same conspiracy, as the whole of his fief had been transferred to that illustrious Norman. At the same time the abbey of St. Ricquier lost the possessions of their gift, and with the single exception of the carncate of land in Little Pagrave, there is no other mention of this abbey at the time of this survey. Sporle was subsequently given to the Benedictine abbey of St. Florent at Saumnr in the reign of Henry the Second, and it was the site of an alien priory, dissolved in the parliament held at Leicester 2 Hen. V. 1424, and made parcel of the endowment of Eton college by Henry VI. in the nineteenth year of his reign. Pagrave was a berewic of Sporle or Spurley, and divided between earl Ralph and Frederic, and hence the names of Great Pagrave and Little Pagrave; at which last was a chapel in the parish of Sporle, now destroyed[1].
The name of Warren was that of a river, which has its source in the commune of Omonville-sur-Varenne and falls into the canal of Dieppe below the castle of Arques, from which it has now the appellation of riviere d' Arques. Seated upon the left bank of this river was the bourg, which anciently had the same name as the river, the chief residence of the family,
- ↑ The remaining text of this charter of the Conqueror is as follows:—"Villa vocabulo Esperlais, ubi habentur hospites xxxvii, qui persolvunt annualiter unusquisque in Nativitate Domini duos equos oneratos de brais; a festivitate Sancti Joannis Baptistæ usque ad festum Sancti Michaelis tribus diebus omne opus Domini sui: ceterum quod residuum est de anno, semel in hebdomada erunt ad omne opus, quod eis injunctum fuerit. Habentur inibi sex carrucæ, sylva optima, terra arabilis et inculta, prata omnibus nutrimentis aptissima. Est et alia villa, quæ vocatur Acra, ubi habentur hospites ii. molendina iii, quæ solvunt xxxv oras denariorum. Præterea omnes homines villæ metent segetes tribus in hebdomada diebus et omnes carrucæ arabunt tribus diebus ad frumenta et ad avenas. Est et tertia villa, quæ vocatur Culesturpo, quæ solvit quinque oras denariorum et carrucis suis arant terras tribus ad frumenta et ad avenas diebus. Sequitur quarta villa, quæ vocatur Achotes, et alia, quæ vocatur Apicheneam, ubi habentur omnes prædictæ consuetudines carrucarum. His jungitur Merefort, ex qua viii carrucas duobus diebus ad frumenta et ad avenas; et in Augusto xxv homines duobus diebus ad messem metendam consuetudinaliter Dominus villæ habebit. Vocatur villa sequens lingua eorum Assuafam, de qua habetur omnis decima tam annonæ quam aliarum rerum. Est et alia quæ vocatur Guenite, ubi est molendinum unum et sylva, piscatio quoque optima. Hoc autem iterum iterumque cum interdicto affirmationis affirmo, ne alicujus tyranni invasione posthac usurpetur quovis modo. Hæc itaque charta ut posteris nostris immutabilis perduret, regia nostra eam auctoritate firmamus." In Domesday this place has the name of Sparle, and it is thus mentioned under the heading Norfolc. Terre Regis quas Godricus servat. Hundredum de Grenchov de xiiii lelis. Sparle tennit Rex Ædwardus et hoc manerium fuit de regno, sed rex Edwardus dedit Radulfo Comiti. Huic manerio jacet i beruita, que vacatur Paggrava. Est etiam adhuc alter beruita, que vocatur Acra. Alia beruita Pichenham. Hoc totum manerium simul valuit tempore Regis Edwardi x libras et quando Godricus recepit xxii; modo xxxiiii libras et ii solidos. Swaffham, another capital manor, had been given to Alan, earl of Brittany, the husband of a sister of the second carl Ralph, as we learn from Domesday. Hundredum de Grenehov. Terre Alani comitis. Suafham pertinuit ad regionem et Rex Edwardus dedit Radulfo comiti. Hence in each case a brother-in-law was benefited by these forfeitures.
