CHAPTER IX 

 THE CHURCH 



IN our chapter on the Magnates we considered the position 

 of the Churchmen who were great landlords ; but we 

 have yet to consider the position of the churches in the 

 villages. 



To some it may be matter of surprise that the Cambridge- 

 shire jurors were not asked any questions about these village 

 churches ; but a little consideration will show the reason for 

 this omission. The aim of the inquiry was to ascertain how 

 each property was assessed to the geld, and whether it was 

 rightly assessed ; but a church could not be the same source 

 of profit to a manor as was the mill or the meadow, and for 

 that reason its existence was not a matter of inquiry. Pos- 

 sibly some of the churches and their property were entirely 

 exempt from the geld, and I hide that gelded is contrasted 

 with one that belonged to the church at Betone (Glos.). 1 



An examination of Domesday Book will show that the 

 inclusion or omission of the churches depended on the view 

 that the Commissioners took of the scope of the inquiry. 

 The Commissioners who visited Norfolk and Suffolk evidently 

 considered that it was necessary to record all the churches, 

 to the number of 243 in the former and 364 in the latter 

 county ; but the Essex Commissioners thought otherwise, 

 for in that county only thirteen churches are recorded. In 

 the south-western counties the churches are generally omitted, 

 1 D. B., i. 170 b i. 

 184 



