THE HOLDERS OF LANDS men had between them I plough ; now 2. [There is) wood(land) for 150 swine, (and) 20 acres of meadow. Then and afterwards it was worth 60 shillings ; now 4 pounds. ROINGES [(Abbess) Roding *], which was held by Leuild* as a manor and as 3 virgates, is held of G[eoffrey] by Geoffrey Martel. Then as now (semper) I villein and 2 bordars. Then i serf; now none. Then as now (sem- per) i plough on the demesne, and half a plough belonging to the men. (There is) wood(land) for 40 swine, (and) 15 acres of meadow. Then and afterwards it was worth 30 shillings ; now 40. And this land, which is now held by Gfeoffrey], was in (possession of) the abbey of Berchinges [Barking], as the Hundret (court) testifies, and (W) he who held this land was only (tantum modo) the man of Geoffrey's predecessor, and had no power to put (mittere) this land in the possession of any one but the abbey (in aliquo loco nisi in abbatia?') HUNDRET OF CEFFEORDA [CHAFFORD] WOCHADUNA [(South) Ockendon], which was held freely by Frebert, a thegn (Frebertus liber tainnus), as I manor and as io hides and 2O acres, is held of Gfeoffrey] by Turold ; fo. 58 and Geoffrey has it by exchange (pro escangio) as he says. Then as now (semper) 3 villeins (and) 34 bordars. Then 3 serfs ; now none. Then 2 ploughs on the demesne ; now 3. Then the men had 7 ploughs between them ; now 8. (There is) wood(land) for 150 swine, 8 acres of meadow, pasture for 100 sheep, (and) now I mill. Then 5 beasts (anima/ia) and 1 8 sheep ; now 1 8 beasts and i rouncey (runcinus), 35 swine, 220 sheep, (and) I hive 1 Morant, finding that this manor was subse- quently held by Barking Abbey, assumed that it was so held in 1086, though not entered in Domesday, and that what Geoffrey held there was ' another manor,' namely Rookwood Hall (i. 137). But Mr. Chisenhale-Marsh, in his Domesday Book relating to Essex, rightly questioned this conclusion, pointing out that Barking Abbey probably regained this manor as a result of the very return here recorded. This it a point of some importance as bearing on the Survey and its results. It may be added that the Rookwood Hall manor was subsequently held, not of the heirs of Geoffrey de Mandeville, but of those of Aubrey de Vere, for, as Morant puts it, ' The lords paramount were the Earls of Oxford.' 1 This was probably a woman's name (compare p. 5 i 2 below). ' This passage ii of some importance as drawing a clear distinction between the personal commen- dation of the holder and the right over the land itself. of bees. Then and when received it was worth 7 pounds ; it is now worth 1 6 pounds. In this estate (terra) are (included) 13 soke- men who hold freely (libere) 8^ hides and 20 acres and have 1 2 bordars (under them) ; and they are farmed with the estate for 1 6 pounds. 4 And there are also 40 acres and 4 bordars (who hold them ?). HUNDRET OF CELMERESFORT [CHELMSFORD] WALDHAM [(Great) Waltham], which was held by Ansgar as a manor and as 8 hides in King Edward's time, is held by G[eoffrey] in demesne. Then as now (semfer) 72 villeins, and 28 bordars. Then 14 serfs; now 13. Then 6 ploughs on the demesne ; now 5. Then the men had between them 42 ploughs ; now 36.' (There is) wood(land) for 1,200 swine, (and) 44 acres of meadow. Now as then (semper) there are 2 mills, and now IO arpents (arpenni) of vineyard. 6 Then 5 rounceys (runcini), 12 cows, 50 swine, and 80 goats ; now 3 rounceys, 1 1 cows, 7 60 swine, 132 sheep, 7 goats, (and) 20 hives of bees. 8 It was then worth 50 pounds ; now 60. Of this manor Hubert holds I virgate, and (has) half a plough, and it is worth 5 shillings of the above amount (in eodem fretio) ; and Walter (holds) i virgate, and (has) half a plough, and it is worth 5 shillings of the above amount. Turchill (holds) I virgate, and (has) 2 bordars and half a plough, and it is worth 5 shillings of the above amount. 9 And Walter (holds) 30 acres, and Turchill 30 acres, and Herbert 30 acres. 9
- 'Jacent ad hanc firmam de xvi libris.' This
passage has a double value : first, as showing that the sum which this estate was valued as worth was really the annual rent (firma) received from it (see Introduction, p. 364) ; second, that the profits arising from the dues of these sokemen formed part of the total rent received from the estate. 8 All these are large figures, but it must be remembered that Great Waltham, the whole of which is comprised in this and the two entries which follow, contains nearly 7,500 acres. 6 The word ' now ' should be observed, for it implies that this vineyard had been planted since the coming of the Normans. As a vineyard, in my opinion, implies a baron's residence, I infer from this passage that Geoffrey had already made Pleshey his castle. 7 Geoffrey had 7 cows on his adjoining manor of (High) Easter, so that he had around his castle 1 8 in all, an exceptionally large number. 8 See p. 509, note 6, below. 9 Small holdings of this character generally im- ply the residence of a baron (see p. 484, note 6). It is difficult to resist the impression that the three holdings of a virgate are here merely repeated as holdings of 30 acres. 5<>5
