A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



HALF HUNDRET OF THUNRESLAU * 



BELCAMP [Belchamp (Walter)], which was 

 held by Ulwin' as a manor and as 7.\ hides 

 in King Edward's time, is held by Afubrey] 

 in demesne. Then as now (semper) 4 ploughs 

 (on the demesne), 8 and 7 ploughs belonging 

 to the men. Then and afterwards 13 vil- 

 leins; now 15. Then and afterwards 9 

 bordars ; now 14. Then and afterwards 6 

 serfs ; now 8. (There is) wood(land) for 20 

 swine, 60 acres of meadow, (and) now 1 1 

 arpents (arpenni) of vineyards, (of which) I is 

 in bearing (portat). Then 24 beasts (animalia), 

 1 60 sheep, 80 swine, (and) 2 rounceys (run- 

 cini) ; now 28 beasts, 200 sheep, TOO swine, 

 (and) 2 rounceys. To this manor belong 

 now as then (adjacent semper) 7 sokemen with 

 (de) i hides and 15 acres; then as now 

 (semper) 3^ ploughs were there ; 4 bordars (are 

 there) now ; (there are) i oj acres of meadow. 

 Then and afterwards it was worth 14 pounds ; 

 now 1 8. Of this manor Enisant holds of 

 A[ubrey] half a hide and 30 acres ; William 

 Peche (peccatum) half a hide ; Suad' 30 acres ; 

 and (these holdings) are worth 4 pounds in 

 the above valuation (in eodem pretio 8 ). 



HUNDRET OF HIDINGAFORDA [HINCKFORD] 



HERSAM [Hersham (Hall) 4 ], which was 

 held of A[ubrey]'s predecessor by 2 sokemen 

 on the terms that (ita quod) they could not 

 withdraw themselves (recedere) without his 

 permission (licentia), is held of Afubrey] by 

 Adelelm. 5 (There are) 45 acres. 6 Then as 



valued at the high sum of 7 out of the 20 

 which was the total value of the manor. But 

 though their assessment (90 acres) is low, they had 

 5 ploughs among them. Yet even so their value 

 is remarkable, for there seems to have been 20 

 ploughs in the rest of the manor. 



1 For this mysterious Half Hundred see the 

 Introduction (p. 405). 



8 car' horn" in the MS., an obvious error for 

 car' in fnlo. 



3 The value of these holdings was only 4 out 

 of 1 8 ; yet their total assessment was ij hides 

 out of 4^, a high proportion, and one which con- 

 trasts with the manor preceding, where a value of 

 7 out of 20 accompanies an assessment of only 

 | hide out of (apparently) 3|. 



On the other hand the division of these two 

 demesne manors of Aubrey is curiously similar, and 

 they deserve to be carefully compared. 



4 A manor of which the hall is in Helions 

 Bumpstead, which parish is in Freshwell Hundret 

 (see p. 535 below). 



6 This is the Adelelm who held of him at 

 ' Bumesteda ' (see p. 535 below), and at Burgate 

 in the north of Suffolk. 



6 This clause is interlined. 



now (semper) i^ ploughs. Then 5 bordars ; 

 now 10. (There was) then wood for 40 

 swine ; now for 30. (There are) 7 acres of 

 meadow. It is worth 20 shillings. 



HUNDRET OF LEXENDANA [LEXDEN] 



COLES [(Earls) Colne], which was held by 

 Ulwin as a manor and as 5 hides, is held by 

 A[ubrey] in demesne. Then as now (semper) 



7 villeins, and 13 bordars, and 6 serfs. 

 Then 3 ploughs on the demesne ; now 5. 

 Then among the men (were) 3 ploughs ; 

 now 4. (There is) wood(land) for 400 

 swine, 40 acres of meadow, (and) 2 mills. 

 Then 2O cows and 19 beasts (animalia) ; 8 

 1 2O sheep, 60 swine, 60 goats, (and) 3 

 rounceys (runcini) ; now 45 beasts (animalia), 

 1 60 sheep, 80 swine, 80 goats, 4 rounceys, 

 and 6 asses, and 20 mares. 9 And 4 sokemen 

 dwelt on (in) these 5 hides and (had) i o bor- 

 dars and 4 serfs. 10 (The whole) was worth 

 10 pounds then and afterwards; now 12. 

 Of this manor Miblanc (Dlmidi[us] blancus]) 

 holds i hide ; and (there are) 7 bordars and 

 2 ploughs on the demesne, and i plough be- 

 longing to the men ; and it is worth 45 

 shillings in the above valuation (in eodem 

 pretio). 11 



7 The number is omitted in the MS. 



8 This is one of the most noteworthy entries of 

 live stock in the whole survey of the county. The 

 cows and beasts, it should first be observed, are 

 treated as quite distinct in the return for the earlier 

 period ; but as there had been a general increase 

 in the live stock on the manor, I suspect that the 

 45 ' animalia ' of the later period, who replace the 

 20 cows and 19 'animalia' (total 39), included 

 cows, and that we have here another instance of 

 the Domesday scribe's varying terminology. 



9 This is the only entry of mares in Essex save 

 for a single mare at Prested (in Peering) and one 

 of the six entries of asses in the county. 



10 There is no entry of ploughs and no valuation 

 of these holdings, nor is their assessment recorded. 

 They would seem to have been swept away. 



11 It seems to be clear that this sub-manor was 

 that which appears as Colne ' Miblanc ' not long 

 afterwards, and which is now White Colne or part 

 thereof. Morant assigned to White Colne this 

 part of the entry, but held it ' certain that one 

 Blancm held it at the time of the general Survey ' 

 as 'half of the manor of Earls Colne; for he 

 read the text as ' tenuit dimidium Blancus ' (ii. 

 210, 215). The entry under Radwinter below 

 shows that his reading was wrong, and that 

 ' Dimidius blancus ' must represent the ' Miblanc ' 

 from which was derived the name (known to him) 

 of Colne-Miblanc. 'Demiblanc' is found as the 

 name of a certain coin in old French, which sug- 

 gests that ' Dimidius blancus ' may have been a 

 nickname. It occurs again below under Colchester, 



534 



