42 Kington St. Michael. 



ty what title was unknown. And the Prioress had the right of erecting gallows 

 witliin that part of the Manor where her lands and those of the Abbot were 

 intermingled." 



"^o^ 



After the Dissolutiox. 



In 1536 (27 Hen. YIII.) on the attainder of Abbot Whiting, 

 an enquiry was made into the value of the Manor by Richard 

 Pollard and Thomas Moyle : 



" It was found to be worth in rents, free and customary, £23 17s. 3d. The 

 Demesne farm £3 7s. Sd., besides 28s. for the Fee of Richard Suell, Bailiff 

 there. Other casualties including 63s. 8d. for sale of wood, £5 Os. Ifd. Fines 

 of land 20s. There was a wood of 300 acres (Haywood) chiefly of scrubbed and 

 lopped oaks worth to be sold £142. The Timber of great oaks £20. 25 men 

 in the Manor ready to serve the King, and two Bondmen both body and goods 

 at the King's pleasure." C Val. Eccl.) 



1540. (32 Hen. YIII.) Whilst the Manor was in the hands of 



the Crown the following return (in ^the Augmentation Office) was 



made of its profits and outgoings, by Richard Snell the Lord's 



Farmer and Bailiff. 



" Freeholders paying quit rents, John Saunders, 8d. for the price of 2 geese 

 for a tenement at Haywood, late Bolhides. Thomas Tropenell, for land late 

 Baring's os. 9Jd. The late Abbey of Malmsbury's land 10 pence. 



" Customary Tenants. Pdehard Snell, 67s. 8d. for the Demesne Court, viz. : 

 The Hall, Chamber, Kitchen, Grange, Barton, Dovecot, and Croft on the north 

 side of the Court : besides having to repair all the houses in Kington, and to 

 provide meet hay for the horses of the steward and their officers there, as well for 

 the holding of the Courts as for the good governance of the Lordship. 10s. from 

 the Toll of the Fairs there holden this year on the Feast of St. Michael. Total 

 £23 6s. 3id. 



*' Lifeholders. 16 pence for the rent of all shrouded oaks and other trees 

 growing on the Lord's common called "Langley heath," and 10s. for the 

 Agistment of the cattle of the Lord's Tenants in the wood called Heywood. Also 

 for fees at the Coiu-ts, Heriots, and Strays. Total income £32 15s. 2d. 



" The oiitgoings in wages to the steward and King's officers at the Courts of 

 Kington, Grittlcton, &c., as well as for the good governance of the Lordship, 

 53s. 2d. The Manor house and "Pounfold" were also repaired at the King's 

 expense." 



The Manor then became the property of the family who had 



been for some years its stewards, viz. : 



Snell of Kington. 



This name is an old Wiltshire word signifying "sharp." "Roger 

 commonl}' called Snell " of Allington, near Chippenham, occurs in 



