RINGWOOD TO FORDINGBRIDGE. 97 



such burial ; unless he were buried, as might pos- 

 sibly have been the case, under a fictitious name.' 



The area of Rinwede, as set out in Domes- 

 day, was ten hydes of land. Of these, four were 

 afforested under the forestal laws of the Con- 

 queror and the remaining six were consequently 

 left out, a proof amongst many others that 

 William did not as he has by more than one 

 historian been accused of doing order the whole- 

 sale destruction of villages and the ruthless appro- 

 priation of the land on which they stood and 

 which surrounded them. A forest by such means, 

 or by any other, could not have been made in his 

 lifetime. He doubtless appropriated with a strong 

 hand for his pleasure all suitable land and most 

 of the woods in the district he had marked out 

 for himself. But he also left most if not all of 

 the meadows and tilled and arable land. Of the 

 manor of Binwede, for instance, it is seen that he 

 left three-fifths to its former inhabitants and 

 occupiers, including 105 acres of meadow-land. 

 He also left, occupied as before, a mill that paid 

 twenty-two shillings in taxes, and a church to 

 which was attached half a hyde of land. On 



