A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE 



demesne there is but i hide where are 2 

 ploughs, and (there are) lo villeins and 1 6 

 bordars with lo ploughs. There are 4 serfs, 

 and 2 bondwomen, and 2 mills worth {de) 10 

 shillings, and a fishery worth {de) 20 ' stich(es) ' 

 of eels,^ and 20 acres of meadow, and wood- 

 (land) I league long and i (league) in width. 



To this manor there belong in (Droit)wich 

 10 houses worth {de) 5 shillings, and a saltpan 

 which renders 50 'mits' {mittas) of salt. 



Of this land 2 ' radmanni ' hold 2 hides, 

 where they have 2 ploughs. 



It was worth 50 shillings T.R.E., and (is 

 worth) the same now. 



Of this manor Walter de Burh holds half 

 a hide in Eresbyrie [Estbury^ in Hallow], 

 where he has i plough. ^Elfric {Alricus) held 

 (it), and it is (part) of the villeins' land. It 

 is worth 5 shillings. 



Of this same manor Roger de Laci holds 

 3^ hides at Himeltun [Himbleton] and Spec- 

 lea [Spetchley]. Himeltun was waste. At 

 Speclea 2 Frenchmen {francigena) have 4 

 ploughs, and (there are) 6 bordars with 2 

 ploughs. There are 1 6 acres of meadow. Of 

 wood(land there are) 2 ' quarentenes.' It was 

 and is worth 50 shillings. jEthelric^ {Alricus) 

 held this land, which is assigned to the demesne 

 support {de dominico victu) of the monks, and 

 did service for it to them at their pleasure 

 {voluntatem). 

 fo. 174. 



Of this same manor Hugh Grentemaisnil 

 holds half a hide at Lappewrte [Lippard] * 

 and Baldwin holds (it) of him ; and it did 

 and does belong to {fu'it et est de) the Bishop's 

 soke. There are 3 villeins and 2 bordars. 

 There are a priest and a huntsman. These 

 have I plough and 6 oxen.* The wood(land) 

 is I league {lewd) long and half (a league) in 

 width. It was and is worth 20 shillings. 

 From this land is paid {redduntur), every year, 



^ There were 25 eels in a 'stich.' 



^ Now Eastbury. 



^ This was ^thelric, brother of bishop 

 ' Brihtegus,' who is expressly said in Heming's 

 Cartulary (see p. 288, note 5 above) to have 

 obtained from him these 'members' of Hallow, 

 and to have been deprived of them by earl 

 William. Here, as at Wolverton, he had been 

 succeeded by Roger de Laci. 



* The name is now represented by ' Leo- 

 pard's (or Lippards) Grange' to the east of 

 Worcester. 



* As the plough {caruca) of Domesday al- 

 ways implied a team of 8 oxen, the above is 

 equivalent to i| plough teams. 



8 pence to the church of Worcester for church 

 scot {cirsette) and acknowledgment {recognitione 

 terra).^ 



This same church holds Cropetorn [Crop- 

 thorne] with Neotheretune [Netherton]. 

 There are 50 hides. Of these, (there) are 

 in demesne 14 hides, where are 5 ploughs; 

 and (there are) a priest, who has half a hide 

 with I plough, and 18 villeins and 12 bordars 

 with II ploughs. There are 10 serfs, and 4 

 bondwomen, and a mill worth {de) 10 shillings 

 and 20 'stiches'' of eels, and 20 acres of 

 meadow, and 3 ' quarentenes ' of wood in all 

 {inter totum). There are 5 hides (which are) 

 waste. It was worth 7 pounds, now 6 pounds. 



Of this manor Robert the Despencer holds 

 1 1 hides, where he has 9 ploughs, and (there 

 are) 10 villeins and 12 bordars with 7 ploughs. 

 There were {sic) 8 serfs and 2 bondwomen. 

 It was worth 6 pounds ; now 7 pounds. 

 Keneward and Godric held it, and performed 

 service on such terms as {deserviebant sicut) 

 they could obtain from the Bishop.* 



^ This half-hide had been given by bishop 

 'Brihtegus' [Brihtheah] to a friend, Herlwin 

 by name, for a shilling a year, payable at the 

 Assumption (Heming's Cartulary, p. 267). 



' There were 25 eels in the 'stich.' 



* I have shown {Feudal England, p. 176) 

 that these 1 1 hides were Charlton (7 hides) 

 and Elmley (4 hides). Heming's Cartulary 

 gives their history on pp. 267-8. From it 

 we learn that 7 hides at Charlton which had 

 been leased for three lives, were eventually 

 held by (the above) ' Godricus quidam cog- 

 nomento Fine,' on whose death bishop Wulf- 

 stan received it back again, but only to be 

 eventually despoiled of it by ' Rodbertus regis 

 dispensator frater Ursonis vicecomitis,' who 

 relied on the support of the Queen. Elmley, 

 originally alienated by bishop 'Brihtegus,' was 

 regained by bishop Living, who alienated it 

 afresh to ^thelric ' Kiu ' his knight. Re- 

 gained once more, on the latter's death, it 

 was finally seized by ' Rodbertus dispensator 

 regis et frater vicecomitis.' It would seem, 

 however, from the Domesday entry that 

 Elmley had been held by Kineward, as had 

 Charlton by Godric. 



On the death of Robert the Despencer the 

 two estates were divided, as were other of 

 his lands. The Henry I. survey shows us 

 Robert Marmion holding the 7 hides at 

 Charlton, while the 4 hides at Elmley had 

 passed to Robert the Despencer's son-in-law, 

 Walter de Beauchamp, the seat of whose de- 

 scendants they became (see p. 325 below). 



296 



