THE MANOR AND THE VILLAGE 39 



the bailiffs accounts and enjoyed some days' sport 

 in the woods and wastes. This done, he would be 

 off to another estate. 



An important element in the manorial life was the 

 mill. If, as was a common custom, it belonged to 

 the lord, he would claim the right to grind the corn 

 grown in the manor, so that every bondsman and 

 perhaps even the freemen, had to come to the lord's 

 miller, who, holding a monopoly, probably often 

 charged undue prices, and so taxed unfairly the 

 people's small gains. 



Important, though in a different way, were the 

 church and the church house. The church was not 

 only a religious, but also a social centre, and in it were 

 often held meetings, plays and even markets. But 

 commonly the village life centred in the church house, 

 where the village priest may have lived. Though simpler 

 than the lord's hall, this house would be built on the 

 same plan, with one large room, suitable for business 

 and social meetings of the villagers. The priest con- 

 tinued to be an important official in the community, 

 taking his part not only in the religious but also in 

 the social and public life. For his services he received 

 burial and other dues, a share of the tithes, and also 

 the gifts of his flock, whilst he would generally, like 

 his Anglo-Saxon predecessor, hold several strips of 

 land in the open fields. 



In the village itself, which might straggle along a 

 rough lane, littered with refuse, would be the small 

 farm-houses of the peasants. The ordinary type of 

 farm-house would contain one large room common to 

 all. Above this room might be a loft, reached by a 

 ladder. Most of the houses would be, of their kind, 

 well built, for there is no reason to suppose that an 



