardens of Lyde Road at its southern end, and the central part of the playing field of Fiveways School occupying the bulk of the former King's Acre.

For details on historic land measurement (ie acres, roods and perches) click here.

 

maps


This map, based on the descriptions in the 1589 Terrier and the 1846 Tithe Map of Yeovil shows the approximate boundaries of the Manors of Kingston and Hendford as well as the manorial three-field system used in Kingston.

 

A map of the great medieval East Field of Kingston Manor showing conjectured locations of several fields based on descriptions in the 1589 Terrier.

 

Drawn from the 1846 Tithe Map with field names added from the 1846 Tithe Apportionment, with King's Acre at centre bottom.

 

The 1946 aerial survey photograph (somewhat mis-aligned at bottom left) with parcel numbers of 1846 plotted on. By this time, King's Acre has been built on along its border with Lyde Lane while the open area to the north (marked with '971' on this photograph) remains as the playing field of  Fiveways School.

 

The 1843 Tithe Map overlaid onto a modern map of the area.

 

Gallery

 

The former King's Acre is now mostly occupied by western half of the playing field of Fiveways School and several gardens and houses of Lyde Road, seen in the background.