A HISTORY OF SURREY 



followed here upon the Conquest. Not only did the new and highly 

 favoured foundation of Edward at Westminster obtain Battersea and 

 Pirford from the Conqueror in exchange for Windsor ; it also secured 

 lands at Tooting from a rich citizen of London. 1 On the other hand, 

 the lands which the ill-fated Harold had bestowed on the canons of his 

 house of Waltham passed into the grasping hands of Robert count of 

 Mortain (fo. 34). The foreign abbeys of St. Wandrille and Croix St. 

 Leufroy shared with the Conqueror's own foundation, at Battle, in the 

 spoils of Surrey ; and Richard ' de Tonebrige ' did not forget that 

 abbey of Bee Hellouin which always enjoyed in a special degree the 

 favour of his mighty house.* 



Leaving now the lands of monasteries and of bishop's sees, we find a 

 great part of Surrey treated as an appanage of Kent. That is to say, the 

 largest fiefs outside the lands of the church were those of Odo bishop of 

 Bayeux, who acted as earl of Kent and who had special charge of Dover, 

 and of Richard ' de Tonebridge,' who already possessed, as the style 

 assigned to him implies, the stronghold of Tunbridge Castle. It was 

 obviously intended that the wide estates bestowed, in Surrey, on these 

 magnates should assist them in providing for the guard of Kent and 

 securing the approach to London. 3 On the Norman settlement of Surrey 

 the fief of bishop Odo exercised an influence that deserves some little 

 attention. For most of his tenants were well-known men, whose hold- 

 ings afterwards developed into independent baronies. Among the vassals 

 who followed him from the Bessin were Hugh de Port (en Bessin), who 

 held of him largely in Kent and Hampshire and to some extent in 

 Surrey, and Adam Fitz-Hubert, whose home at Ryes was not far from 

 that of Hugh, and who is twice mentioned under Surrey.* The ' Ilbert ' 

 who held Cuddington of the bishop can be shown to be no other than 

 that Ilbert de Laci, lord of Pontefract, who had also been his vassal. 5 

 Wadard, who held of him in several counties, and who was the pre- 

 decessor of the house of Arsic, is actually depicted on the Bayeux 

 Tapestry, with the legend ' Hie est Wadard.' Gatton and Weybridge 

 were held of the bishop by a Herfrey, who also held of him three 

 estates in Kent. A renowned fellow-prelate of Odo, Gilbert Maminot, 

 bishop of Lisieux, held land of him at Peckham and Hatcham, as he 

 also did at Greenwich. It was thus that Peckham and Hatcham came 

 to form part of the barony of Maminot, and that Bretinghurst manor, at 

 Peckham Rye, became liable to pay ' 10 sh. every 32 weeks to the ward 



1 The donor had obtained it from earl Waltheof by the means which subsequently brought so 

 much land into the hands of citizens of London, that is by lending money on its security. 



* The countess of Boulogne, who held Nutfield, bestowed it on St. Wulmer of Boulogne, but 

 there is no mention of the gift in Domesday, and it may have been made later. The canons of 

 Bayeux received from their bishop lands at Mitcham and at Ashstead. 



3 The importance of the Kentish strongholds was seen within two years of Domesday, when the 

 castles of Rochester and of Tunbridge were held by Odo and by Gilbert de Clare against William 

 Rufus. 



* He is found acting as a Domesday commissioner in Worcestershire. 



5 See my paper on ' Bernard the Scribe ' in EngTub Historical Review, XIV. 4.30. 



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