of 



of i$e gourf 

 "gftcmor of 



By W. MILES BARNES. 





T is surprising how little attention manorial court 

 rolls have attracted, yet to the local historian 

 they are invaluable ; in them he finds for 

 generations the names of the tenants of the 

 manor, who, with their families, constituted the 

 bulk of the population, a description of their 

 holdings, their rents, the names of their tene- 

 ments, the position of their dwelling houses and 

 farm buildings, the customs of the manor, the names of the 

 steward and officers of the court ; even the disputes of the 

 tenants amongst themselves over parochial matters are duly 

 chronicled. No history of a parish can be considered complete 



* Winterborne Waste seems to be a corruption for Winterborne Vaste (i.e., 

 De Vasto's Winterborne). The name Vast was probably spelt wast, and the two 

 small v's, standing for a capital V, were mistaken by some copyist for a W. 



It was a common practice to use a duplicated small letter for a capital letter 

 thus, in the minutes of the Court held October, 1696, February is spelt ffebruary. 



