74 Mr Tate on Longhoughton, &c. 



berti. These facts appear to me to shew a change of condi- 

 tions while the beds were in course of formation ; at first the 

 conditions were unquestionably marine, but from some cause, 

 probably from a gradual alteration of level, and an influx of 

 fresh water, these conditions became estuarine, and after- 

 wards entirely fresh water. 



On the Vill, Manor, and Church of Longhoughton, North- 

 umberland, toith some curious extracts from the Register 

 of Longhoughton Church. By George Tate, F.G.S., &c. 



Fkom the time when William the Conqueror distributed the 

 lands of England among his Norman followers, the Vill and 

 Manor of Longhoughton, or Magna Houghton, formed part 

 of the barony of Alnwick. Little Houghton, or Parva 

 Houghton, was granted by the baron on a military tenure ; 

 for in 1289 it was held from John de Vescy, Baron of Aln- 

 wick, by Peter Harrang, by service of one knight's fee and a 

 rent of 13s. 4d. yearly ; but prior to 1346 it had passed into 

 the old Saxon family of Poddam, and continued in its 

 possession till about the middle of last century. No part 

 however of Magna Houghton had been granted away to 

 military tenants, and it was therefore always closely con- 

 nected with the barony of Alnwick. 



The earliest mention of Houghton is in 1147 when Eustace 

 Fitz John, the Lord of Alnwick, by charter gave to Alnwick 

 Abbey, along with other endowments, the church of Lesbury 

 with the chapels of Howghton Saint Waleric, and Alnwick, 

 with all their tithes. An inquisition, made in 1289, tells us 

 that John de Vescy died siezed of the Vill of Houton {cum 

 quadam frussura quce vocatur le Merum,) of demesne lands, 

 of bondagia, cotagia, mills, meadows, and pastures, of the 

 yearly value of £92 7s. 4|d. A subsequent inquisition made 

 in 1372, after the death of Henry, the third Lord Percy of 

 Alnwick, gives fuller information of the condition of the Vill 

 and Manor in feudal times ; it states that he held them of the 

 king in chief, but that the manor was ruined and wasted, 

 and of the yearly value in herbage of only 3s. ; of demesne 

 lands, that is lands in the lord's own occupancy and culti- 

 vated by him, there were 240 acres, each acre of which was 

 worth 9d. yearly ; there were also 24 acres of meadow, each 

 acre worth Is. yearly; and two water mills, one ruined, but 

 the other yielding 100s. yearly. In the same place were 18 



