Catalogue description Commissioners for the Sale of Crown Lands: Particulars for Grants

Particulars for the sale of Crown lands, much of which property came to the Crown at the time of the dissolution of the religious houses and chantries.

These original particulars were produced by the auditors of the Court of Augmentations up to 1554, and by the Auditors of the Land Revenue thereafter, in response to a warrant from Commissioners for the Sale of Crown Lands. A prospective purchaser of Crown land would return with the auditor's signed particular and have it rated by the commissioners. The details of the rated particular would then form the basis for the warrant authorising the issue of letters patent.

The particulars are of importance because they were usually prepared for the actual purchaser of the land, rather than an agent who was often named as grantee on the letters patent. The particulars describe the nature of the property, its value, the purchase price, and any restrictions surrounding the sale.

Other documents include valuations of woods and advowsons. There are also a few particulars of 1628 for the jointure of Queen Henrietta Maria, which include land of the Duchy of Lancaster.

For certain other records of Parliamentary sales of Crown lands see SP 26

Original and draft particulars are also found in LR 10

There is a four volume manuscript location index to the particulars for the reign of Henry VIII; unpublished inventories, with location indexes, of the particulars for the reigns of Edward VI to James I; and a manuscript calendar of the material for the reign of Charles I. The latter is in E 276. The indexes are all on open access in the Map Room.