FARNHAM HUNDRED 



Historical events in Farnham are numerous and 

 stirring, as is lilcely in the case of a place on an im- 

 portant road dominated by a great castle. The 

 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, read in the light of the 

 chronicle of Ethelwold, leaves no doubt that 

 Farnham in Surrey was the scene of one of the 

 defeats of the Danes by Alfred in 893 or 894. But 

 it is to the history of the castle round which the 

 military history of Farnham centred that the most 

 stirring events belong. These mostly group them- 

 selves round the Civil War, and as in so many other 

 cases, end with the same. 



There is nothing to indicate the 

 BOROUGH existence of a borough at Farnham 

 OF FARN- by the entry in Domesday Book, 



HAM and there seems to be considerable 

 uncertainty when the borough origi- 

 nated.28 Farnham was a mesne borough held 

 of the Bishop of Winchester ; it had bailiffs in 

 1205, and had a definite existence, at any rate, by 

 1207.29 



There is no trace of walls, unless an item in the 

 accounts for 1644, ' payed to Thomas Block for the 

 repair of the upper wall,' refers to them. More 

 probably it relates to a temporary fortification of 

 the Civil War time. The borough and the town 

 (villa) are early distinguished from each other. 

 The central street of Farnham is still called the 

 Borough, and round this only, if anywhere, there 

 were walls. 



It is probable that the borough grew up under 

 the shelter of the castle during the twelfth century, 

 and the burgesses gradually obtained rights from 

 the bishops, whose interest it was to encourage 

 them. 



The rent rolls of the bishops of Winchester, 

 almost continuous from 1207, give what can be 



FARNHAM 

 gathered about the early history of the borough. 

 From 1207 to 121 8 the farm of the borough is 

 carefully noted under the manor accounts,'" as a 

 fixed sum of £y. In the roll of 1222 there comes 

 a change, for the farm is given as £j ip. 4^. In 

 the next few years it is set down as £S, and by 1247 

 it had risen to ^^9.31 But there are many signs that 

 the borough was growing in importance, and wished 

 to be independent. As early as 1225 the borough 

 accounts are noted separately from those of the 

 manor, while in 1244, 1245 and 1246 not only the 

 farm is given separately, but there is a detailed 

 account of proceeds from the borough court, from 

 the fair on All Saints' Day and from fines for seisin 

 of various burgages.'^ showing that the borough 

 was then in the bishop's hands and governed by 

 his officers, the issues being accounted for under a 

 separate head. A change however in the govern- 

 ment of the town took place in 1247, when the 

 burgesses received from the bishop their first 

 charter of liberties.s^ 



In this the borough jurisdiction and privileges 

 are clearly set out. The burghers were to have 

 the whole borough and town with appurtenances, 

 excepting the privileges of hue and cry, persons and 

 chattels of felons, escheats of their lands and 

 tenements, with the services of William le Parker 

 and two others who held of the bishop in chief. 

 They were empowered to hold a fair on All 

 Saints' Day ; to choose their own bailiffs and 

 remove them vnthout hindrance from the bishop ; 

 to have assize of bread and ale, with power of 

 punishing defaulters by fine ; to have all 

 manner of tolls ; to be exempt from suit and 

 service at the bishop's court, except only that 

 which was owing to the lord at ' Law day ' at the 

 Castle of Farnham ; to have power to issue 



^ A manuscript at Farnham Castle 

 states that King John granted the 

 borough to Bishop Peter des Roches, a 

 statement which is probably inaccurate. 

 John may have granted the bishop the 

 right to have a borough, but even 

 this is unlikely, as there are two 

 known charters by him to the 

 bishop, neither of which refers to the 

 borough of Farnham, and the later con- 

 firmation charters do not make men- 

 tion of such a grant. 



M Eccl. Com. Rent R. var. bdles. 22 

 et seq, 



3» Ibid, bdles. 22, 23. 



2' Rayleigh's Charter of 1 247. 



32 Eccl. Com. Rent R., Bpric. of 

 Winchester, 1244, 1245, 1246, bdle. 



33 The charter runs as follows : — 

 Omnibus Christi fidelibus has litteras 

 visuris aut audituris Willielmus Dei 

 gratia Wintoniae episcopus salutem in 

 Domino ; Noveritis nos (a) concessisse 

 et dimississe et ad foedi firmam tradi- 

 disse burgensibus nostris de Farnham 

 totum burgum nostrum de Farnham, et 

 totam villam adjacentem, cum omnibus 

 eorum pertinentibus, exceptis huies 

 levato sanguine fuso, et latrocinibus 

 captis, et eorum catallis receptis, 

 escaetis omnium terrarum et tene- 

 mentorum suorum, exceptis Willelmo 

 le Parker, Gervasio de Snellessynche, 



IJ 



Clitone Burton, qui nobis in capite 

 respondebunt sicut prius consueverunt. 

 Volumus etiam concedisse pro nobis et 

 succeasoribus nostns in perpetuum 

 quod predict! burgenses et heredes 

 8ui habeant omnes libertates et liberas 

 consuetudines subterscriptas sicut prius 

 habere consueverunt ; (b) videlicet 

 habere debent feriam unam de Farn- 

 ham integram ad festum Omnium Sanc- 

 torum sine aliqua diminucione. (r) Item 

 eligere debent baUivos suos pro volun- 

 tate sua et instituere et removere 

 quotiens voluerint, sine contradictione 

 quorumcumqueministrorumnostrorum. 

 [J) Item habere debent aasisam panis et 

 cervisiae, ita quod panem capere debent 

 ad domum pistons, et ponderare et pro- 

 bare et cervisiam tastare, in burgo et in 

 villa et per unam leucam in gyro, et 

 emendas habere debent tam panis quam 

 cervisiae, nisi pistor ad piloriam vel 

 brasiator ad tumbrellam debent con- 

 dempnari, quod ad noa reservavimus. 

 (e) Item habere debent totum tolum 

 quod aliquo modo potest accidere in 

 spatio predicto. (/) Item de omni secta 

 curiae nostrae erunt quieti, praeter quod 

 ad duo hundreda de Lagheday ad cas- 

 trum nostrum de Farnham per annum, 

 et ad capitula regalia respondere debent 

 sine occasione : et ad curiam suam pro- 

 priam sectam coram ballivis suis facere 

 debent, sicut ballivis nostris facer? 



585 



quondam consueverunt. (g) Item 

 facere debent omnia attachiamenta, et 

 omnes summoniciones, et omnes defor- 

 ciationes quod accidunt in burgo pre- 

 dicto et in villa predicta, exceptis illis 

 quae tangunt ballivum nostrae liberatis. 

 Haec omnia predicta sicut predictum 

 est, concessimus predictis burgensibus 

 nostris et heredlbus suis pro nobis et 

 successoribus nostris sine impedimento 

 et contradictione omnium ministrorum 

 nostorum iu perpetuum. {h) Etproista 

 dimissione, concessione et ad foedi 

 firmam tradicione, praedicti burgenses 

 et heredes sui dabunt annuatim nobis et 

 successoribus nostris per manus pre- 

 positi nostri de Farnham duodecim 

 libras argenti, ad hokeday et ad festum 

 Sancti Martini pro equali porcione, ubi 

 aliquo tempore tantum novem libras 

 reddere consueverunt. In cujus rei 

 testimonium huic scripto signum meum 

 apponi fecimus. Datum apud Essere, 

 quinto Idibus Februariis Anno transla- 

 tionis nostrae quatuor, his testibus, 

 Magistro Waltero Archidiacono Sur- 

 riensi, domino Othone de Essholte, 

 Radulpho Vaupel Iseneschallo nostro, 

 dominis Othone et Fulchero, cum 

 capellanis nostris Willelmo de Hake- 

 ford, Roberto de Essex, Johanne de 

 Froyle, cum constabulario nostro Jo- 

 hanne de Farnham, Jacobe de Viel, 

 Q^rvasio de Snelshinch et aliis. 



74 



