THE CHURCH 185 



unless there is some special reason for their inclusion. The 

 only churches mentioned by the Oxfordshire Commissioners 

 are the city churches of St. Mary the Virgin, St. Peter, and 

 St. Michael ; they also mention the priest of Great Milton and 

 the Canons of St. Frideswide. Very many churches can be 

 found in many parts of the country which show traces of pre- 

 Conquest masonry and yet are not mentioned in Domesday 

 Book, and there is documentary evidence of the existence of 

 various pre-Conquest and very early Norman churches which 

 have also escaped enumeration. 



In the following pages an assumption will be made that 

 where a priest was recorded there was also a church in which 

 he ministered ; and, conversely, where a church is recorded 

 there was a priest in charge. A church without a priest is 

 recorded at Locton, 1 evidently as being an unusual occurrence. 



But this assumption must be qualified in two ways. A 

 priest might have an assistant ; at Bosworth (Leics.) there 

 were a priest and a deacon ; 2 or the church might be col- 

 legiate, as at Memberfield (Salop.). 



" The church of this manor is in honour of St. Gregory ; T. R. E. 

 it held eight hides, and eight canons served there. Now (1086) St. 

 Peter in the city (Shrewsbury) holds this church with 5 hides." 3 



There were two collegiate churches at Derby, with six 

 and seven clerks respectively, 4 and at Wissett (Suffolk) there 

 was a church in which were twelve monks, and under it one 

 chapel. 5 



It will be noticed that we have spoken of " village," not 

 " parish churches," the reason being that it is uncertain how 

 far the parochial system had been developed in 1086. In the 

 first place, it is not certain that there was a church in every 

 vill ; it is absolutely certain that there was not a church in 

 every manor. In the hundred of Binsted (Sussex) there 



1 Yorks. : D. B., I. 305 a I. 2 Id., I. 233 a I. 



3 Id., I. 253 a i. 4 Id., I. 280 a 2. 5 Id., II. 293. 



