THE DOMESDAY SURVEY by Domesday to the bishop, which Morant placed in East Horndon (i. 208) although he could find there no trace of the bishop's lordship. Having now cleared out of the way these three holdings, we will turn to East and West Horndon, as they are still known to-day. Morant observed that : There are within this hundred three parishes named Horndon, distinguished from each other by the respective appellations of East, and West, and on the Hill, so styled from their situation. But those distinctions were not existing at the time of the general survey. The name is derived from the Saxon words Horn and dun, i.e. Horn-hill. It is sometimes written Thorndon ; in which case the first syllabic would be derived from Thorn. And in records it is called otherwise Horninduna, Torninduna, and Torenduna. Two names entirely distinct have here again been confused. The first manor entered on Suain's fief in Domesday is that of * Torninduna,' which was large enough to be assessed at more than 5 hides. This manor was held of that fief 120 years later as one fee by a William 'de Tornindone,' * who clearly, like the Langedon family, derived his name from his estate, and it regularly recurs in the feudal aids of the two following centuries as ' Thornyndon.' * Its name is now represented by Thorndon, the well-known seat of Lord Petre, although the parish in which it stands is corruptly known as West Horndon. The identity of this parish (which contains but one manor) with the above ' Torninduna ' of Domesday (wrongly identified by Morant as East Horndon) is shown by the fact that the township of' Westorendon,' in the thirteenth century, advanced the plea that they belonged to ' the king's liberty of Rayleigh,' that is to Suain's Honour. 8 But the form of the name given in the plea shows that the corruption was of early date. Passing from West to East Horndon we identify in it the manor of Abbots as held in Domesday, not, as alleged by Morant, by Suain, but, as his own evidence proves, by William Peverel (of Nottingham), who held it as ' Torinduna,' and of whose ' Honour ' it was held as ' Torin- done ' or ' Torrindone ' by Henry de Cornhill * and his heirs the Nevills, who gave it to Waltham Abbey, whence its name. The evidence of Inquisitiones post mortem entirely confirms the view that Thorndon was the true name of both parishes alike. That on John de Bryanzun (9 Ed. II.) shows him holding the manor of ' Thorndon ' and tenements at ' Horndon ' (on the Hill) ; and a list of Tany's knights' fees in 1 1 Edward II. includes 'Thorndon parva' held by John de Breanzun.' The inquisitions on the Earl of Oxford in i Henry IV., on Sir John de Vere in 9 Henry V., and on Sir Lewis John in 21 Henry VI. all speak 1 Red Book of the Exchequer, p. 621. The deed of partition between the heirs of ' Sir William de Thorendone ' is at St. Paul's (9(6 Report Historical MSS. i. 32).
- Feudal Aids, ii. 133, 158, 217. Cf. Ancient Deeds, A. 732.
3 'Sunt de libertate Domini Regis de Reilee ' (Hundred Rolls, i. 137). Morant was quite unable to trace the descent of the manor, although his own evidence proves that it was held by Briancon under the Tanys of Stapleford Tany, who were themselves great tenants of the Honour of Rayleigh.
- Red Book of the Exchequer, pp. 122, 584 (where the place is wrongly identified as Thorrington
by the editor). See note 3 above. 399
