212 Early Annals of Trowbridge. 
The first is respecting what, in the Record, is called Strapure ; 
a strange form of the name, but nevertheless pretty clearly to be 
identified with what we now call Trowbridge. It is as follows :— 
“Bricrric holds Srrasure. His father held it in the time of King Edward 
and it paid geld for 10 hides. The land is 9 carucates. In demesne are 2 caru- 
cates, and 7 serfs. There are 11 villans and 6 coscets with 7 carucates. There 
is a mill paying 10 shillings, and 10 acres of meadow, and 12 acres of pasture, 
The wood is 5 furlongs long and 3 furlongs broad. It was worth £4; it is now 
worth £8.” Wilts Domesday, p. 131. 
The entries for STAVERTON and TRow1z are as follows :— 
‘‘Bricrgic holds STAvVRETONE. His father held it in the time of King 
Edward and it paid geld for 5 hides. The land is 3 carucates. In demesne are 
2 carucates and 7 serfs; and there are 2 villans and 2 coscets with 1 carucate. 
There is a mill paying 20 shillings, and 20 acres of meadow, and 20 acres of 
pasture. It is worth 70 shillings.” bid, p. 132. 
‘‘Brictric holds 1 hide in Trote. The land is 1 carucate, which is there 
with 1 villan. It is worth 10 shillings.” bid, p. 131. 
It is probable that whilst the tithing of Staverton remains much 
as it was, the present town of Trowbridge was taken out of one, or 
it may be partly out of both, of the tithings of Studley and Trowle. 
The eleven hides at which Straburg and Trole were assessed, and 
which might fairly be reckoned at some 1450—1500 acres, would 
correspond remarkably in extent with the 1530 acres in Studley and 
the Town Liberty. 
Staverton and Trow.e were held, it will be observed, as tain- 
land (or thane-land by one Bricrric, an English nobleman (or thane) 
who inherited the same from his father. This takes us back to the . 
days of Edward the Confessor. 
Tain-land, I may perhaps explain, comprised originally estates 
bestowed by the King on military men engaged in the national de- 
fence, and it was held subject to the rendering of certain services to 
the state. It was not lable to many of the ordinary imposts; in 
fact it was held with all immunities, except what was called the 
trinoda necessitas—the three-fold necessity of helping in expeditions, 
repairing castles, and mending bridges. The tenure was a very 
honorable one, and the estates so held became practically hereditary, 
descending from father to son. 
Bricrric was an English nobleman, who was sent by King Edward 
