58 ENGLISH FIELD SYSTEMS 



Date Reference County, Village, and Description 



990 674 VVorcs., UpptSrop (Upthorp). Three-life lease of ii A/<fa 



to two brothers: " and se ealdra hacbbc ?ia preo aeceras, 

 and se iungra fionc feorfian, gc innor, gc utter." 

 c. 972-992 Cartl. Northants, Oxanege (Oxney). Possessions of Peter- 

 Sax. , ii^o borough abbey. " piS utan |)an ige sixti sticca landes 

 |)et is ameten to xxx aecerum. ..." 

 995 692 Gloucs., Dumbeltun (Dumbleton). Grant of "duas man- 



sas et dimidiam . . . praedictum rus, quod in com- 

 muni terra situm est." 

 1002 1295 Gloucs., Dumoltun (Dumbleton). Grant of xxiiii man- 



sae, " X et vii in occidentali parte fluminis Esingburnan 

 . . . ac duas in orientali eiusdem torrentis climate, 

 sorte communes populari aet Eastune, necnon et v 

 [in] locis silvaticis. ..." 

 849 262, App. Worcs., Coftun (Cofton). Boundary, " up be 8am geraae- 

 [actually x nan lande." 



or xi cent.] 



1050 793 Oxons., Sandforda (Sandford). Grant of iiii mansae. 



" Dis sind 8a landgemaera to Sandforda on 8am gem- 

 annan lande." 



What is most immediately to be deduced from these nineteen 

 citations is the fact that, while none of them are earlier than the 

 tenth century, there did exist at that time so-called common land. 

 Frequently the passages imply nothing more. The sixty-five 

 acres at Currage were " on 8an gemanan lande," ^ as were the 

 three roods at Farleigh and the four mansae at Sandford. A 

 boundary at Cofton ran "up be 8am gemaenan lande." The 

 Hendred charter, as we have seen, ampHfies the term " gemaene " 

 enough to explain that its lands lay " aecer under aecer," a 

 phrase which, along with the mention of " haefod aecer " in the 

 boundaries, must lead us to agree with Nasse and Seebohm in see- 

 ing at Kingston intermixed arable acres. " Aecer under aecer " 

 is also used to describe the situation at Drayton. 



* Nasse, arguing for early convertible husbandry as applied to the waste, sees 

 in this " a certain portion of the common pasturage . . . taken up and applied tem- 

 porarily to arable purposes " (op. cit., p. 23). Since there is no other reference 

 in Anglo-Saxon documents to convertible husbandry of this kind (Nasse's other 

 citation implies, as many charters do, merely proportionate rights in the waste), 

 it seems better to interpret the Currage phrase as descriptive of five hides of 

 demesne to which sixty-five acres in the common arable fields were appurtenant. 



