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IT
IS often said that Nantwich is the town where they pay you to live. And, I
suppose that strictly speaking that could be said to be true - if you live in
the right street, and, sometimes, on the right side of the street.
This is because of something called Beam Heath - an area of common land where
local people had the right to graze cows over the centuries. [It was even
mentioned in Domesday Book - William the Conqueror's inventory of who owned
what - and so who owed tax on what - in 1068.]
The enclosure of land in the early 19th century changed all that, but an act of
Parliament, the Beam Heath Act of 1823, saw to it that Nantwich people didn't
lose out. A body of people called the Beam Heath Trust oversaw the use of
the land and their successors are still going strong. Among their current tasks
is the allocation of money accrued from the land (rents paid by farmers and
investments) to the owners of the land - the people of Nantwich. This was in
lieu of their right to graze animals on the heath.
Not all townspeople qualify. Only those who live in the "Ancient Parish of
Nantwich" so that people living in the outer areas of the ever-expanding town do
not get a share of the money. Even then, people living within the old boundary
may not be eligible. You have to have been born in Nantwich (Dabbers)
or, if not, to have lived in the town for more than seven years. People who
previously qualified, but who moved away from Nantwich - to work elsewhere for
instance - have to live in town again for two years before they can qualify to
become a recipient once more.
Writing in the Winter(*) 2004 edition of "Talk of the Town" (the newsletter of
Nantwich Town Council), the Clerk of the Trust, Sarah Fox, a solicitor, also
adds "service of seven years' apprenticeship". But I confess I hadn't heard of
that qualification and I am not sure what that means. Does anyone still come
under that category?
I have heard that the boundary of the Ancient Parish in some parts of town
runs down the middle of a street so that people living on one side get the money
while their neighbours over the road do not.
So it is no use rushing to buy a house in the centre of Nantwich with the idea
of living a life of luxury. We are not talking about Lottery-size windfalls
here. It is currently £35 (tax paid) and, of course, people who do not pay tax
can claim the taxman's "cut" back. It wasn't always even that much as you will
see from the elaborate cheque at the top of the page in which the background is
Nantwich buildings drawn by the late J. Haydn Jones - a Nantwich artist famous for his
pen and ink drawings of the town. As you will see, the annual payment then (I
have forgotten the date, but it was late 1990s) was £4.
The pot of cash was increased when Beam Heath land was sold to J.Sainsbury to
build a supermarket, as well as with the sale of land for an adjacent bypass and
the Barony Employment Park. As I understand it, however, the Trust could not
dispose of the land completely and equivalent areas had to be substituted.
According to Mrs Fox, the Clerk (see above) the land runs along both sides of
Middlewich Road - one of seven roads coming into Nantwich - from the edge of the
town to the Rising Sun, a pub at Wistaston, a village on the outskirts of Crewe.
"The trustees now manage approximately 600 acres of agricultural land which is
let to farming tenants," says Mrs Cox.
From 1729 to 1824, there was a race course on Beam Heath (see the
Dabbers
page about betting), but the enclosure of land with hedges and fences ended all
that.
You don't have to do anything to receive the money - except be at home when the
Beam Heath Trust representative calls. He will try twice before giving up,
although I understand that you can still get the dividend if you go to a special
meeting of the trustees. The trustees - a band of local worthies elected by the
recipients - have already met to hear claims from people who feel they now
qualify.
*If you are thinking that Winter 2004 is yet to come (although it is quite cold
as I write this!), I am pleased to say that the producers of "Talk of the Town"
share my idea of the seasons of the year. It seems to be a popular belief that
the seasons (in order) are Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. But with Winter
not beginning until December 21, the bulk of that season falls at the start of
the new year, so Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn is more correct!
lI
haven't heard of anywhere else in the country where you are "paid to live" but
there could be and I would be interested to hear about it.
E-mail
me, please, and I'll include a note on this page.
lReturn
to Letters Index page.
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