We now, in 2015, stand on the threshold of the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. A document signed by King John in 1215 after pressure from the Barons - not to mention the church - speaks of freedom and liberty. King John was a very unpopular King and was eventually pushed into a tight corner at Runnymede where he was encouraged to sign the document we recognize today. As a legal document, the Magna Carta has never been revoked and English law is founded on its beliefs.
The word 'Inspeximus' means literally in Latin = 'We have inspected' and comes from the right of land owners to show that what they have is legally theirs. At Domesday, a record was taken of all land holdings (manors) and what they consisted of; from people to livestock and woodland. In later years, a re-visitation took place and in 1381 when King Richard II was on the throne, an Inspeximus grant of Walkhampton manor took place to certify ownership. Walkhampton was a Royal Manor and the premier lead manor of The Roborough Hundred. Plymouth barely existed and was just a small fishing village called Sutton.
Time has moved on and much has changed. However, to hold the 1381 Inspeximus grant in the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office was quite a special feeling. So much can be learnt from our surroundings. We just need to know how to look.
