DOMESDAY SURVEY 



and its priest, and in four instances the priest is set down without any- 

 definite mention of the church which his presence impHes. Sometimes 

 the priest is entered as holding the church and a certain amount of land 

 — usually about half a hide, though the ' clerks of the church ' of Box- 

 grove held one hide and the ' clerks of the church ' of Singleton as much 

 as 3 hides i virgate — at other times the priest's holding and the 

 church are mentioned separately, and most often no land is assigned to 

 the church, not, probably, because there was no endowment, but because 

 the lands thus set apart were usually exempt from geld, as for instance 

 in the case of ' Wilesham,' where ' Ulward the priest of this manor ' 

 held the church and one virgate of land, which did not form part of the 

 1 5 hides at which the manor was assessed and had never paid geld. 

 Tithes worth 40J. are stated to have been held at Bosham by the clerks, 

 and at Arundel also the clerks of St. Nicholas were in receipt of 

 the tithes, while at Iping ' Circet ' or Church-Scot of 30^'. is men- 

 tioned. It is well recognized that no argument can be based on the 

 omissions of Domesday, and this can be well demonstrated in the case 

 of Sussex, where there is no allusion to the church of Selsey, although 

 barely ten years had elapsed since the see had been transferred from that 

 place, or to St. Dunstan's church of Mayfield, or to that of Worth, 

 which displays so many features of pre-Conquest architecture, or to the 

 nine churches of Lewes mentioned in contemporary charters. But, 

 however many churches were omitted, the survey mentions ninety- 

 eight besides nine ' ecclesiolas ' or chapels, and four priests whose presence 

 implies a place of worship ; there were also in Pevensey Hundred three 

 small estates held ' in alms ' by clerks, which would suggest the probable 

 existence of chapels.' The monasteries and religious foundations which 

 occur in the Domesday account form one of the divisions of the class 

 of landowners with which we have now to deal. 



In examining the distribution of the lands within the county 

 previous to the advent of the Normans it is natural to consider first 

 the royal demesne. King Edward had in his own hands the manors 

 of Filsham, Eastbourne, Beddingham, Ditchling, Beeding, Steyning 

 and Lyminster, yielding a total of 240 hides, to which may be added 

 34 hides held in Bury, Littlehampton and round Warbleton by his 

 sister the Countess Goda,^ and 91 hides in the hands of Queen Edith 

 at Iford, Frog-Firle, etc., with possibly another 34 hides assigned in 

 various places to ' Eddeva ' ; 400 hides in all, at most. The royal 

 demesnes sink into insignificance when compared with the vast estate of 

 the mighty house of Godwin, everywhere rich and powerful, but no- 

 where more so than in Sussex, which was possibly his native county." 

 At Bosham Harold had a manor house which is shown in the Bayeux 

 tapestry, and from that port he set out on the fateful journey which ended 



' See below, p. 376. 



2 Owing to the carelessness of the Domesday scribes it is difficult to distinguish this Countess Goda 

 from Earl Godwine's wife, the Countess Gida. 



3 For a discussion of the identity of Godwin's father VVulfnoth with Wulfnoth the South Saxon, 

 see Freeman, Norman Conquest, i. App. MM. 



I 369 47 



