A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



IN THE TWO HUNDREDS OF IN BRADEWATRE HUNDRET 



BRADEWATRE The abbot of Ely holds HETFELLE. It is 



The abbot of Ely holds HATFELD. It is. a ! sessed at / hides ' There is land for 3 

 and was T.R.E., assessed at 40 hides. There P lou g hs - In the demesne are 20 hides, and 

 is land for 30 ploughs. There are 2 ploughs there are 2 P Iou g hs on lt > and there could 

 and 20 hides in demesne, and there could be be 3 more - A P nest ther e and 18 villeins 

 3 (ploughs) more. (There are) 20 ploughs of and l8 bordars have 2O P lou g h s between 

 the men, and there could be 5 more. (There them > and there could be 5 more. There 

 are) 18 villeins, each of i virgate, and a priest are 12 cottars and 6 serfs > and 4 mills worth 

 (who has) half a hide, and 4 men of 4 hides 47 shlllln g s and 4 pence. Meadow is there 

 (in all). And Adam son of Robert son of sufficient for IO P lou g h team s ; pasture suffi- 

 William (has) 2 hides under the abbot. clent for the live stock ; wood to feed 2 > oo 

 (There are) 12 bordars of half abide (in w ' n e ; and i o shillings are the dues from wood 

 all), and 6 other bordars of half a hide (in and P^ 1 " 6 - Altogether Us value is, and 

 all), 12 cottars, 6 serfs ; 4 mills worth (de) was > 25 P unds ; T - R - E -> 3 Punds. This 

 46 shillings and 4 pence. Meadow for 10 manor belon g ed > and stl11 belongs, to the 

 plough teams ; pasture (sufficient) for the demesne of e church of E1 7 (Domesday). 

 live stock of the vill ; woodland for 2,000 

 swine. From wood (bosco) and pasture (come) 

 IO shillings. (There are) 26 cattle (animalia 

 odosd), 360 sheep, (and) 60 swine. Altogether 

 it is worth 25 pounds ; when received, 25 

 pounds ; T.R.E., 30 pounds. This manor 

 belonged, and belongs, to the church of Ely 

 in demesne (Ing. Eliensis). 



It will be seen at once that Domesday Book here omitted two 

 departments of information found in the returns. One was the classifi- 

 cations of the villagers according to the extent of the holding ; the other 

 was the amount of livestock apart from the plough oxen (whose teams 

 were comprehended in the word ' plough'). The fact that the original 

 returns did comprise the livestock is of value as confirming the statement 

 of our native chronicler that there was not ' so much as it is shame to 

 tell, and he thought it no shame to do an ox nor a cow nor a swine 

 that was not set in his writ.' Moreover in Essex, to the east of our 

 county, Domesday Book retained this item of information throughout. 

 The other item, which is of some importance, was preserved by it in Mid- 

 dlesex, to the south, and will therefore be most fitly discussed when dealing 

 with the survey of that county. Here it need only be observed that on 

 the three Hertfordshire manors the villeins are all returned as holding a 

 virgate or half a virgate, while the priest at Hatfield has half a hide, or 

 twice as much as any villein. It should however be noticed that, as will 

 be seen below (p. 3 32), Domesday itself, in the solitary case of the great 

 manor of Sawbridgeworth, records the classification found in the original 

 return. From the priest with his ' hide,' and the reeve with his half 

 ' hide,' the scale ranges down through the villeins with their virgates 

 and half virgates, to the bordars with their 8 acres apiece and the cottars 

 with one or none. 



But the instructive inclusion of these items is not all that is done 

 for us by the Inquisitio Eliensis. It further records the names of the sworn 

 men of the Hundreds ; and, as the abbot of Ely's manors lay in three 



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