THE MILL 173 



addition " were possibly a premium given by the miller for 

 his lease of the mill, in the same way as the sheriff gave 

 an augmentation for his lease of the county. Of the mill at 

 Rudford (Glos.) the Commissioners nai'vely return that "it 

 renders as much corn as can be gained (quantum potest 

 lucrari} ; " * while at Marcle " the mill renders nothing but 

 the living of him who keeps it." 2 



Sometimes the sites of mills are recorded. The site of 

 the mill at Lashbrook (Oxon.) yielded los. a year; 3 and at 

 Setlington (Beds.) there was a broken mill which yielded 

 nothing. 4 These sites of mills were recorded because the 

 franchise to erect a mill was the most valuable mediaeval 

 rural franchise, and a mill-owner had the right to prevent the 

 erection of any new mill in prejudice of his own. Hence the 

 record at Farnham (Bucks.) : " Ralph Taillebois has erected 

 a mill which was not there T. R. E. ; " 5 by so doing he had 

 interfered with some franchise. But the rebuilding of an old 

 mill would be no interference with a franchise. I cannot 

 find any mention in Domesday Book of " suit of mill ; " but 

 it is well known that in later years all the inhabitants of the 

 manor were bound to grind their corn at the manorial mill. 

 The inhabitants of Leeds were not freed from this obligation 

 till 1840, when they paid ^"40,000 for the right to put up 

 their own mills. Occasionally, as at Weaverham and Maccles- 

 field, we read of mills serving the hall or the court, 6 in which 

 case the tenants must have used other mills. The Deddington 

 record above quoted shows that some mills rendered eels, 

 which were evidently obtained from the mill-pond or mill- 

 stream. In the days when the fasts of the Church were 

 observed more strictly than they are to-day, these would 

 form no mean addition to the diet of both clerical and 

 lay landowners. 



If an estate with a mill was divided between two or more 



1 D. B., I. 170 a 2. 2 Id., I. 179 b 2. 3 Id., I. 157 b I. 

 4 Id., I. 210 b 2. [ 5 Id., I. 151 b I. 6 Id., I. 263 b I, 2. 



