A HISTORY OF WARWICKSHIRE 



all disappeared, their place being taken by four only, which bear differ- 

 ent names. Mr. Walker shows that Hemlingford Hundred practically 

 represents the Domesday Hundred of ' Coleshelle ' ; that Knightlow is 

 composed of the Domesday Hundreds of 'Bomelau,' ' Meretone,' and 

 ' Stanlei' ; that ' Tremelau,' ' Honesberie,' * Fexhole,' and ' Berricestone ' 

 form what is now Kineton ; and that ' Barlichway,' a name as old as 

 1176, represents the Domesday Hundred of ' Fernecumbe,' with the 

 addition of that Pathlow Liberty, the ' Patelau ' of Domesday, which 

 continued long afterwards to cut it in two. ' Berricestone,' according 

 to Mr. Walker's map, 1 was similarly cut in two, while ' Fexhole ' con- 

 sisted of two portions widely detached. 



This is not the place in which to discuss the development of the 

 later Hundreds, the term ' Sipe socha ' as connected with them, or the 

 subsequent appearance as ' leets ' of the three Domesday Hundreds, 1 

 which went to form Knightlow. Such points as these, together with 

 the names of the places from which the Hundreds were called and where 

 their assemblies met, will be discussed under each Hundred. The very 

 boundaries of the Domesday Hundreds are by no means absolutely clear, 

 and although they are occasionally referred to in the notes to the text, 

 they are not of much importance. 



The identification of Domesday manors is often a work of extreme 

 difficulty, but is one which cannot be shirked. Mr. Carter, fortunately, 

 in his notes to the text has been able to diminish the number of those 

 which have hitherto remained unidentified. 8 I do not propose, therefore, 

 to deal with the matter myself beyond touching on the cases of' Surland' 

 and ' Optone.' With regard to the former, our difficulty is that this 

 substantial manor is not mentioned, so far as we know, after Domesday, 

 although it ought to occur, as in the record, among the possessions of 

 Coventry Priory. Mr. Carter's suggestion that it represents the abbey's 

 portion of Coventry itself (which is not entered in Domesday) would 

 obviously meet this difficulty ; but Domesday distinctly places ' Surland ' 

 between Grandborough and Birdingbury in ' Meretone' Hundred, which 

 is inconsistent with that solution. At present, therefore, I cannot sug- 

 gest where ' Surland ' was. As to ' Optone,' I agree with Mr. Carter in 

 rejecting Dugdale's guess (for it can have been nothing else) that it was 

 part of Kenilworth. 4 The only actual evidence we have is : (i) that of 

 Domesday, which tells us that ' Optone ' and Kenilworth were both 

 members of Stoneleigh ; (2) that of the Stoneleigh cartulary, which asserts 

 that in the time of Edward the Confessor the members of Stoneleigh 

 were Kenilworth, Baginton, Ryton, and Stretton. 6 Dugdale was ac- 



1 See Antiquary, xzxix. p. 147. 



' t ' Meretone ' and ' Stanlei,' as Dugdale shows, appeared for a time as Hundreds ' and then as 

 Leets, while 'Brmklow,' which appears to represent the Domesday Hundred of ' Bomelau,' did the same. 

 1 Compare Mr. Benjamin Walker's Some Notes on Domesday Book, p. 10. 

 Ibid. p. 37. Dngdale's words are : 'this being that part of Kenilworth which now the inhabitants 



igh Town, and situate upon the ascent upon the north part of the Church.' 

 ' Edwardus rex habuit in dominico suo hereditario manerium de Stonle cum membris, videlicet 

 Kenilworth, Bakyngtone, Ruytone, et Stratone,' etc. 



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