By T. H. Baker. 323 
“ Land of Odo and other of the King’s Thanes. 
“Alvied holds sgxa. In the time of King Edward it paid geld for 23 hides. 
The land is 3 carucates. In demesne is 1 carucate and there are 4 serfs and 8 
villans and 9 bordars with 2 carucates. There is a mill paying 3 shillings and 
4, acres of meadow and 40 acres of pasture. The wood is half a mile long and 
half a mile broad. It is worth 30 shillings.” 
The present area of Zeals is over 1500 acres, so the whole of the 
parish, as now constituted, could not have been included in the 
return. We find that the Duke of Cornwall at one time held lands 
here, so that—as at Mere—probably the Crown property was not 
assessed for ‘‘ Dane geld.” The mills have disappeared, and their 
site is not known. There is a stream between Zeals and Penselwood, 
and another at Wolverton, of sufficient volume to drive a mill, and 
probably one existed at each of these places. A wood, called 
Norwood, still exists of about the extent of one of those named, 
but of the other no trace is left. 
1533. Thomas Chafyn had a grant of the parsonage and tithes 
of Mere for sixty years. Between this Thomas Chafyn and the 
Lord Stourton there was a deadly feud. 
1550. Lord Stourton sent notice to Mr. Chafyn to give up 
possession of the demesne lands in Mere. 
1551. Thomas Chafyn had a grant of 200 acres of land in Mere 
for twenty-one years from King Edward VI., when Lord Stourton 
and his agents forcibly seized Mr. Chafyn’s sheep on the demesne 
lands of the manor of Mere, which were driven to Stourton House 
and impounded. On May 16th :— 
“John Blandford, Richard Mackhill and eight others armed with weapons 
assaulted Leonard Chafyn, Thomas Horton and Robert Clemente beating, 
manassing and mis-entreating them; taking from them one ferratte, one iron 
barre, a bagge, a bottle, a purse conteyning ixs. in money and one plowme of 
feathers; and did also carry away the said Leonard Chafyn &c. against their 
will to the mansion house of Lord Stourton, where they were shut up in a prison 
in the house for some days and were afterwards released, July 12th. Other 
servants of Lord Stourton armed with weapons entered the demesne lands of Mere 
and took prisoner Thomas Hopkins shepherd to Mr. Chafyn and carried him to 
Stourton House and kept him in prison some days. August 12th. They again 
went to the folds of Mr. Chafyn and took 240 sheep which they drove to Lord 
Stourton’s grounds and by his command proclaimed them in the markets as 
strayers and still detained them. August 22nd. Lord Stourton attended by his 
men armed entered the demesne and drove out 1000 sheep of Chafyn’s and 
