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APPENDIX 1:
Yarmouth by-laws

The local records of medieval Yarmouth are focused on a fine series of court rolls; unfortunately these do not extend a great deal beyond coverage of judicial matters (albeit broadly interpreted), although in mid-fifteenth century they diversified a little to include accounts of borough revenues. There is no extant medieval custumal, nor any volume compiling local by-laws until the Book of Oaths and Ordinances (Yarmouth C18/1) begun in the Tudor period. This does, however, include the texts of older documents giving ordinances made at several times between 1272 and 1491 (when a custumal was compiled – which must to some degree reflect earlier practices). The ordinances of 1300 were copied from a now missing volume called the "Golden Book", which might have been a medieval custumal (but more probably was a book of general memoranda such as are found at Lynn, Ipswich and Colchester); we also hear of a Domesday Book, Little Red Book and Great Black Book, all of similarly unknown character.

The value of these by-laws is, in part, that they reflect some of the preoccupations, concerns and issues related to borough government and society.




The by-laws

Yarmouth history

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appendix 2

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Created: October 31, 1998. Last update: November 7, 1998

© Stephen Alsford, 1998-2003