22 BOROUGH OF LEWISHAM. 
the Abbot of Ghent is Lewisham only, although it is probable that a 
great part of what we call Greenwich to-day is comprehended 
under the description given. Greenwich itself is described as 
having been two Manors in the time of King Edward the Confessor, 
held by Earl Harold and Brixi respectively, but united after the 
Conquest and held by the Bishop of Lisieux of the Bishop of Baieux. 
It is practically impossible to reconcile the charters and Domesday, 
but the point belongs rather to the history of Greenwich than to 
that of Lewisham. 
It must be remembered that Domesday Book was primarily a 
great valuation record, and that little was entered therein which 
had no bearing on the value for taxation purposes of the various 
Manors. It is spoken of sometimes as though it were a kind of 
eleventh century gazetteer, but it is only this to a very limited 
extent. One might be pardoned the wish now that the returns 
from which it was compiled had dealt with other matters, but we 
must not expect too much from it. 
The entry in Domesday respecting Lewisham is as follows :— 
“Terra Sancti Petri de Gand. In Grenviz Hundredo. Abbas de 
Gand tenet de rege Levesham et de rege Edward tenuit et tunc et 
modo pro ii solins se defendit. Terra est xiiii carucarum In 
dominio sunt ii carucae et | villani cum ix bordariis habent xvii 
carucas. Ibi iii servi et xj molini cum gablo rusticorum vii libras 
et xii solidos reddentes. De exitu portus xl solidi. Ibi xxx acrae 
prati. De silva 1 porci de pasnagio. Totum manerium Tempore 
Regis Edwardi valebat xvj libras et post xij libras modo xxx™ 
libras.”” 
‘¢ The Land of St. Peter of Gand. In Greenwich Hundred. The 
Abbot of Gand hold Levesham of the King and he held ‘it of King 
Edward, and then and now it answers for two sulings. There is 
the arable land of fourteen teams. In demesne there are two teams, 
and 50 villans with 9 bordars have seventeen teams. There are 
three slaves and eleven mills with the gafol of the rustics rendering 
eight pounds and twelve shillings. From the outgoings of the 
haven forty shillings. There are thirty acres of meadow. Of 
wood 50 hogs from the pannage. The whole manor in the time of 
King Edward was worth sixteen pounds, and afterwards twelve 
pounds. Now thirty pounds.” 
This may be paraphrased as follows :—In Greenwich Hundred 
(subsequently called Blackheath Hundred) The Abbot of Ghent 
holds Levesham of the King, and of King Edward he held it, and 
then and now it answers fae two sulings, z.e., the unit of assess- 
ment for taxation in Kent; in other counties the unit was known 
as a hide, which is generally understood to have been about half a 
suling. The Kentish unit was therefore low for taxation purposes. 
In the time of King Edward, the area under cultivation was 
that workable by fourteen ploughs each with a team of eight oxen. 
In the portion of the Manor in the hands of the Abbot himself or 
his bailiff, and known as the Demesne, there were at the time of 
