A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE 



(and) without stock {pecunia). It is worth 5 

 shillings. 



Alvred de Merleberg * holds Stoche 

 [Severn Stoke]. There are 15 hides. The 

 same (Alvred) himself held 12 hides and i 

 virgate T.R.E., while two 'Radmanni,' 

 iElfward and Wulfric {Jlward et Vlfric') held 

 3 hides less I virgate.^ Now Alvred holds 

 the whole. He has there in (the) demesne 3 

 ploughs, and (there are) 10 villeins and 10 

 bordars, with 5 ploughs and 4 serfs. The 

 priest has i plough. There are 20 acres of 

 meadow. The wood(land) is 2 leagues 

 {lewes) in length and i league in width. 



Of this land 2 ' Radmanni ' hold i hide, 

 where they have 2 ploughs, and they render 

 10 shillings. 



Of the same land, two men, William and 

 Boselin, hold 2 hides and 3 virgates, where 

 they have 2 ploughs (in the demesne), and 

 there are 1 1 bordars with 3 ploughs. 



It was worth in all 13 pounds T.R.E., now 

 10 pounds. 



Urse holds Cumbrintune [Comberton]. 

 There are 2 hides. Azur held (it). There 

 are 4 villeins with 2 ploughs. It was worth 

 10 shillings, now 20 shillings. 



All these abovesaid lands belonged and 

 belong [jacuerunt et jacent) to Persore. 

 This Manor, T.R.E., rendered 83 pounds 

 and 50 sestiers {sextaria) of honey ^ with all 

 (the profits of) the pleas of the free (Jrancorum) 



THE LAND OF ST. MARY OF 

 PERSORE. 



IX. The Church of St. Mary of Persore* 

 held and holds the manor itself (of) Persore. 

 There are 26 hides that (pay) geld. To it 

 belong {ihi adjacent) these Berewicks {Bere- 

 ■wiche), — Civintone [Chevington], Edbritone 

 [Abberton], Wadberge [Wadborough], Broc- 

 tune [Broughton], Edbretintune [Abberton], 

 Wicha [Wick by Pershore], Cumbritone 

 [Cumberton]. Of the abovesaid 26 hides 

 the church itself holds 21 hides. In (the) 

 demesne are 5 ploughs, and (there are) 24 

 villeins and 8 bordars with 22 ploughs. There 

 are 7 serfs, and a mill worth {de) 4 shillings, 



* Lord of Ewias (Harold). 

 » i.e. 2| hides. 



* *quatuor xx'i libras et iii et 1 sextar' 

 mellis.' 



* Pershore Abbey. 



and at Pidele [Wyre Piddle] the moiety of 

 a mill [dimid' molin^) worth [de) 10 shillings 

 and 20 ' stiches ' of eels.^ There are 60 

 acres of meadow. The wood(land) is a 

 league [lewa) long and half a league in 

 width. In (Droit)wich is ^ i saltpan which 

 renders 30 ' mits ' (mitias) of salt. It was 

 worth 13 pounds T.R.E., now 12 pounds. 



Of this land Urse holds I5 hides, where 

 he has 2 ploughs, and (there are) 2 villeins 

 and 3 bordars with i plough. There are 4 

 serfs and a mill worth (de) 10 shillings. It is 

 worth 50 shillings. This land was held by 

 Azor, who did service (serviebat) for it to the 

 church (of Pershore), and gave annually to 

 the monks, for acknowledgment, one ferm ' 

 (Jirmam) or 20 shillings ; and the agreement 

 was that, after his death and that of his wife, 

 the land was to revert to the church's demesne. 

 He was living on the day of king Edward's 

 death and was holding the land on these 

 terms [ita). After that, his wife being dead, 

 he became an outlaw [Vtlagh). 



Of the same land the same Urse holds i 

 hide at Broctune [Broughton], and says that 

 king William gave it him ; and he ought to 

 render service for it to the church. It was 

 and is worth 10 shillings. 



Of the same land Robert the Despencer 

 (diipensator) holds 3^ hides at Wadberge 

 [Wadborough], where he has 2 ploughs and 

 9 bordars and 4 serfs and a park {parchum)} 

 It is worth 40 shillings. This was land of 

 the demesne [dominicorum) villeins with half a 

 hide which was held by a tenant {ten' unus 

 homo) of the Abbot. 



In the same Wadbergae [Wadborough] 

 is 1 hide of land in which was the monks' 

 dairy farm {vaccaria). It was bought (of 

 them) by a certain Godric, a thegn of king 

 Edward, for three lives {vita trium heredum), and 

 he used to give annually to the monks, for 

 acknowledgment, one ferm ^ {fir-mam). The 

 third inheritor {tercius heres), namely, Urse 

 who holds it, now has this land. After his 

 death it ought to revert to the church of St. 

 Mary." 



This same Church holds Beolege [Beoley] 



^ There were 25 eels in the ' stich.' 



'' i.e. appurtenant to Pershore. 



' i.e. a fixed amount in kind. 



* ' Wadborough Park' preserves the name. 



^ i.e. a fixed amount in kind. 



" This is discussed in the Introduction as a 

 typical case on church lands. The descrip- 

 tion of Urse as ' heir ' of Godric should be 

 observed. 



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