A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



NIWETUNA [Newton (Hall) 1 ], which was 

 held by Ulvric cawam 8 as a manor and as 2 

 hides and I virgate in King Edward's time, 

 is held of G[eoffrey] by Hugh de Berners 

 [Bernerii]. Then 2 ploughs on the demesne ; 

 now i^. Then as now (semper) I plough be- 

 longing to the men, and 5 villeins. Then I 

 bordar ; now 5. Then as now (semper) 2 

 serfs. (There is) wood(land) for 160 swine, 

 (and) 1 2 acres of meadow. It was then worth 

 60 shillings ; and when received, 40 shillings ; 

 now 4 pounds. 



BERNESTUNA [Barnston 3 ], which was held 

 by Ulwin' as a manor and as 2 hides and 30 

 acres in King Edward's time, is held (of 

 Geoffrey) by the same (Hugh). Then as 

 now (semper) 2 ploughs on the demesne, and 



3 ploughs belonging to the men. Then 6 

 villeins ; now 7. Then 5 bordars ; now 7. 

 Then as now (semper) 2 serfs. (There is) 

 wood(land) for 2OO swine, (and) 20 acres of 

 meadow. It was then worth 4 pounds ; now 

 100 shillings ; and when received, the same. 



RODINGES [(Berners) Roding], which was 

 held by Ulvric as a manor and as 2^ hides in 

 King Edward's time, is held (of Geoffrey) by 

 the same (Hugh). Then as now (semper) 2 

 ploughs on the demesne, and i ploughs be- 

 longing to the men. Then as now (semper) 



4 villeins, and 3 bordars, and 4 serfs. (There 



fo.6l 



is) wood(land) for 100 swine, (and) 27 acres 

 of meadow. Then as now (semper) i mill. 

 Then and afterwards it was worth 100 shil- 

 lings ; now 7 pounds. And the king com- 

 manded, through Robert. d'Oilli (de Oi/leio) 

 that Hugh should hold these 3 manors of Geof- 

 frey de Magna villa if Geoffrey could prove 

 that they belonged (ea deratiocinari) to his 

 fief; and before Geoffrey proved that they 

 belonged to his fief, Hugh held them of 

 Geoffrey. 4 



ALFERESTUNA [Bigods 8 ], which Ansgar 



1 A manor in Great Dunmow. 



* The form of this name is very doubtful. 



3 It has naturally been suggested that the place 

 derived its name from Hugh de Berners, its holder. 

 But this, of course, is only possible if it had been 

 given a fresh name since the Conquest. 



* Hugh evidently claimed to hold them in capite, 

 but came to a compromise with Geoffrey. He 

 held land under the Bishop of London at Stepney. 



5 In Great Dunmow. This identity is clearly 

 proved by entries in the Red Book of the Exchequer 

 (p. 804) and the Testa de Nevill (pp. 266, 272), 

 which show us Bartholomew le Bigod holding at 



held as I manor and as 4 hides and 10 

 acres in King Edward's time, is held of 

 G[eoffrey] by Martell'. 6 Then as now 

 (semper) 3 ploughs on the demesne, and 2 

 ploughs belonging to the men. Then 1 1 

 villeins ; now 7. Then 6 bordars ; now 24. 

 Then 6 serfs ; now 4. (There was) then 

 wood(land) for 400 swine ; now for 350. 

 (There are) 36 acres of meadow. Then 

 as now (semper) I mill. Then and after- 

 wards it was worth 7 pounds; now 10 

 pounds. 



DOMMAWA [(Little) Dunmow 7 ], which 

 was held by the same Ansgar as a manor and 

 as i^ hides in King Edward's time, is held of 

 G[eoffrey] by the same (Martell'). Then as 

 now 2 ploughs on the demesne, and 2 ploughs 

 belonging to the men. Then 13 villeins; 

 now 5. Then 7 bordars ; now 6. Then i 

 serf; now 3. (There is) wood(land) for 2OO 

 swine, (and) 26 acres of meadow. It was then 

 worth 100 shillings ; now 7 pounds. 



SCELGA [Shellow (Bowells)], which was held 

 by A[nsgar] as a manor and as i^ hides in 

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

 Lambert. 8 Then as now (semper) 2 ploughs 

 on the demesne. Then 2 villeins; now i. 

 Then 5 bordars ; now 8. Then 2 serfs ; 

 now i. (There is) wood(land) for 150 

 swine, (and) 10 acres of meadow. (There 

 are) 3 beasts (animalia), 3 swine, 25 sheep, 

 (and) now i hive (vasa) of bees. Then and 

 afterwards it was worth 40 shillings ; now 

 6o. 



' Alferstone,' which had belonged to the Count of 

 St. Pol, and which is strangely pronounced by the 

 editor of the Red Book to be Alphamstone. The 

 Bigod family gave its present name to the estate. 



6 See p. 508, note 1 1, above. 



7 Morant assigned this entry to the manor of 

 Martels in Great Dunmow, but the Testa and Red 

 Book, as cited above, show that the manors held by 

 ' Martell ' descended together and expressly place 

 this one in ' Little ' Dunmow. The actual manor 

 seems to have been South Hall (on the Little 

 Dunmow side of Great Dunmow, near Martels 

 and Shingle Hall), for this was associated with the 

 Count of St. Pol. 



8 This was probably Lambert ' de Buelle,' from 

 whose family the place derived its suffix. For, 

 eighty years later (1166), a Lambert de Buelle is 

 found holding one knight's fee of Geoffrey's great- 

 grandson (Red Book, p. 346). The earliest men- 

 tion of the family known to Morant was in 39 

 Hen. III. (1254-5). 



9 Here is an increase in value of 50 per cent 

 with no increase in ploughs and a slight decrease 

 in the live stock. 



510 



