32 ENGLISH RURAL LIFE 



little, if at all, changed from what had existed before 

 the Conquest, There would still be : 



1 I ) The open arable fields, either two, or more commonly 

 three great areas, fenced either permanently or tempor- 

 arily from the surrounding land. These fields would con- 

 sist of many hundreds of strips, the ' acres ' or * lands/ the 

 divisions between the strips being marked by the old 

 narrow grass belts, the ' baulks/ or in some cases by 

 deep furrows. The ' lands ' would be still, as they had 

 been in the past, grouped together and surrounded by 

 broad grass headlands or rough grass roads, the ' head- 

 lands ' and ' way baulks/ so as to form divisions or 

 fields, the * shots ' or * furlongs.' 



(2) The Lot Meadows. Land set aside for hay, and 

 divided either permanently or yearly into strips. 



(3) Commons. Much larger in extent than the areas 

 that bear that name to-day, and consisting in part of 

 valuable pasturage for stock and in part of rough land. 



(4) Woods and Wastes. Wood and moor land, hill- 

 sides and marshes, open to all the village. 



The social organization of the manor has next to be 

 outlined. At its head was the lord, whom Norman 



law inclined to look upon as the owner of 

 The people ,11 r ,1 



and their the land as well as a governor of the 



social or- estate. The lord might be the king, a 

 ganization. . . . . ~: 



monastery, or other ecclesiastical institution, 



a bishop or some other Church dignitary, or a layman, 

 either some Norman noble holding many such estates, 

 or perhaps merely a modest squire, holding a few 

 manors, or one only. 



Such manors would rarely, if ever, be bought and 

 sold. If they were vested in the Church, they would 

 remain in the hands of the Church, whilst if a manor 



