Page:VCH Essex 1.djvu/578

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

A HISTORY OF ESSEX of meadow, and pasture for 60 sheep. Then half a saltpan ; now one and a half. It was then worth 30 shillings ; and when received, 10 shillings ; it is now worth 2O shillings. And 9 free men dwelt on (manserunt in) half a hide ; and one man, a thegn (unus homo tegnus) held 30 acres ; and 2 other free men held I O acres ; (in all this ' there was) then I plough ; now half (a plough) ; (all this was) then worth 26 shillings and 8 pence ; now 8 shillings. A certain knight of Hugh de Montfort, by name Hugh son of Mauger 8 took (accepif) 1 5 acres from a free thegn 3 and put them (misit) with his own land ; and no one gave him livery, according to the Hun- dret (court), 4 and so (the land) is in the King's hand. 6 TOLESHUNTA [Tolleshunt (Darcy ?)], which was held, in King Edward's time, by Ulsi as a manor and as half a hide and 30 acres, is held of Hugh by Humfrey. 6 Then as now (semper) 2 bordars and I plough. (There is) wood(land) for 30 swine and 2^ acres of meadow. It is worth 20 shillings. XXVIII. THE LAND OF HAMO DAPIFER. 7 HUNDRET OF BERDESTAPLA [BAR*TABLE] ATELEIA [ ], which was held by Goti 8 of Harold, in King Edward's time, as a manor and as i hide, is held of Hamo by 1 All these holdings had evidently been annexed to the manor, but are valued apart from it as a whole. The entire passage is of interest for tenure and status.

  • This was the actual tenant of the manor, so

that the phrase is an odd one here. It may have been inserted in another place on the original re- turns and added in Domesday Book to the Gold- hanger entry by the scribe. 3 ' Uno franco teigno.' A singular phrase, important for its use of ' francus ' in the sense of 'free,' not 'French.' 4 ' Non habuit liberatorem, sicut hundret tes- tatur.' 5 This phrase also is suggestive of the passage having been inserted elsewhere on the original return (compare p. 566 below). 6 This may well have been the same Humfrey as the one who held at Tolleshunt Darcy under Ranulf Peverel. 7 Brother of Robert Fitz Hamon, whose daughter and heiress brought this fief to her hus- band the first Earl of Gloucester. 8 This name, which appears below as ' Gotild,' was that of a woman, although she is styled ' a free man,' under Little Wigborough (see also p. 503, note 2, below. Serlo. 9 Then as now (semper) i plough, and i bordar, and i serf. It is worth 20 shillings. HUNDRET OF WITH AM FALCHEBURNA [Faulkbourne], which was held by Turbern, 10 in King Edward's time, as a manor and as i^ hides and 1 acres, is held of Hamo by Half. 9 Then as now (semper) 2 ploughs on the demesne. (There are) now 8 bordars. Then 6 serfs ; now 3. (There are) 5 acres of meadow. Then i mill ; now none (non). It is worth 50 shillings. to. 55 NUTLEA [ Notley u ], which was held by Alestan, a freeman, as a manor and as half a hide and 30 acres, is held of Hamo by Ralf. Then as now (semper) I plough. (There is) now i bordar. Then 2 serfs ; now i . (There is) an acre and a half of meadow. It is worth 30 shillings. There also (In eadem) the same (Ralf) holds 30 acres which were held by Alvric in King Edward's time ; then as now (semper) half a plough was there ; and it is worth 5 shillings. RAINES [Rayne 12 ] which was held by Coding as a manor and as half a hide, is held of Hamo by the same Ralf. Then as now (semper) I plough and i bordar. And (there are) 2 acres of meadow. It is worth 20 shillings. BRACCHESTEDA [(Great) Braxted 1S ], which was held, in King Edward's time, by Turbern u 9 There can be no doubt that the Serlo and Ralf who held so largely of Hamo Dapifer were both named ' de Marci.' Eighty years later (1166) we find Richard de Marcy and Ralf de Marcy holding respectively of the Earl of Glou- cester four and three knights' fees (Red Book of the Exchequer, p. 290). And again, under John, Serlo de Marcy and Ralf de Marcy held respectively four knights and two knights of the Honour of Glou- cester (see note 7 above) as part of the Honour of Ongar (ibid. p. 611). Of these Serlo held i fees 'in Roinges' (ibid. p. 505), that is in Roothing Marci, where his ancestor Ralf de Marci had held of Hamo Dapifer in 1086. The family of Marci, so strangely confused by Morant with that of Merk, occurs frequently under Essex on the Pipe Rolls of Henry II., and Ralf de Marci was sheriff of the county in 1 160-1. The Marcis also held of the Honour of Boulogne. 10 See Introduction, p. 350. 11 It is uncertain in which of the Notleys this manor lay. 12 This estate has not been identified. 13 This holding must have been Westhall there, which was returned in an Inq. p.m. of 7 Edw. II. as held of the Earl of Gloucester (see note 7). 14 See Introduction, p. 350. 500