One of Malmesbury’s most complex tales is the history of The Old Corporation. Before the invention of Parliament and local councils it was up to each borough to look after itself by creating a board of local tradesmen. These were abolished in the mid nineteenth century but, thanks to a unique agreement with a tenth century monarch, remnants of Malmesbury’s Old Corporation still survive today.

THE OLD CORPORATION OF MALMESBURY

When did the Old Corporation appear, how did it come about and what was it's purpose?

Malmesbury’s Old Corporation was established back in the reign of King Athelstan (925-940).

But it was actually the idea of his grandfather, King Alfred, who wanted to set up fortified towns, or boroughs, to help defend the English Kingdoms against the Danes.

Athelstan had close ties with Malmesbury... he was educated at the Abbey and lived in the nearby village of Norton during his rule as King of Wessex (before becoming ruler of England as a whole).

Athelstan had tracks of land all across the country, including a large mass of open land to the west of the borough.

The Danes eventually came, and there were several battles in the area... England was triumphant against the visitors.

As a way of thanking the people of Malmesbury for their efforts in saving the town, King Athelstan gave them a stretch of land; five hundred acres of heath-land to the west of Malmesbury so the townsfolk had somewhere to keep their livestock and horses.

The land was to be shared equally between everybody involved and this elite fortune is still present today, more than a thousand years on.

King’s Heath (or Malmesbury Common as it’s sometimes incorrectly referred to) is still owned by the burgesses and commoners of the Old Corporation.

Nowadays it is rented out to farmers although the public are still entitled to walk through most of it.

King’s Heath is just outside Malmesbury’s border, between the nearby villages of Foxley and Norton.

It is a very popular place to go walking these days, as it is peaceful, calm and full of wildlife.

You can find King’s Heath by heading out of Malmesbury on the Foxley Road and turning left onto Common Road. This road will eventually take you into the village of Corston.

So what was the point of the Old Corporation, other than to make sure the people of Malmesbury were looked after?

Because of its royal ties, Royal Officials and Burgesses looked after Malmesbury.

During the reign of King John he announced that rent money would go to help maintain Malmesbury Abbey, which at the time of a thriving religious centre seen by many historians as a community to itself. (Kind of like a miniature Rome.)

Back in the tenth century, politics in the England was very different.

There was no Houses of Commons and no centralized system. Each town was left to fend for itself.

It was the job of the people of the Old Corporation to act as lawmakers, peacekeepers and to provide residents of Malmesbury with the necessary amenities to keep the town a thriving, successful place.

These were troubled times and it was also the role of the Corporation to make sure their townspeople were willing and able to fight for King and Country whenever they were needed.

As Malmesbury was in such a prime location, (on a knoll and natural moat, next to the Roman Fosseway and on the border of the Mercia Kingdom) it was a site of much interest to any invaders who came across it.

The Old Corporation was made up of Malmesbury's richest people: landowners, barons and the like. Similar groups were in place throughout the country.

As the centuries progressed, new political ideas and techniques gradually rolled in.

They then had the power to set their own taxes... instead of the richest running the town, Malmesbury held elections... a more planned system was created to decide what to build and renovate in the town (Such as the Almshouses for the poorer people to live in, and a school for the children.)

It wasn't until the seventeenth century and the reign of Edward I that our Kingdom began to unite together, it was then decided to create a national council in London.

Two Burgesses from Malmesbury were invited to Westminster... the forerunner to today's House of Lords.

But then, Henry VIII brought disaster to Malmesbury when he dissolved the Abbey.

The monks vanished, people of the town went financially downhill fast and the Royal Aides were told to leave the town.

Mystery still surrounds the Old Corporation around this time, but by 1600 a number of Burgesses had obtained several properties in the town and, in a way, outranked the rest of the Corporation.

After many arguments about this maverick group, the problem was put to the High Court in 1609, which ruled that the group with property should be known as capital burgesses, a second group were to be assistant burgesses, and the rest should be known as landholders.

Each group was given it's own list of rights and privileges regarding the finances of the rents received through property and land.

Why were Corporations like this phased out and what replaced them?

Royal interference came into effect in Malmesbury in the seventeenth century, during the reign of King Charles I.

He introduced a High Steward to the borough, who worked alongside the Burgesses on legal matters. Later, the King also tried to obtain greater power over boroughs by expelling burgesses at his will.

Following his death, the new ruler scrapped this rule, and that's how the borough stayed for two centuries.

Like many places in the UK around the nineteenth century, the wealthy people of the town would bribe the rest of the council with large sums of money to vote their way on matters.

Malmesbury was no exception and is a place which historians call a ‘rotten borough’.

In 1832 Parliament created a new law – The Great Reform Act - with the idea of stopping rotten boroughs and introducing a fairer, non-bias council for each town in England.

A further law, the Municipal Reform Act of 1835, abolished Corporations throughout England and replaced them with the council format we still see today, having a mayor, a team of aldermen (or governors) and then voluntary councillors.

But for some reason - possibly because of Malmesbury’s strong royal connections - the Old Corporation was allowed to continue ruling the town until an amended law was passed more than fifty years on.

Three years after the Reform Act of 1883, the Old Corporation finally gave its political powers over to the new council.

This must have been a unique occurrence as some historical literature refers to this changeover as ‘the Malmesbury scheme’.

Burgesses and Commoners became Wardens and Freemen, but apart from the change of title and removal of political power, the Old Corporation was left unchanged and is still to this day a large part of the Malmesbury community.

So how much power does the Old Corporation still have over Malmesbury?

Effectively, none. As soon as the Malmesbury Town Council was created, all legal power was given to them.

However, the Corporation was not disbanded... instead, it was left to continue, just without any power.

Since this day the Old Corporation has been a cross between a community charity and a housing association.

It still owns a large number of buildings in Malmesbury and also owns Kings Heath to the south west of Malmesbury.

It still receives rent money from both buildings and farmland. This money is used primarily for renovation of these buildings and to fund the running of the Corporation.

Money is also put aside to help the local community. These days, the Old Corporation provides money, for example, to buy a Christmas tree for the Town Centre or to fund good causes in the town.

These are voted on by members just like a council votes on planning permission.

The Old Corporation still meets in Malmesbury Courthouse (although it is no longer a Courthouse and is solely used for these meetings).

If you walk through Malmesbury today you will see that many older buildings, especially those in or near the town centre, are marked with a dark green plaque, showing the logo of the Old Corporation; these buildings are owned and maintained by the Old Corporation.

Most of these buildings are residential but there are also businesses that rent properties from the group.

Just like King’s Heath, these buildings have been acquired by the Old Corporation through donations... some may have been given to them by the Monarchy, they may have obtained other buildings when Malmesbury Abbey was dissolved in the 1500’s. They may have bought the buildings with rent money from existing land.

Over centuries of growth and decline, war and peacetime, the Old Corporation has existed to benefit the townsfolk by providing adequate housing and farmland.

Since every commoner and burgess in Malmesbury owns a share of each house, they get first say about who gets to live in them when they become vacant.

Who makes up the Old Corporation and how do you join?

Becoming part of this unique club is more down to luck than anything else.

If you wanted to join this year you would have to meet the following criteria: You need to be the son or daughter (or son/daughter-in-law) of an existing or past member and you need to live no further than a mile and a half from the central pillar of the Market Cross as the crow flies. (And if you ever move to a residence that is outside this boundary, you lose your membership).

If a member moves away from Malmesbury but their children move back to the town, they can apply as the right is in their bloodline.

This rule was only recently updated in the past ten years. In the early 1990’s no women were allowed in the Old Corporation and you had to be married as well as being a son / son-in-law of a member and living within a mile of the town centre.

This change came about because numbers were dwindling, mostly due to the current trend of fewer people getting married.

This hereditary system has been in place since 1727. Before that time any male who lived in the town could join.

Until around 1830 you could also join if you were a working apprentice of a member. So for the last 180 years The Old Corporation has been completely hereditary.

The joining process is a tradition that hasn’t really changed since the Corporation was established all those years ago.

In days past those accepted to join were invited to a ceremony on King’s Heath where they’d take it in turn to put a silver coin on the ground and take the oath.

The initiator hits the new commoner across the back with a twig three times chanting the following: “Turf and Twig I give to thee, as Athelstan gave to me. A good brother thou shalt be.”

This practice has only slightly changed to keep up with the times... the ceremony now takes place in Malmesbury Court House, instead of a silver coin you have to give the senior burgesses a cheque, and the oath – unchanged for centuries – can now be adapted to use the word ‘sister’ instead of ‘brother’.

Members meet four times a year to discuss business in a similar way to a modern day council.

The dates are New Years Eve, Trinity Tuesday, King Athelstan’s Feast Day (seven days later) and Michaelmas.

Meetings of the Old Corporation are now the only event which takes place in Malmesbury Court House... it is a quaint, twelfth century building close to the Almshouses at the front of St Johns Street.

The first meeting in this building was held on 1616 and they’ve been held there ever since.

Once again, this building is steeped in history. Above the main Chair you can see the Royal Arms of William and Mary from 1693.

The Old Corporation has it's own Coat of Arms which is also on display in the Court House. When today's council was created, it took the Burgesses Coat of Arms and used it for itself until the 1960's.

Not all members are equal. In fact, there are four 'grades': you start as a commoner, and then proceed to a landholder, then an assistant burgess and finally a capital burgess.

There are always 13 capital burgesses. When a space appears (due to either death or somebody moving elsewhere) an assistant burgess is voted in.

Likewise, there are always 24 assistant burgesses. And in the event of a position becoming available, a landholder is voted in.

There are 31 landholders who moved up the ranks from commoner.

As commoners are the lowest grade, there can be any number of them.

To decide on who gets voted up the levels, they use a First In, First Up system, although all changes must be voted on at their meetings.

The Old Corporation is very secretive and never allows non-members into any meetings... apart from the occasional film-crew! This piece has been based on literature released by the Trustees of the Old Corporation. Tourist Information may be able to give you more details, or tell you about official town tours, which includes a peek in the Courthouse and may be hosted by one of the burgesses.