A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE 



on the feast day of St. Martin. If he has 

 more hides, let them be free (from the due). 

 And if that day should pass without payment 

 {Jractus fuerit), he who has kept back the 

 grain shall discharge (the obligation) eleven- 

 fold, but shall first pay what he owes. And 

 the abbot of Pershore himself has the forfeit 

 from his (own) lOO hides, as he ought to have 

 from his (own) land ; from the other 200 

 hides he has the (horse)load and the (full) dis- 

 charge [perso/utionem), and the abbot of West- 

 minster has the forfeit, because it is his land.* 

 And the abbot of Evesham has the same 

 {similiter) from his own land, and all the others 

 similarly from their lands. 



THE LAND OF THE CHURCH OF 

 EVESHAM 

 X. In Evesham, the town where is situate 

 (sedet) the abbey, are, and always were 3 hides 

 free (from geld). There in (the) demesne are 

 3 ploughs, and (there are) 27 bordars, servants 

 of the house {servientes curite), who have 4 

 ploughs. There is a mill worth (de) 30 

 shillings and 20 acres of meadow. The men 

 dwelling there pay ^ 20 shillings a year. It 

 was worth 60 shillings T.R.E., and 4 pounds 

 afterwards; now no shillings. 



In FissESBERGE [Fishborough] Hund[ret] 

 the church of Evesham has 65 hides ; of 

 these hides, 12 are free.^ In that Hund[ret] 

 there lie 20 hides of Dodentreu (Hundred) ; 

 and (the) 15 hides of Wirecestre [Worcester] 

 make up the hundred (hides).* 



This same Church holds Lenchewic 

 [Lenchwick]. There is, and always was, 

 I hide free (from geld) ; and in Nortune 

 [Norton] are 7 hides. In (the) demesne are 

 5 ploughs, and there are 13 villeins and 11 

 bordars and i Frenchman [francigena). Be- 

 tween (them) all they have 1 1 ploughs ; there 



' That is to say that, on the Westminster 

 manors, the abbot of Pershore was entitled to 

 the full discharge of the debt, but the abbot of 

 Westminster received the penalty {Jorisfactura) 

 to which the defaulter became liable. 



^ ' De censu hominum ibi manentium.' 



' Namely, 3 at Evesham, i at Lenchwick, 

 I at OfFenham, i at Aldington, 3 at Wick- 

 hamford, and 3 at Ombersley. The abbey 

 claimed to have formerly had 12 hides free at 

 Ombersley alone, but there may have been 

 confusion between this figure and the total 

 entered above. 



* This is a difficult passage and requires to 

 be discussed in the Introduction (p. 247). 



are 10 serfs, and 2 mills worth 22 shillings 

 and 6 pence and 2,000 eels.* There are 12 

 acres of meadow. It was worth 7 pounds 

 T.R.E. and no shillings afterwards ; now 7 

 pounds. 



In Oleberge [Oldberrow] are 12 acres of 

 land, and there are 2 villein {rustici) swine- 

 herds, and I ' lewede ' of wood. It is worth 

 5 shillings. 



This same Church holds Offenham 

 [Offenham]. There is I hide free (of geld) ; 

 and at Liteltune [Littleton] are 6 hides, 

 and at Bratfortune [Bretforton] 6 hides. 

 In (the) demesne are 3 ploughs ; and there 

 are 25 villeins, with 7 ploughs ; and 2 ' rad- 

 man ' {sic), and 2 Frenchmen {francigena) ; 

 each of them has i plough.^ There are 

 25 bordars, and 20 acres of meadow, and a 

 mill worth {de) 12 shillings and 6 pence. 

 There are oxen for i plough, but they draw 

 stone to the church.'' It was worth 8 pounds 

 T.R.E. , and afterwards ; now 6 pounds and 

 10 shillings. 



To this manor belongs {Jacet) i ' Bere- 

 wich,' Aldintone [Aldington]. There is i 

 hide free (from geld, belonging) to the 

 church ; and in (the) demesne are 2 ploughs, 

 and there are 5 bordars with i plough. There 

 are 4 serfs and a mill worth [de) 5 shillings. 

 It was and is worth 40 shillings. 



This same Church holds Wiquene [Wick- 

 hamford]. There are 3 hides free (from 

 geld), and at Bratfortune [Bretforton] 6 

 hides. In (the) demesne are 4 ploughs ; and 

 (there are) 16 villeins and 7 bordars with lO 

 ploughs. There is a mill worth [de) 40 

 pence, and 10 acres of meadow. It was and 

 is worth 6 pounds. 



This same Church holds Badesei [Badsey]. 

 There were 6^ hides T.R.E. In (the) 

 demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 12 

 villeins with 8 ploughs. There are 4 serfs 

 and I widow.* It was worth 6 pounds ; 

 now 3 pounds and 10 shillings. 



" I.e. a year. 



® This passage is literally translated, but is 

 slightly obscure. 



'' This is a remarkable entry. The oxen 

 ' for I plough ' are, in Domesday, 8 in num- 

 ber. Their employment for other than 

 ploughing purposes is here entered as an 

 exception. 



* Such mention of a widow is exceedingly 

 rare in Domesday. 



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