A HISTORY OF DORSET 



where there was a virgate de qua celatum est geldutn T.R.W. In Bere hundred Walter 

 Tonitruus held \ hide of the wife of Hugh fitz Grip from which nunquam habuit rex 

 geldutn. This was at Turners Puddle (nos. 391 and cxxiv) where, according to Exon. 

 Domesday, there was ditnidia hida et quattuor agri et i ortus que nunquam gildavit sed 

 celatum est. It has been argued that these two instances show the dependence of the 

 Geld Rolls on evidence uncovered by the Domesday inquest, since it would be illogical 

 to describe as 'concealed' in 1086 land which had been known in 1084. But it seems 

 more accurate to say that Domesday revealed here not the land but its liability to pay 

 geld, of which the geld collectors were ignorant since they recorded it as exempt. 

 There is also an exemption or default (the language is unclear) recorded in the Ex- 

 chequer text but not in the Geld Rolls. At Warmwell (no. 226), which William held of 

 Earl Hugh, there was a virgate que nunquam gildavit. Warmwell lay in Celberge hundred, 

 but the virgate is not mentioned in the hundred account. 



Some of the discrepancies between the Geld Rolls and the Domesday texts could be 

 more easily explained if the Geld Rolls were assigned to 1084. In Knowlton hundred the 

 mother of William of Eu is credited with yi hides in demesne, which was the demesne of 

 Crichel (no. 266), held in 1086 by William himself. It would be natural to assume that 

 in the interval between 1084 and 1086 William's mother had died and her land had 

 passed to her son. In Glochresdone hundred Roger Arundel had 4 hides and a virgate in 

 demesne. Two of his manors, Powerstock and Wraxall, can be assigned to this hundred, 

 but in neither did he have any exempt demesne in 1086, since both were subinfeudated. 

 William 'the Goat' (caprti), who may have been one of the tenants, is mentioned in the 

 geld account. It is possible that one or both of the manors was or were held by Roger 

 in demesne in 1084 and subinfeudated between 1084 and 1086. In Badbury hundred 

 Picot held of the Count of Mortain ^ hide which never paid geld. This can be identified 

 as li virgate at Witchampton (no. 188) on which geld had never been paid {de qua 

 iiunquam dedit geldutn), but in 1086 Witchampton was held not by Picot but by Hubert. 

 It seems possible that the land was taken from Picot and given to Hubert between 10S4 

 and 1086. Several mesne tenants recorded as holding land in the Geld Rolls do not 

 appear in the Domesday texts. In Langeberge hundred William Caisnell held 3J hides 

 of the wife of Hugh fitz Grip, but no man of that name is recorded among her tenants 

 in 1086. Walchelin is twice recorded as a tenant of the Count of Mortain, but did not 

 hold of him in 1086. In Winfrith hundred Robert had \ hide of the count which never 

 paid geld. Several manors were held of the count by persons named Robert in 1086, 

 but none can be assigned to this hundred and none had such an exemption. In Whit- 

 church hundred Bollo the priest had \ hide of Cerne Abbey, but he is not recorded as 

 a tenant of that abbey in the Domesday texts. 



Other contradictions between the Geld Rolls and the Domesday texts suggest that 

 they drew upon diff"erent sources of information. According to the geld account of 

 Buckland hundred Robert de Oilly did not pay geld on 2\ virgates which he took from 

 a thegn et posuit intra firtnatn regis in Melecoma. The Exchequer text states that there 

 were 3.^ virgates in Buckland hundred attached to Bingham's Melcombe (no. 30) but 

 according to this account they were held by three thegns T.R.E. and Countess Goda, 

 who held the manor T.R.E., had been responsible for attaching them to Melcombe. In 

 Badbury hundred the king had no geld from 8 hides and 3^ virgates de terra geldanti 

 which had belonged to Aubrey. This land must be part of the manor of Gussage St. 

 Michael in Dorset, which Aubrey de Couci once held and which was in the king's hand 

 in 1086, but in Domesday it is entered not in Dorset but in Wiltshire. In Gillingham 

 hundred there were 2w virgates of exempt demesne belonging to Fulcred, which also 



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