THE DOMESDAY SURVEY 



find his chief manors were Writtle, Hatfield (Broadoak), Havering, 

 Stanway, Lawford, Brightlingsea, Newport, Waltham (Holy Cross), 

 Peering, (West) Thurrock, Witham and Benfleet. But to these must 

 be added those which he bestowed on his great foundation at Waltham, 

 none of which however was exceptionally valuable or large except 

 Waltham itself, which, according to his charter of foundation, was in- 

 cluded among them, but which was bestowed by William on the 

 Norman Bishop of Durham. Peering and Ockendon, which had been 

 held by Harold, are found at the time of Domesday in the hands of 

 Westminster Abbey, but in the case of the latter the Survey tells us that 

 the abbey had acquired it by exchange ' since the king crossed the sea.' 

 This refers to a transaction by which King William regained the manor 

 of Old Windsor, which his predecessor had bestowed on the abbey. A 

 charter of the Conqueror in English addressed to the Bishop of London, 

 to ' Swein ' the sheriff of Essex, and to all his thegns in the county, 

 announces that he has given to the abbey ' Feringe and Wokindone ' in 

 exchange for that manor. 1 This charter cannot be later than 1075 and, 

 being in English, probably belongs to the early days of the reign. Ex- 

 cept for these manors and for that of (West) Thurrock, which William 

 bestowed on the Count of Eu, he kept almost the whole of Harold's 

 lands for himself, including the great lordships I have named above. 

 These formed thenceforth the bulk of his Essex demesne. 8 



Next in importance to these were the lands of Earl j'Elfgar, of which 

 he similarly kept the bulk in his own hands. /Elfgar, who had died in 

 or about 1062, had added to his own earldom of Mercia that of East 

 Anglia; but it is not easy to account for his possessions so far to the 

 south as Essex, for it has not been supposed that this county was at any 

 time under his sway. In any case the earl had held the manors of (Great) 

 Chesterford, Shalford, Wethersfield, Felsted, Great Baddow and Gesting- 

 thorpe with a smaller one in Finchingfield. Improbable though it may 

 seem, the Earl ' Edgar ' of Domesday, who is entered as the former lord of 

 (Great) Chesterford, was a magnate who had no existence. The entries 

 found under Cambridgeshire which refer to this manor enable us to say 

 positively that Earl jElfgar was its lord. 3 It is worth noting that in 

 Essex as in Bucks 4 lands which had belonged to Earl ./Elfgar were be- 

 stowed, in the first instance, by William on his queen. This was cer- 

 tainly the case at Shalford and at Finchingfield, and probably also at 

 Felsted, for Queen Matilda is recorded as joining with him in the gift 

 of that manor, in the year 1082, to that noble Abbaye aux Dames so 

 familiar in the present day to visitors to Caen.' It is probable therefore 

 that Baddow also owed to the same circumstance its bestowal on that 



1 Cotton MS. Faust, A. III. fo. 113. 



* In estimating the whole extent of Harold's estates in the county it is necessary to remember also 

 those which were bestowed on Count Eustace, John son of Waleram, Robert son of Corbutio, and Ralf 

 de Limesi. 



* See p. 338, note I below. * i.e. the manors of Hambledcn and Marlow. 



* See my Calendar of Documents Preserved In France, p. 141. One may note also that Gilbert the 

 priest claimed to hold his land at Middleton (near Gestingthorpe), which had belonged to ' 9 sokcmcn 

 of Earl ^lfgar,' as ' of the Queen's gift ' (p. 564 below). 



1 337 43 



