A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE demesne there is but i hide where are 2 ploughs, and (there are) lo villeins and 1 6 bordars with lo ploughs. There are 4 serfs, and 2 bondwomen, and 2 mills worth {de) 10 shillings, and a fishery worth {de) 20 ' stich(es) ' of eels,^ and 20 acres of meadow, and wood- (land) I league long and i (league) in width. To this manor there belong in (Droit)wich 10 houses worth {de) 5 shillings, and a saltpan which renders 50 'mits' {mittas) of salt. Of this land 2 ' radmanni ' hold 2 hides, where they have 2 ploughs. It was worth 50 shillings T.R.E., and (is worth) the same now. Of this manor Walter de Burh holds half a hide in Eresbyrie [Estbury^ in Hallow], where he has i plough. ^Elfric {Alricus) held (it), and it is (part) of the villeins' land. It is worth 5 shillings. Of this same manor Roger de Laci holds 3^ hides at Himeltun [Himbleton] and Spec- lea [Spetchley]. Himeltun was waste. At Speclea 2 Frenchmen {francigena) have 4 ploughs, and (there are) 6 bordars with 2 ploughs. There are 1 6 acres of meadow. Of wood(land there are) 2 ' quarentenes.' It was and is worth 50 shillings. jEthelric^ {Alricus) held this land, which is assigned to the demesne support {de dominico victu) of the monks, and did service for it to them at their pleasure {voluntatem). fo. 174. Of this same manor Hugh Grentemaisnil holds half a hide at Lappewrte [Lippard] * and Baldwin holds (it) of him ; and it did and does belong to {fu'it et est de) the Bishop's soke. There are 3 villeins and 2 bordars. There are a priest and a huntsman. These have I plough and 6 oxen.* The wood(land) is I league {lewd) long and half (a league) in width. It was and is worth 20 shillings. From this land is paid {redduntur), every year, ^ There were 25 eels in a 'stich.' ^ Now Eastbury. ^ This was ^thelric, brother of bishop ' Brihtegus,' who is expressly said in Heming's Cartulary (see p. 288, note 5 above) to have obtained from him these 'members' of Hallow, and to have been deprived of them by earl William. Here, as at Wolverton, he had been succeeded by Roger de Laci.
- The name is now represented by ' Leo-
pard's (or Lippards) Grange' to the east of Worcester.
- As the plough {caruca) of Domesday al-
ways implied a team of 8 oxen, the above is equivalent to i| plough teams. 8 pence to the church of Worcester for church scot {cirsette) and acknowledgment {recognitione terra).^ This same church holds Cropetorn [Crop- thorne] with Neotheretune [Netherton]. There are 50 hides. Of these, (there) are in demesne 14 hides, where are 5 ploughs; and (there are) a priest, who has half a hide with I plough, and 18 villeins and 12 bordars with II ploughs. There are 10 serfs, and 4 bondwomen, and a mill worth {de) 10 shillings and 20 'stiches of eels, and 20 acres of meadow, and 3 ' quarentenes ' of wood in all {inter totum). There are 5 hides (which are) waste. It was worth 7 pounds, now 6 pounds. Of this manor Robert the Despencer holds 1 1 hides, where he has 9 ploughs, and (there are) 10 villeins and 12 bordars with 7 ploughs. There were {sic) 8 serfs and 2 bondwomen. It was worth 6 pounds ; now 7 pounds. Keneward and Godric held it, and performed service on such terms as {deserviebant sicut) they could obtain from the Bishop.* ^ This half-hide had been given by bishop 'Brihtegus' [Brihtheah] to a friend, Herlwin by name, for a shilling a year, payable at the Assumption (Heming's Cartulary, p. 267). ' There were 25 eels in the 'stich.'
- I have shown {Feudal England, p. 176)
that these 1 1 hides were Charlton (7 hides) and Elmley (4 hides). Heming's Cartulary gives their history on pp. 267-8. From it we learn that 7 hides at Charlton which had been leased for three lives, were eventually held by (the above) ' Godricus quidam cog- nomento Fine,' on whose death bishop Wulf- stan received it back again, but only to be eventually despoiled of it by ' Rodbertus regis dispensator frater Ursonis vicecomitis,' who relied on the support of the Queen. Elmley, originally alienated by bishop 'Brihtegus,' was regained by bishop Living, who alienated it afresh to ^thelric ' Kiu ' his knight. Re- gained once more, on the latter's death, it was finally seized by ' Rodbertus dispensator regis et frater vicecomitis.' It would seem, however, from the Domesday entry that Elmley had been held by Kineward, as had Charlton by Godric. On the death of Robert the Despencer the two estates were divided, as were other of his lands. The Henry I. survey shows us Robert Marmion holding the 7 hides at Charlton, while the 4 hides at Elmley had passed to Robert the Despencer's son-in-law, Walter de Beauchamp, the seat of whose de- scendants they became (see p. 325 below). 296
