26 The Demesne. 1270 — 1307. [ch. 



The reap-reeve and cart-reeve were charged with humbler 

 agricultural services, the performance of which was limited to the 

 harvest season. They were elected in the manor court. 



Near the church and between the manor court and the meadow 

 that bordered on the beck, lay the gardens^ They were surrounded 

 by walls^; a ditch ran between one garden and the meadow". They 

 were as much orchards as gardens in the modern sense, for their 

 chief marketable products were apples and cider^ The yield of these 

 was very irregular. In some years the bailiff and townspeople 

 testified that no cider had been made'' ; often nothing was sold from 

 the gardens". On the other hand, in 1273, 351 gallons of cider were 

 sold for over £\\ and in another season j6 bushels of apples were 

 gathered^. As a rule the apples were either sold or sent to Lopham^ 

 Not far from the hall was a vineyard^''. 



The chief source of income to the lord of the manor was the 

 produce of the arable demesne. This lay for the most part in 

 Forncett, though there were a few acres in Tacolneston, Moulton, 

 and Wacton. 



Its location, in so far as it lay in Forncett, is shown on the map, 

 and exhibits some noteworthy features. 



First, near the manor house in St Mary's, near, that is, to the 

 nucleus of Forncett manor, was a large block of land known as 

 the Hall Close, or Hall Croft, while not far off were other blocks, each 

 of several acres. 



Second, excepting these pieces, a very large proportion of the 

 arable demesne lay on the outskirts of the manor, and was assart, 

 i,e. land brought into cultivation at a comparatively late period". 



Third, only a very small proportion of the demesne consisted 

 of scattered acre or half-acre strips, the rest being in blocks of 

 considerable size. 



Fourth, as has been said, there was very little demesne in the 

 free hamlets of Eastern Twanton. 



The fields (campi) of Westwood Ridding and of Hall Close were 



Two gardens are mentioned, the 'magnum gardinum,' and 'gardinum juxta ecclesiam.' 

 Min. Acc'ts, 935/12. 



- Min. Acc'ts, 935/12, 935/13. 935/H- ^ Min. Acc'ts, 935/4, 935/17. 



* Cf. also 935/16, ' 6s. de veteribus pomariis...in gardino de Tacolneston.' 



^ Min. Acc'ts, 935/12. ^ Min. Acc'ts, 935/14. 



^ Appendix VIII., xxxii. ^ Min. Acc'ts, 935/5, 935/8. 



» Min. Acc'ts, 935/5, 935/15. ^0 Min. Acc'ts, 935/4, 935/12. 



^^ For example, Westwood Ridding, the piece near Tharston Wood (XII. 6, St Peter's), 

 Bolkarridding (III. 2, St Mary's), the strip west of Bromewood (IV. 7, St Mary's) and 

 probably the strips south of Bromewood (IV. 6, St Mary's). 



