564 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[November 17, 1888. 



nated manuscripts. Thus, for instance, there is 

 a vignette in a celebrated illuminated calendar 

 which represents a party of Anglo-Saxon gar- 

 deners pruning their "Vines with large pruning 

 knives, and planting them in order. This 

 operation, the calendar informs us, took place in 

 February. Another important fact which throws 

 some light upon the early cultivation of the Vine 

 in this country is, that the Anglo-Saxons called 

 the tenth month of the year, not October, but 

 " Wyn month " — the month in which they crushed 

 their Grapes and made their wine. 



In the Domesday Book thirty-eight vineyards 

 are mentioned. They were distributed over the 

 counties of Berks, Essex, Hampshire, Hertford, 

 Dorset, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Wiltshire, 

 and Kent. Some of these vineyards, the book 

 tells us, were in existence in Edward the Con- 

 fessor's time; others were but newly planted.* 

 Some, we are told, bore Grapes ; others did not.f 

 The largest vineyard mentioned in Domesday was 

 that situated at Bitesham, in Berkshire.:} It 

 consisted of twelve arpends. Another, on the 

 property of Alberio der Ver, at Belcamp, in 

 Essex,§ consisted of eleven arpends, though we 

 are told that only one bore. Another, which 

 was situated at Rageneia, in the same county, con- 

 sisted of six arpends, " yielding 20 modii or 

 barells of wine, if the season was favourable." || 



At the time of the Domesday Survey, vineyards 

 were situatpd in the heart of London. One in 

 Holborne belonged to William the Conqueror's 

 chamberlain, who paid "vjs. yearly for the 

 ground whereon his vineyard is situated." It 

 has very generally been thought that at the time 

 of the Norman Conquest only the larger 

 monasteries possessed vineyards. This, how- 

 ever, is not the fact, for several entries 

 in the Domesday Book undoubtedly show 

 that several of the laity possessed them. The 

 accounts of Ely Church inform us that Vines 

 were largely grown, and wine manufactured, near 

 Ely, at the time of the Norman Conquest.^ In 

 fact, the Isle of Ely was so famous for its Vines 

 about this time, that the Normans called it 

 " L'lle de Vignes." 



William, of Malmesbury (twelfth century), speak- 

 ing of Gloucestershire, says : — " The country is 

 planted thicker with vineyard than any other in 

 England, more plentiful in crops, and more pleasant 

 in flavour. For the wines do not offend the mouth 

 with sharpness, since they do not yield to the French 

 in sweetness."** The same author also speaks of the 

 vineyards at Ely. Another writer of the twelfth 

 century, Henry of Huntingdon, also mentioned that 

 Vines were grown, and that wine was made in 

 England in his time, but he notes that vineyards 

 were " rare."tt In the reigns of Rufus, Henry I., and 

 Stephen, the ground now known as East Smithfield 

 was occupied as a vineyard, and held by the con- 



* As at Westminster, "four arpenni of vineyard newly 

 planted (vinea novella)," tome i., f, 175 B. ; or as at "Ware, " a 

 vineyard very lately planted (vinea nuprime plantatae)," 

 tomei.,f. 138 b. 



t As at Deepdene, in Essex, " two aTpenni of vineyard 

 which bear (vinese portantes) ; and two others, which do not 

 bear (vinete ni portantes)," tome ii., f. 73 B. 



I Tome i., f. 60 b. In Domesday the vineyards are generally 

 measured by the " arpenni"; but in four instances (tome i., 

 f. 69 b., 86 b., 212, ii., f. 71), they are measured by the acre. 

 The arpend equalled about a furlong. 



$ Tome ii., f. 77. "xj arpenni vineas j portat." 



|| Tome ii., f. 43 b., " vj arpenni vineEe reddit xx modios 

 vini si bene procedit." A modius was nearly 2 gallons English 

 measure. 



^f This, and the succeeding statement, is quoted on the 

 authority of Holinshed . see his Chronicles (ed. 1537), vol. i., 

 p. 3: confer also Gale, History of Ely, vol. ii., ch. ii. An 

 entry, dated 1319, in the register in the archives of Ely church 

 relates that "7 dolia rnusti " were made from the vineyards 

 that year. 



** De Gesta Pontif, bk. iv. 



tf Monumenta Bist. Britnn, fol. 1S18, p. 693. " Vinete 

 fertilis est, seel raro." 



stables of the Tower* "This land originally 

 belonged," says Stowe (Survey, ed, 1589, p. 46, 124), 

 " to the Priory of the Holy Trinity within Aldgate, 

 and they did not recover it till the second year of 

 Stephen, when the same was adjudged and restored 

 to the church." 



We learn from the Saxon Chronicle t that in 1137 

 Martin, Abbot of Peterborough, planted an extensive 

 vineyard within the walls of his own town. In the 

 middle of the twelfth century among the append- 

 ages to Windsor Castle was a vineyard, and the pay 

 of the vintager and the expenses of gathering the 

 Grapes are among the regular annual charges relat- 

 ingto Windsor on its Pipe Rolls from the commence- 

 ment of the series in 1155. Neckham, writing at 

 the close of the twelfth century, devotes a whole 

 chapter to the cultivation of the Vine. John de 

 Garlande, writing a few years later, also mentions 

 the Vine, and notes that it was cultivated in rows.} 

 Somner tells us that in the year 1285 both the 

 abbey and priory of, and many of the manors be- 

 longing to, Canterbury, were plentifully furnished 

 with vineyards.§ 



From a manuscript in the British Museum we also 

 learn that the monks of Spalding Priory planted a vine- 

 yard for their own use about the end of the thirteenth 

 century.|| Among other expenses of Edward I. for 

 1272 occur the following : — " To Richard Wolward, 

 keeper of the King's house at Westminster, one mark 

 to repair the King's vineyard there." Another entry 

 on the same roll, four years later, runs : — " Pay to 

 R. W., keeper of their house at Westminster, one 

 mark, there to dress our Vines as heretofore in the 

 preceding years he hath been accustomed to do." In 

 1265 one Vine was bought for the King's garden at 

 Woodstock. In 1294 a lock and key (price i.d.) was 

 bought for the " vinary " at Hampstead.^T and in 

 1296 there was a vineyard belonging to the Earl of 

 Lincoln in Holborn, which, judging from the number 

 of men employed in it, must have been a large 

 one.** 



The Vine seems also to have been extensively cul- 

 tivated at Ledlmry, near Hereford, by the monks 

 under Bishop Swinfield, and that wine was made 

 there as late as 1289, is proved by the Bishop's house- 

 hold accounts. From these it appears that the vine- 

 yard yielded seven pipes (dolia) of white wine and 

 nearly one of verjuice.tt 



At the commencent of the fourteenth century the 

 Vine was to be found in almost every burgher's 

 garden. In 1311 a certain Hugh de Stowe raised 

 two bars under his Vines opposite his tenement in 

 Chero. Lambert tells us that when Edward II. was 

 at Bockinfleld in 1316, Bishop Hanson sent thither 

 " a present of his drinks withal, both wine 

 and Grapes of his own growth in his vinery at 

 Haling near Rochester."}} It is just possible that 

 this vineyard was still in existence and produced ex- 

 cellent Grapes at the commencement of the sixteenth 

 century, for we find in October, 1502, the Dowager 

 Queen, Elizabeth of York,|§ receiving presents of 

 Grapes from the Bishop of Rochester. Stowe men- 

 tions that in the times of Richard II., Vines were 

 cultivated in great plenty in the Little Park of 

 Windsor, and remarks that there was existing in his 

 time an old manuscript roll in the Gatehouse 



* Holinshed, Chron,, p. 111. Various parts of London, by 

 their names; give evident proof of their having been formerly 

 planted with Grape Vines, as Vine Street in Hatton Garden, 

 St. Giles', and Piccadilly ; the Vineyard by Houndsditch, and 

 also by Coldbath Fields, and even within the walls of the 

 City, there is a street still called Vine Street. 



t Ingram's edition, p. 368. 



I " Antes et phalanges," the " antes " being the first row. 



% Antiq. Cant,, ed. 1610, p. 286. 



|| MSS. Cole, vol. xliii., £. 93. 



*\ This and the preceding entry is_ taken from Professor 

 Rogers' Agricultural Prices. 



** See ArchtEological Journal, vol. v., p. 239. 



ft Household Accounts of Bishop Swinfield in Chronicles and 

 Memorials, series, " 1289, March 2. In septem dolcis vini albi 

 de vinea de Ledebyri de tempore vindemiabus proximo viij. Ii." 

 See also MSS. Beg. Cant., f. 33 b. 



IX Dictionarium Anglice Topographicum et Historicum,-p. 68. 



§§ Household Accounts of Elizabeth of York, p. 52. A plot of 

 ground near to the city of Rochester is still called the " Vine- 



of Windsor Castle, " in which, among other things 

 is to be seen the yearly account and charges of 

 planting the Vines."* Lamberde also says, that in 

 the records " it moreover appeareth that the tythe 

 hath been payed of wine pressed out of the Grapes 

 that grew in the Little Park there, to the Abbot of 

 Waltham, which was parson both of the Old and 

 New Wyndsor, and that accompts have been made 

 of the charges of planting the Vines that grew in the 

 said park, as also of making the wines, whereof 

 some partes were spent in the household and some 

 sold for the King's profit. "t The Grape Vine was 

 also largely cultivated about Cambridge in the 

 fourteenth century, and several interesting items 

 referring to the vineyard occur in the accounts of the 

 various colleges. Willis, in his Architectural History 

 of Cambridge, considers that the Vine was generally 

 planted for the sake of the shade it afforded. That 

 this was not always so, however, is proved by many 

 entries on the accounts which refer to the vineyards. 

 The accounts of the Guild of Corpus Christi in 1348 

 contain a charge for " splentes for the vineyard," 

 and one of the pieces of ground composing the 

 site of the Physic Hostel included a plot of 

 Vines (parcella des Vynes) in 1369. In the early 

 fifteenth century vineyards were attached to several 

 of the colleges. At King's Hall in 1418-19 a charge 

 occurs for pruning the vineyard, and a similar 

 charge occurs in 1452. In this instance the Vines 

 were attached to poles which rested on forked sticks, 

 as shown by charges for " crutches " and " rails." } 



The culture of the Vine was carried on by the 

 laity with equal ardour at the commencement of the 

 fifteenth century, for the poet Lydgate tells us that 

 it was one of his chief amusements when a boy, 

 besides stealing Apples in " other mannes orchards," 



" To plucke Grapes in other manne's Vines." 

 Minor Poems, p. 255. 



In another poem the same poet tells us of the 

 " Vinettes running in the casements.'' showing that 

 Vines were then, as now, trained over the walls of 

 the houses. After the middle of the fifteenth century, 

 however, Vine culture was neglected, "partly by 

 slothfulness, not liking anything long that is pain- 

 ful ; partly by civil discord long continuing, it was 

 left, and so with time lost, as appeareth by a number 

 of places in this realme, that keeps still the name of 

 vineyard ; and upon many cliffs and hills are yet to 

 be seen roots and old remains of Vines." § It is 

 probable, however, that many other causes, besides 

 this of " not liking anything long that is painful," 

 interfered with the culture of the Vine in the middle 

 of the fifteenth and early years of the sixteenth 

 century. A writer in the Biographia Britamiica 

 — a book which was published in the seventeenth 

 century — affirms that " we have still upon record a 

 treaty of peace between France and England, in 

 which it is stipulated that we should root up our 

 vineyards, and be their customers for all our wine."|| 

 " If such extirpation of the English vineyards was 

 " not owing to this," says another writer, " it might 

 be to the increased intercourse with the Continent 

 and the falling of Gascony into the hands of the 

 English, when wine was imported cheaper and better 

 than we could make it." The suppression of the 

 monasteries in England in the early part of the six- 

 teenth century must also have contributed much 

 towards the loss of our vineyards. In the seven- 

 teenth century several attempts to cultivate the 

 Grape Vine on a large scale for making wine were 

 made in England, but all these attempts failed. The 

 cause of this failure was probably carelessness, for 

 Master Barnaby Goodge, a celebrated gardener of 

 the period, was of the opinion, or rather of the " per- 



* Annals, ed. 1681, p. 143. 



t In Borne accounts of Windsor which-are still preserved in 

 the Record Office, for the year 1405, iB an entry for "600 

 paxills or poles for proping Vines." 



I There are several other references to the vineyards of the 

 colleges in Willis and Clark's Architectural History of Cant- 

 bridge, vol. iii., to which the reader is referred. 



§ Barnaby Goodge. Hollinshed also remarks, " the fault 

 whereof is not our soils, but the negligence of our country- 



[| Kippis, Biogr. Brit., vol. iii., p. 2. 



