A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



And I man of William son of Grossa * 

 (grossa) holds two acres of the king's soke and 

 pays the king's dues. 



LXXXVIIII. FREE MEN OF THE 

 KING 



In the Hundret of LAXENDENA [Lexden] 

 the king has 7 free men, and the reeve (pre- 

 positus) of the hundred has (charge of) them ; 

 they hold half a hide, and are worth 8 shil- 

 lings. And i free man held 3^ acres, and on 

 (in) these is pasture for IOO sheep, and (arable) 

 land for 2 oxen s ; it was then worth 10 

 shillings ; and when Robert de Montbegon * 

 (monte begonis) seized (invasit) it, it was worth 

 10 shillings ; now nothing. 



And i free man held 13 acres. Now as 

 then (semper) i plough is there, and (there is) 

 wood(land) for 20 swine, (and) i acre of 

 meadow. It was then worth i o shillings ; 

 now it renders 20 shillings ; and Richard, a 

 man of Hamo, 6 seized (invasit) this land and 

 has its profits (spolia 6 ) up to now (kucusque). 



XC. ENCROACHMENTS ON THE 

 KING 7 IN ESSEX (EXSESSA) 



In HORNINDUNA [Horndon (-on-the-hill 8 )] 

 Goduin Gudhen has seized 2 ' mansiones ' 9 

 belonging to (qua sunt de) the land which 

 Hugh de St. Quintin holds of the king, 9 and 

 he has given pledge for this (inde dedit va- 

 dem). 10 There also (in eadem villa) Goduin' 

 has seized (invasit) 3 virgates of land, to the 



1 He was an under-tenant in Witham Hundred 

 (see pp. 429, 45 1, 497 above). 



* The handwriting changes sharply here and 

 becomes smaller and neater. 



3 i.e. a quarter of a plough- team. This is a 

 good instance of a holding being assessed at an 

 obviously nominal figure (3^ acres). 



4 This entry is of great interest, because the 

 name of Montbegon is wholly omitted in Ellis's 

 Indexes to Domesday, and Dugdale could only begin 

 his account of this feudal house with an entry on 

 the roll of 5 Stephen ' (i.e. 1 130). 



6 A ' Richard ' held of Hamo dapifer at Totham 

 and at Ovesey in Dengie Hundred (see p. 503 

 above). 



6 This word is worth noting. It answers to 

 the later ' esplees ' of the proprietary action. 



7 ' Invasiones super Regem.' The phrase is a 

 difficult one to render ; it heads a record of those 

 cases in which lands or rights belonging to the 

 king have been encroached upon by his subjects. 



8 See Introduction, p. 398. 



9 See p. 557 above. 



10 i.e. has given security that he will appear and 

 defend his occupation when the case is heard (see 

 Introduction, p. 412). 



king's wrong (super Regem), 11 of the land of a 

 certain free man, which land remains (re- 

 tnanet) to the king by judgment of the 

 Hundret (court), and in this case also (iteruni) 

 he has given pledge (dedit vadem). 10 In 

 DANTUNA [Dunton ia ] (are) 1 5 acres which 

 were held by Wulfwine (U/winus) and re- 

 main to the king undisputed (quiets). 



ENCROACHMENT (Invasio) OF THIERRI 

 PUINTEL ls 



In THURRUCA [Thurrock u ], which was 

 held, in King Edward's time, by 1 1 free men, 

 (were) i hides and 42 acres ; and (the same) 

 now. Then 3 ploughs on the demesne ; 

 now 2. (There is) pasture for 30 sheep. It 

 was then worth 41 shillings ; now 20. And 

 T[hierri] Pointel seized this land ; and it is 

 in the king's hand(s). 



fo. ggb 



HUNDRET OF WENSISTREU [WINSTREE] 



LEGRA [Layer 18 ] was held by Ulvric, a 

 free man, as a manor and as 2 hides in King 

 Edward's time, and this was seized by the 

 same T[hierri]. Then 2 ploughs ; now 

 none ; nor (were there) when he received it 

 (recepit). Now (there are) 2 bordars. Then 

 (there was) wood(land) for 40 swine ; now 

 for 30. It was then worth 60 shillings ; 

 and when received (recepit) 40 ; now 2O. 

 And in BURNHAM ie T[hierri] seized 15^ 

 acres, and yet they were in the king's hands 

 before these pleas were heard (h<ec placita 

 fierent "). 



HUNDRET OF ROCHEFORT [ROCHFORD] 



STANBRUGE [(Little) Stambridge 18 ], which 

 was held by a free man as a manor and as i^ 



11 See note 7, and compare p. 448 above. 



12 Adjoins Horndon-on-the-hill. 



13 See p. 561, note 13, above. 



u It has not been ascertained in which of the 

 Thurrocks this estate lay. 



18 It is not known in which of the Layers this 

 holding was situated. 



16 Burnham was far away in Dengie Hundred. 



17 This passage is of great importance as proving 

 that actual pleas were heard in connection with 

 Domesday (see Introduction, p. 411). 



18 This can be satisfactorily proved to have 

 been the manor of Little Stambridge. Great 

 Stambridge was held by Suain of Essex, and de- 

 scended accordingly as part of the Honour of 

 Rayleigh. Little Stambridge consisted, from the 

 Conquest, of two distinct manors, which Morant 

 confused by treating them as one, namely ' the 

 manor of Little Stambridge Hall ' (i. 320). The 

 chief manor, with the advowson, was that of 

 Thierri Pointel (as above), and is found in the 



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