THE HOLDERS OF LANDS Of this same manor the abbot of Evesham holds 5 hides at Hantune [Hampton].^ From these the bishop of Worcester, T.R.E., only had the geld, (which was due) to his Hundred [ad suum hund[ret]). From all else it was quit (as belonging) to {ad) the church of Evesham, as the county (court) says.* Of the same manor the abbot of Evesham holds 4 hides ^ at Bennicworte [Bengeworth], and there also Urse the sheriff holds 6 hides, where he has 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 1 2 villeins and 2 bordars with 3^ ploughs. There are 6 serfs, and i bondwoman, and 6 acres of meadow. It was worth 60 shillings ; now 4 pounds and 10 shillings. Azor held (it) and did service (for it) at the Bishop's pleasure {ut episcopo placebo t).* In Esch Hund[ret] This same Church holds Clive [Cleeve Prior] with Lenc [Lench]. There are lo^ hides.^ In (the) demesne are 2 ploughs and (there are) a priest, who has i hide and 2 ploughs, and 9 villeins and 5 bordars with 4 ploughs, and a mill which renders i sestier
- Adjoining Evesham.
- This estate and that at Bengeworth,
which follows it, were the subject of the great suit between the houses of Worcester and Evesham, which is discussed in the In- troduction (p. 253). ^ The detailed survey of these 4 hides, as of the Abbot's Hampton estate, will be found below on the Evesham fief.
- It was alleged by the monks of Worcester
(Heming's Cartulary, p. 269) that bishop 'Brihtegus' {i.e. Brihtheah) gave 5 hides here to 'Atsere,' his kinsman and chamberlain, who was forcibly deprived of them, in his life- time, by the sheriff Urse. Warned by his fate, his neighbour jErngrim, who held the other half of Bengeworth {I.e. 5 hides), transferred his * service ' to the abbot of Evesham, who was powerful and close at hand. But he was soon, the monks said, tricked out of his land by the Abbot, who secured it for his abbey. One of these 5 hides, however, was obtained by the grasping Urse (Domesday, 175^), which accounts for his whole Bengeworth estate being reckoned above at 6 (not 5) hides, and (possibly) for its marked increase in value since it was held by 'Azor,' who, it should be observed, is the ' Atsere ' of the monks' story.
- The Worcester Cartulary (Ed. Hale)
proves that the odd half hide was for Lench, which 'gelded with* Cleeve. As Atch {sextarium) of honey.® There are 4 serfs, and 4 bondwomen, and 20 acres of meadow. It was worth 7 pounds ; now 6 pounds. Of this land 2 hides, less a virgate, are waste. This same Church holds Fepsetenatun [Fepton].' There are 6 hides. One of these does not (pay) geld.* Walter Ponther holds it. The other five (pay) geld, and on these {ibi) there are 2 ploughs, and 2 villeins, with 2 ploughs, and 4 serfs, and 6 acres of meadow. The wood(land) is half a league {lewa) long and one furlong in width ; and from the saltpans in (Droit)wich^ (are received) 10 shillings. It was and is worth 10 shillings {sic). To this manor belongs i Berewick called Crohlea [Crowle]. There are 5 hides that (pay) geld. Roger Laci {sic) holds (it), and Odo (holds it) of him. In (the) demesne are 2 ploughs, and (there are) 7 villeins and 3 bordars with 4 ploughs. There are 4 serfs, and I bondwoman, and a mill worth {de) 2 shillings, and a saltpan in (Droit)wich worth {de) 3 shillings. There are 16 acres of meadow. The wood(land) is half a league {lewa) long and I furlong in width ; this is in (the King's) forest. Simund held it, — it was (part) of the church's demesne, — and rendered for it to the Bishop all service and geld, and could not betake himself anywhere with this land.'" Lench was 4^ hides it is possible that this half hide had been taken thence; for the original assessment may have been 5 hides.
- This is an unusual ' render ' for a mill.
' In Himbleton ; now corrupted to ' Phep- son.'
- The remaining five were subsequently
exempted by Henry I.
- i.e. belonging to this manor,
'" i.e. could not ' commend ' himself, with it to any lord but the Bishop. The story of this estate is told in Heming's Cartulary (fo. 264-5). It is there stated that Crowle was abstracted from the demesne apportioned to the support of the monks {a dominico viciu monachorum) during the dominion of the Danes, when the above Simund {i.e. Sieg- mund), a Dane by birth and a 'knight' of earl Leofric, who held the other half of Crowle, coveted the monks' half, harried it, was impleaded for doing so, and finally, at the entreaty of earl Leofric, obtained it for his life from prior iEthelwine, agreeing to render certain service for it to the monastery. The 'other' half of Crowle, spoken of in 297
