THE HOLDERS OF LANDS 



unjustly and perforce, I 'avera' (carrying ser- it to (posuerunt in) Hiz [Hitchin] because he 

 vice of i load) and ' inward ' (bodyguard refused to find the ' avera ' for the sheriff, 

 service) l for the King ; so the shire-moot (scyra) Geoffrey de Bech, Ilbert's successor, claims 

 testifies. These 2 manors Ilbert when he in regard to this manor to have the King's 

 was sheriff added to Hiz [Hitchin] as the mercy (reclame t pro hoc manerio mherhordiam 



rtgit). 



King William holds OFFELEI [Offley]. It 

 is assessed at 2 hides. There is land for 9 

 ploughs. Five sokemen held it T.R.E. and 

 they hold it now of king William. There 

 are 8 ploughs, and there could be a ninth. 

 There are 2 villeins and 17 bordars and 3 

 cottars and 3 serfs. Meadow is there suffi- 

 cient for i plough team, pasture sufficient for 

 the live stock, woodland to feed 120 swine, 

 and wood sufficient for the fences. Its total 

 value always has been 4 pounds and 4 shil- 

 lings. These same men held it of earl Harold 

 and could assign (dare) or sell. The soke 

 however always belonged to (jacuit in) Hiz 

 [Hitchin]. They found 2 ' averse ' and 2 

 ' inward! ' (service of 2 loads, and 2 men for 

 the bodyguard). 



In this same vill Edward of Periton 

 [Pirton] holds 3 virgates. There is land for 

 2 ploughs ; a half-plough is there, and there 

 could be another plough and half-plough. 

 There is i villein ; and wood sufficient for the 

 fences. Its value is 5 shillings ; when received 

 it was 6 shillings and 8 pence ; T.R.E. IO 

 shillings. Of this land Aluin, a man of 

 archbishop Stigand's, held half a hide, and a 

 man of earl Harold's, Abo by name, held i 

 virgate. These could assign (dare) or sell 

 their land, but its soke remained in Hiz [Hit- 

 chin], 



In the other OFFELEI [Offley] i sokeman 

 holds i hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. 

 One plough is there, and therecould be another. 

 There are there I villein and i bordar and I 

 cottar ; and there is wood sufficient for 

 fencing. Its value has always been 26 shil- 



fo. 133 



lings and 8 pence. He who now holds it 

 held it T.R.E. of earl Harold and could sell. 

 The soke remained in Hiz [Hitchin]. He 

 rendered i 'avera' and i 'inward' (carrying 

 service of i load, and i man for bodyguard). 

 This sokeman and the 5 above of Offelei 

 Ilbert de Hertford attached to (apposuit in) Hiz 

 [Hitchin]. 



In WELLE [Well(bury)] * i sokeman holds 

 I hide. There is land for 5 ploughs. On 

 the demesne is i, and there could be 2 more. 



hundred (court) attests. 



King William holds WAVEDENE* [Wan- 

 don (End) in King's Walden]. It is assessed 

 at 3 virgates. There is land for 2 ploughs 

 and 6 oxen, and these are there, with 6 vil- 

 leins. There is woodland for 40 swine. This 

 land earl Harold held in his manor of Hiz 

 [Hitchin], and to this manor it now belongs 

 (jacet). 



King William holds CERLETONE [Charlton] . 8 

 It is assessed at i virgate. There is land for 

 i plough, and this is there with 2 cottars, and 

 i mill worth 20 pence. Its value is and 

 always was 10 shillings. Two sokemen held 

 this land of earl Harold and could sell with- 

 out his leave. The soke was always in Hiz 

 [Hitchin]. Ilbert when he was sheriff added 

 it to Hiz. 



King William holds DENESLAI [Temple 

 Dinsley]. It is assessed at 7 hides. There 

 is land for 20 ploughs. In the demesne are 

 3^ hides, and 3 ploughs are on it ; and 19 

 villeins have 8 ploughs between them, and 

 there could be 9 more. There are 7 bordars 

 and 7 cottars and 6 serfs and i Frenchman, a 

 King's almsman (e/emosinarius), there. There 

 are 2 mills worth 16 shillings, meadow suffi- 

 cient for i plough team, pasture sufficient for 

 the live stock of the vill, woodland to feed 

 300 swine. It pays in all yearly 14 pounds 

 assayed and weighed out, and 5 pounds by 

 tale. It paid the same sums T.R.E. and 

 when Peter the sheriff received it. Two 

 sokemen held this manor as 2 manors of earl 

 Harold T.R.E. and could sell. Yet they 

 each found 2 ' averse ' (carrying service of 2 

 loads) and 2 ' inwardi ' (men for bodyguard) 

 in Hiz [Hitchin] ; but (it was by) injustice 

 and by force, as the hundred (court) testifies. 

 These 2 manors Ilbert held as one, and he 

 was seized thereof by the King's ' brief for 

 as long as he was sheriff, as the shiremoot 

 (scyra) testifies. But after he ceased to be 

 sheriff Peter de Valongies and Ralf Tailge- 

 bosch took this manor from him and attached 



1 See, for these services, Introduction, pp. 

 269-71. 



* It is just possible that the Domesday scribe 

 mistook ' Waedene ' 



. < w f V W f /fS "i ^ and then There 4 bordars have I plough between them, 



wrote the latter as ' Waredene (J.H.R.). 



3 Alias Moremead manor. 



4 In Offley. See Introduction, p. 297. 



303 



