By W. L. Barker, Esq. 141 



Berkshire by Alfred to his Queen, and subsequently the manors of 

 Hidden and Edington were given to the priory of S. Frideswide 

 in Oxford, by Edmund, Earl of Lancaster ; and as they thus 

 became the property of a religious community, they remain tithe- 

 free to this day. After the Reformation they were granted with 

 New Town and Denford to the family of James, who forfeited them 

 in the reign of Queen Mary for their attachment to the Protestant 

 religion. They were re-granted by Queen Elizabeth, and after- 

 wards came into the possession of Sir Walter James, Bart., from 

 whom they descended to the Gaisfords. 



Hungerford was known in the time of the Saxons as Ingleford 

 Charnham Street, supposed to be a corruption from the ford of the 

 Angles on Herman Street, which signifies the road for the army, an 

 appellation of frequent use in ancient times. The name is still 

 preserved in Charnham Street, which lies on the north side of the 

 town, on the main road from London to Bath. From a very early 

 period Hungerford has been divided into four tithings ; viz : the 

 Borough, Sandon Fee, Charnham Street, and Edington. Tithings 

 are mentioned in the reign of Canute. ' ' From the first," says Kemble 

 " we find inhabitants classed in tens and hundreds, each probably 

 comprising a corresponding number of members together with the 

 necessary officers; viz: a Tithing- man for each tithing, and a 

 100-man for each hundred." Tithings subsequently denote local 

 not numerical divisions. 



In Domesday Book, which was compiled in 1085, the following 

 brief notice of Hungerford is inserted. " Robert the Son of Girold 

 holds Inglesol (another name for Hungerford), in the Hundred of 

 Kintbury. Two free men held it of King Edward as two manors. 



Then and now for three hides. The land is In the domain 



there is one caruka ; and seven bordars with one team. There is 

 one serf, and four acres of meadow, and a little wood. It used to 

 be worth 30s., now 20s." 



This statement, as it stands, is scarcely intelligible to modern 

 ears. Let us consider the meaning of some of these words. " Two 

 free men held it of King Edward as two manors." The manors 

 in ancient times comprised not only landed estates, but lordships 



