THE HOLDERS OF LANDS 



men had between them I plough ; now 2. 

 [There is) wood(land) for 150 swine, (and) 

 20 acres of meadow. Then and afterwards 

 it was worth 60 shillings ; now 4 pounds. 



ROINGES [(Abbess) Roding *], which was 

 held by Leuild* as a manor and as 3 virgates, 

 is held of G[eoffrey] by Geoffrey Martel. 

 Then as now (semper) I villein and 2 bordars. 

 Then i serf; now none. Then as now (sem- 

 per) i plough on the demesne, and half a 

 plough belonging to the men. (There is) 

 wood(land) for 40 swine, (and) 15 acres of 

 meadow. Then and afterwards it was worth 

 30 shillings ; now 40. And this land, which 

 is now held by Gfeoffrey], was in (possession 

 of) the abbey of Berchinges [Barking], as the 

 Hundret (court) testifies, and (W) he who 

 held this land was only (tantum modo) the man 

 of Geoffrey's predecessor, and had no power to 

 put (mittere) this land in the possession of any 

 one but the abbey (in aliquo loco nisi in abbatia?') 



HUNDRET OF CEFFEORDA [CHAFFORD] 



WOCHADUNA [(South) Ockendon], which 

 was held freely by Frebert, a thegn (Frebertus 

 liber tainnus), as I manor and as io hides 

 and 2O acres, is held of Gfeoffrey] by Turold ; 



fo. 58 



and Geoffrey has it by exchange (pro escangio) 

 as he says. Then as now (semper) 3 villeins 

 (and) 34 bordars. Then 3 serfs ; now none. 

 Then 2 ploughs on the demesne ; now 3. 

 Then the men had 7 ploughs between them ; 

 now 8. (There is) wood(land) for 150 swine, 

 8 acres of meadow, pasture for 100 sheep, 

 (and) now I mill. Then 5 beasts (anima/ia) 

 and 1 8 sheep ; now 1 8 beasts and i rouncey 

 (runcinus), 35 swine, 220 sheep, (and) I hive 



1 Morant, finding that this manor was subse- 

 quently held by Barking Abbey, assumed that it 

 was so held in 1086, though not entered in 

 Domesday, and that what Geoffrey held there 

 was ' another manor,' namely Rookwood Hall 

 (i. 137). But Mr. Chisenhale-Marsh, in his 

 Domesday Book relating to Essex, rightly questioned 

 this conclusion, pointing out that Barking Abbey 

 probably regained this manor as a result of the 

 very return here recorded. This it a point of 

 some importance as bearing on the Survey and its 

 results. It may be added that the Rookwood 

 Hall manor was subsequently held, not of the 

 heirs of Geoffrey de Mandeville, but of those of 

 Aubrey de Vere, for, as Morant puts it, ' The 

 lords paramount were the Earls of Oxford.' 



1 This was probably a woman's name (compare 

 p. 5 i 2 below). 



' This passage ii of some importance as drawing 

 a clear distinction between the personal commen- 

 dation of the holder and the right over the land 

 itself. 



of bees. Then and when received it was 

 worth 7 pounds ; it is now worth 1 6 pounds. 

 In this estate (terra) are (included) 13 soke- 

 men who hold freely (libere) 8^ hides and 20 

 acres and have 1 2 bordars (under them) ; and 

 they are farmed with the estate for 1 6 pounds. 4 

 And there are also 40 acres and 4 bordars 

 (who hold them ?). 



HUNDRET OF CELMERESFORT [CHELMSFORD] 



WALDHAM [(Great) Waltham], which was 

 held by Ansgar as a manor and as 8 hides in 

 King Edward's time, is held by G[eoffrey] in 

 demesne. Then as now (semfer) 72 villeins, 

 and 28 bordars. Then 14 serfs; now 13. 

 Then 6 ploughs on the demesne ; now 5. 

 Then the men had between them 42 ploughs ; 

 now 36.' (There is) wood(land) for 1,200 

 swine, (and) 44 acres of meadow. Now as 

 then (semper) there are 2 mills, and now IO 

 arpents (arpenni) of vineyard. 6 Then 5 

 rounceys (runcini), 12 cows, 50 swine, and 

 80 goats ; now 3 rounceys, 1 1 cows, 7 60 

 swine, 132 sheep, 7 goats, (and) 20 hives of 

 bees. 8 It was then worth 50 pounds ; now 

 60. Of this manor Hubert holds I virgate, 

 and (has) half a plough, and it is worth 5 

 shillings of the above amount (in eodem fretio) ; 

 and Walter (holds) i virgate, and (has) half a 

 plough, and it is worth 5 shillings of the 

 above amount. Turchill (holds) I virgate, 

 and (has) 2 bordars and half a plough, and it 

 is worth 5 shillings of the above amount. 9 

 And Walter (holds) 30 acres, and Turchill 

 30 acres, and Herbert 30 acres. 9 



* 'Jacent ad hanc firmam de xvi libris.' This 

 passage has a double value : first, as showing that 

 the sum which this estate was valued as worth was 

 really the annual rent (firma) received from it (see 

 Introduction, p. 364) ; second, that the profits 

 arising from the dues of these sokemen formed 

 part of the total rent received from the estate. 



8 All these are large figures, but it must be 

 remembered that Great Waltham, the whole of 

 which is comprised in this and the two entries 

 which follow, contains nearly 7,500 acres. 



6 The word ' now ' should be observed, for it 

 implies that this vineyard had been planted since 

 the coming of the Normans. As a vineyard, in 

 my opinion, implies a baron's residence, I infer 

 from this passage that Geoffrey had already made 

 Pleshey his castle. 



7 Geoffrey had 7 cows on his adjoining manor 

 of (High) Easter, so that he had around his castle 

 1 8 in all, an exceptionally large number. 



8 See p. 509, note 6, below. 



9 Small holdings of this character generally im- 

 ply the residence of a baron (see p. 484, note 6). 

 It is difficult to resist the impression that the three 

 holdings of a virgate are here merely repeated as 

 holdings of 30 acres. 



5<>5 



