A HISTORY OF DORSET 



hides, and Frome (nos. 279 and Ixxxix), both belonging to WiUiam of Rloyon in 1086. Maiden Ne\\-ton 

 (no. 309) and Toller Porcorum (no. 310) belonged to Waleran in 1086 and were assessed at 6 hides and 5 

 hides respectively. Ejton identified Frome Vauchurch as Frome (no. 265) held by Ansfrid of William of Eu. 

 It was assessed at 6 hides, which brings the total hidage of the hundred to 59 hides, the Geld Roll figure. 



XV. BERE HUNDRED 



In Bere hundret sunt xlix hide et i virga. Inde habet 

 rex ix libras et viii solidos pro xxx et i hida et i virga 

 et barones regis habent in dominio x et vii hidas i 

 virgam minus. De isto dominicatu habet comes de 

 Moritonio i hidam et Hugo Gausbertus i virgam et 

 Aiulfus i hidam. Alvricius venator ii hidas. Abbas 

 INIideltonensis i hidam. Godricus presbiterus iiii 

 hidas X agros minus. Abbas Cerneliensis iiii hidas. 

 Filius Eureboldi ii hidas. Et de i hida et dimidia 

 quam tenet Osmundus de Sueno non habuit rex 

 geldum et de dimidia hida quam tenet Walterus 

 Tonitruus de uxore Hugonis nunquam habuit rex 

 geldum et de dimidia hida terre que fuit tanglanda 

 tempore regis Edwardi et est modo in firma regis 

 nunquam habuit rex geldum et pro i virga et dimidia 

 quam habet Edwinus venator in hoc hundreto 

 reddidit geldum in alio. 



In Bere hundred there are 49 hides and i virgate. 

 Thence the king has ^^9 8i. for 31 hides and i 

 virgate'" and the king's barons have in demesne 17 

 hides less i virgate. Of this demesne the Count of 

 Mortain has i hide and Hugh Gosbert i virgate and 

 Aiulf I hide. Alvric the huntsman 2 hides. The 

 Abbot of Milton i hide. Godric the priest 4 hides 

 less 10 acres. The Abbot of Cerne 4 hides. The son 

 of Eurebold 2 hides. And from i \ hide which 

 Osmund holds of Swain the king did not have geld 

 and from \ hide which Walter Tonitruus holds of the 

 wife of Hugh the king never had geld and from \ 

 hide of land which was thegnland T.R.E. and is now 

 in the king's farm the king never had geld. And from 

 I o virgate which Edwin the huntsman has in this 

 hundred he paid geld in another. 



The Count of Mortain's manor is probably Bestwall (no. 197), assessed at 3 hides. In 1316 it lay in the 

 hundred of Hundredesberge, an offshoot of Bere hundred." Hugh Gosbert held i virgate in Worgret (no. 

 497). It was a divided vill, William of Briouze holding i hide and 3 virgates (no. 293), and Cerne Abbey i 

 hide (nos. 84 and xlvii). Aiulf 's manor must be Hethfelton (no. 349), since of his remaining manors Brige 

 (no. 348) is too small and Chettle (no. 342) was subinfeudated. Hethfelton was assessed at 1 1 hide. This is 

 another divided vill, 2 hides being held by Robert of William of Briouze (no. 294) and 3 virgates by Cerne 

 Abbey (nos. 83 and xlvi). Eyton identified the Abbot of Milton's manor as Pidre (nos. 107 and Ix-xxi), 

 assessed at 2 hides, but if, as he says, this is part of Little Puddle, it must lie in Puddletown hundred. The 

 abbey's manor of Clyffe (nos. 98 and Ixxi), also assessed at 2 hides, may have lain in the hundred, but 

 according to Exon. Domesday it was held by the villani. Alvric the huntsman held 2 manors called 

 Wintreburne (nos. 430, 484), each assessed at i hide, which may represent his demesne in this hundred, 

 since Winterborne Kingston lay here in 1285.'- Godric the priest's manor must be Briantspuddle (no. 472), 

 assessed at 5 hides, since his other manors are too small. '^ The Abbot of Cerne had 4 hides in demesne at 

 Affpuddle (nos. 80 and xliii), assessed at 9 hides. Odo fitz Eurebold's manor of Milborne Stileham (no. 373), 

 assessed at 2 hides, probably belongs here, since the manor which Osmund held of Swain was also IMilborne 

 Stileham (no. 477). Its hidage is omitted in the Domesday survey. Walter Tonitruus held Turners Puddle 

 (nos. 391 and cxxiv) of the wife of Hugh. It was assessed at 6 hides and ibi est dimidia hida et quattuor agri et 

 i ortus que nunquam gildavit sed celatum est. The \ hide of thegnland in the king's farm is mysterious. At 

 Hinton Martell (no. 31) there was i hide of thegnland which a priest had held T.R.E. but modo est in 

 dominio regis. Edwin the huntsman's i^ virgate is also difficult to identify. It has been suggested that it was 

 the 1 1 virgate attached to Bleneforde (no. 438),'-' assessed at 5 hides and i\ virgate. Bleneforde is part of 

 either Blandford St. Mary or Langton Long Blandford, and must lie either in Combsditch or Langeberge 

 hundred, but neither account mentions i \ virgate belonging to Edwin in another hundred. These manors 

 amount to 32 hides, 2'. virgates. The manor of Bere (Dodding's Farm) (nos. 390 and cxxii) held by William 

 de monasieriis of the wife of Hugh must belong here. It was assessed at i hide and i .' virgate was attached 

 to it. In 1316 Rushton lay in the hundred of Hundredesberge'^ already mentioned as an offshoot of Bere 

 hundred. It was a divided vill in 1086. ^^'illiam of Briouze held i.l hide (no. 292), Odo fitz Eurebold 3 

 virgates (no. 374), 2 knights held ', hide of the wife of Hugh (nos. 407 and cxl), Alward held i virgate (no. 

 449), and Edward 3! virgates (no. 466). In 1431 Holton lay in the same hundred."' In 1086 it was assessed at 

 I hide and held by William of Briouze (no. 286). Eyton placed Bovington (no. 483) here. It was assessed at 4 

 hides and held by Alvric. In modern times it lay in Winfrith hundred, but in 1086 the Frome seems to have 

 been the boundan,- between Bere and Winfrith hundreds, and Bovington may have been in Bere. This 

 brings the total hidage to 48 hides, if virgate. 



XVI. COMBSDITCH HUNDRED 



In (Con)cresdic hundret sunt Ixx et vii hide et pro 1 

 et viii (hidis) habet rex x et vii libras et viii solidos et 

 barones regis habent inde in dominio xiiii hidas et 



'° The geld on 3 1 hides and i virgate is £g ys. 6d. 

 " Feud. Aids, ii. 42. 

 "Ibid. 12. 



" An early variant of this manor's name was Preste- 

 pidel{a) ('priest's Puddle'), probably derived from its 



In Combsditch hundred there are 77 hides and for 

 58 hides the king has ,^17 8s. and the king's barons 

 have thence in demesne 14 hides and il virgate. Of 



tenure by Godric the priest: Fagersten, op. cit. 167. 



'■• R. Welldon Finn, 'The Making of the Dorset 

 Domesday', Proc. Dorset Nat. Hist, and Arch. Soc. Ixxxi. 



I5.S- 

 " Feud. Aids, ii. 42. '* Ibid. 113. 



134 



