THE HOLDERS OF LANDS 



Of this same manor the abbot of Evesham 

 holds 5 hides at Hantune [Hampton].^ 

 From these the bishop of Worcester, T.R.E., 

 only had the geld, (which was due) to his 

 Hundred [ad suum hund[ret]). From all else 

 it was quit (as belonging) to {ad) the church 

 of Evesham, as the county (court) says.* 



Of the same manor the abbot of Evesham 

 holds 4 hides ^ at Bennicworte [Bengeworth], 

 and there also Urse the sheriff holds 6 hides, 

 where he has 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 1 2 

 villeins and 2 bordars with 3^ ploughs. There 

 are 6 serfs, and i bondwoman, and 6 acres of 

 meadow. It was worth 60 shillings ; now 

 4 pounds and 10 shillings. Azor held (it) 

 and did service (for it) at the Bishop's pleasure 

 {ut episcopo placebo t).* 



In Esch Hund[ret] 



This same Church holds Clive [Cleeve 

 Prior] with Lenc [Lench]. There are lo^ 

 hides.^ In (the) demesne are 2 ploughs and 

 (there are) a priest, who has i hide and 2 

 ploughs, and 9 villeins and 5 bordars with 4 

 ploughs, and a mill which renders i sestier 



* Adjoining Evesham. 



* This estate and that at Bengeworth, 

 which follows it, were the subject of the 

 great suit between the houses of Worcester 

 and Evesham, which is discussed in the In- 

 troduction (p. 253). 



^ The detailed survey of these 4 hides, as 

 of the Abbot's Hampton estate, will be found 

 below on the Evesham fief. 



* It was alleged by the monks of Worcester 

 (Heming's Cartulary, p. 269) that bishop 

 'Brihtegus' {i.e. Brihtheah) gave 5 hides here 

 to 'Atsere,' his kinsman and chamberlain, 

 who was forcibly deprived of them, in his life- 

 time, by the sheriff Urse. Warned by his 

 fate, his neighbour jErngrim, who held the 

 other half of Bengeworth {I.e. 5 hides), 

 transferred his * service ' to the abbot of 

 Evesham, who was powerful and close at 

 hand. But he was soon, the monks said, 

 tricked out of his land by the Abbot, who 

 secured it for his abbey. One of these 5 

 hides, however, was obtained by the grasping 

 Urse (Domesday, 175^), which accounts for 

 his whole Bengeworth estate being reckoned 

 above at 6 (not 5) hides, and (possibly) for its 

 marked increase in value since it was held by 

 'Azor,' who, it should be observed, is the 

 ' Atsere ' of the monks' story. 



* The Worcester Cartulary (Ed. Hale) 

 proves that the odd half hide was for Lench, 

 which 'gelded with* Cleeve. As Atch 



{sextarium) of honey.® There are 4 serfs, and 

 4 bondwomen, and 20 acres of meadow. It 

 was worth 7 pounds ; now 6 pounds. Of 

 this land 2 hides, less a virgate, are waste. 



This same Church holds Fepsetenatun 

 [Fepton].' There are 6 hides. One of 

 these does not (pay) geld.* Walter Ponther 

 holds it. The other five (pay) geld, and on 

 these {ibi) there are 2 ploughs, and 2 villeins, 

 with 2 ploughs, and 4 serfs, and 6 acres of 

 meadow. The wood(land) is half a league 

 {lewa) long and one furlong in width ; and 

 from the saltpans in (Droit)wich^ (are received) 

 10 shillings. It was and is worth 10 shillings 

 {sic). 



To this manor belongs i Berewick called 

 Crohlea [Crowle]. There are 5 hides that 

 (pay) geld. Roger Laci {sic) holds (it), and 

 Odo (holds it) of him. In (the) demesne are 

 2 ploughs, and (there are) 7 villeins and 3 

 bordars with 4 ploughs. There are 4 serfs, 

 and I bondwoman, and a mill worth {de) 2 

 shillings, and a saltpan in (Droit)wich worth 

 {de) 3 shillings. There are 16 acres of 

 meadow. The wood(land) is half a league 

 {lewa) long and I furlong in width ; this is 

 in (the King's) forest. Simund held it, — it 

 was (part) of the church's demesne, — and 

 rendered for it to the Bishop all service and 

 geld, and could not betake himself anywhere 

 with this land.'" 



Lench was 4^ hides it is possible that this 

 half hide had been taken thence; for the 

 original assessment may have been 5 hides. 



* This is an unusual ' render ' for a mill. 



' In Himbleton ; now corrupted to ' Phep- 

 son.' 



* The remaining five were subsequently 

 exempted by Henry I. 



* i.e. belonging to this manor, 



'" i.e. could not ' commend ' himself, with 

 it to any lord but the Bishop. The story of 

 this estate is told in Heming's Cartulary (fo. 

 264-5). It is there stated that Crowle was 

 abstracted from the demesne apportioned to 

 the support of the monks {a dominico viciu 

 monachorum) during the dominion of the 

 Danes, when the above Simund {i.e. Sieg- 

 mund), a Dane by birth and a 'knight' of 

 earl Leofric, who held the other half of 

 Crowle, coveted the monks' half, harried it, 

 was impleaded for doing so, and finally, at 

 the entreaty of earl Leofric, obtained it for 

 his life from prior iEthelwine, agreeing to 

 render certain service for it to the monastery. 

 The 'other' half of Crowle, spoken of in 



297 



