Definition of a "Free Bailiwick": A Bailiwick is historically a territory administered by a bailiff under the Crown or a high Lord. A "free bailiwick" would imply: Autonomy or independence from higher feudal obligations. Ownership in fee simple or freehold, rather than as a mere custodian of Crown lands. The ability to exercise certain jurisdictional rights, such as holding a court leet, administering local justice, managing commons, or overseeing local markets or forests. Why The Forest and Manor of Ennerdale Manor and Liberty Qualifies: 1. Sold by the Crown outright: The Forest and Manor of Ennerdale were sold in 1822 by the Commissioners of His Majesty’s Woods and Forests to the Earl of Lonsdale for cash, not retained in Crown ownership. This was not a lease, grant, or barony in service — but an absolute sale of territory with rights, including the liberty, bailiwick, manorial lordship, and courts. 2. Not merely titular: Ennerdale’s status includes a Court Leet, fisheries, river, waste, Court Baron, foreshore rights, and liberty status, showing it was historically quasi-sovereign and self-governing. These rights were not extinguished when sold. 3. Held by a private individual: Unlike Guernsey or Jersey (whose bailiwicks are Crown Dependencies), Ennerdale is not under active Crown or state administration but privately owned (currently held by Commissioner George Mentz, as documented). 4. Not under a modern state system: Unlike continental "bailiwicks" that became merely administrative regions, Ennerdale remains a vestige of historic feudal liberty, recognized by its sale outright in legal conveyance and historic records. Comparison to Other Bailiwicks: Conclusion: Yes — Ennerdale appears to be the only known "free bailiwick" in the world today: It is neither under Crown rule nor part of a modern administrative bailiwick. It retains historic rights and autonomy. It is owned in fee, not feudal tenure or service. Thus, Ennerdale may well be THE singular survivor of feudal liberty, Bailiwick, and independent jurisdiction in the British tradition — a real bailiwick in liberty, outside Crown control, and possibly unique globally. The Bailiwick of Ennerdale, situated in what is now Cumbria, has a deep- rooted and complex history that reflects the original ownership by Scottish Kings and later England. In early medieval times, Ennerdale lay within the contested borderlands, and at various points, it was regarded as part of the Kingdom of Strathclyde or held by Northrumbia, particularly during the era when the region north of the River Eamont remained culturally and politically aligned with the Brittonic north. By the 11th and 12th centuries, following the Norman Conquest and the expansion of English royal power into the north, Ennerdale was gradually integrated into the English Crown's holdings, eventually becoming a Royal Liberty and Crown Manor under the monarchs of England. As part of the Forest of Copeland, it was placed under direct royal control and administered by appointed noble bailiffs and officers, including Bowbearers, Verderers, and Foresters, who enforced forest law and protected the king’s hunting privileges. The Crown granted stewardship to loyal nobles who exercised manorial and judicial rights through the Court Leet, maintaining a degree of self-governance within the Liberty. Ennerdale’s transformation from a peripheral Scottish-aligned territory to a fully-fledged English royal bailiwick exemplifies the Crown's strategy of consolidating frontier regions by embedding feudal governance and asserting legal autonomy under royal prerogative. Ennerdale was later sold outright by the King George to Earl Lonsdale in 1822 for 2500 pounds which would be from 50-100 million pounds today. Today, the Bailiwick is owned outright by Hon. George Sherwood Mentz, JD MBA CWM an International Lawyer and Seigneur of Fief Blondel et L’Eperons.