A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



(East Hampnett) and Hentone (West Hampnett) (fo. 25-^). Finally we 

 may notice the introduction of E before the initial S, as in Esserintone 

 (fo. 19) and Serintone (fo. zoh), Estorchestone (fo. 24) and Storgetune 

 (fo. 29). 



In dealing with the boroughs of Sussex we find their salient feature 

 in the marked increase of wealth and population which the Conquest 

 had brought them, and which was doubtless due partly to the impulse 

 it gave to traffic with Normandy and partly to the settlement in their 

 castles of Norman lords. At Pevensey itself, William's landing-place, 

 the burgesses were reduced to twenty-seven when Robert of Mortain 

 received it, but at the time of the survey their number had risen to 

 sixty in the count's demense and fifty belonging to his tenants, 

 no in all. At Chichester there were far more houses than there 

 had been under King Edward, and even Steyning had increased. 

 Lewes, it was reckoned, had increased in value thirty per cent, since the 

 Conquest. It must be remembered that the vessels of the time were 

 small and of shallow draught, while the Sussex rivers, probably, were 

 larger then than now. Consequently Arundel, Steyning, and Lewes 

 most of all, would be then ports of consequence. We have to deplore 

 the omission in the survey of the city of Chichester — except for a brief 

 statement that there had been 97I haws, or closes, there on which the 

 houses had now increased by sixty — and of Hastings. The loss of the 

 latter is particularly regrettable in view of the position afterwards held 

 by Hastings as head of the Cinque Ports. Nor is there any great 

 amount of detail in the treatment of the other boroughs, though the 

 customs of Lewes (fo. 26) are of considerable interest. Of these the 

 first deals with the scypfyrd : ' If the king wished to send his men to 

 guard the sea without going himself (the burgesses) collected from all the 

 men whoever held the land 20 shillings, which money those had who 

 were in charge of the arms in the ships.' Some light is thrown on this 

 by the similar customs of Malmesbury,' where the burgesses were bound 

 either to supply one man as the military service due from the 5 hides 

 at which they were rated, or to pay 20J-. towards the maintenance 

 of the ' buzcarles.' ' Reading these two entries together it seems 

 probable that when the king led his forces in person Lewes had to 

 provide one man, or possibly more, but that otherwise the service was 

 commuted for a payment of 20J. Moreover, the 'buzcarles' 

 would seem to be equivalent to ' those who were in charge of the arms 

 in the ships,' and these we may reasonably conjecture to have had some 

 connection with the ' helm and hauberk ' which King Ethelred levied in 

 1008 from every 9 hides for the arming of the ships provided by the 

 different counties.^ 



The second clause of the customs is, that ' he who sells a horse in 

 the borough gives to the reeve one penny and the buyer (gives) another ; 

 for an ox a halfpenny ; for a man four pence, in whatever place he buys 



• Dom. Bk. fo. 64J. 3 Freeman, Norman Conquest, i. App. LL. 



382 



