DOMESDAY SURVEY 



all customary dues except [Dane-] geld, particular mention being made of their 

 exemption from the ' geldum carucatarum terrae,' which must refer to this 

 due of 2 ores. In the manorial holdings which make up these 3 hides 

 we find that the value per carucate is in most cases considerably higher than 

 in the other manors of West Derby, the whole — including half a carucate in 

 Altcar, which was waste and valueless — paying 3/. js. 4^., or i/. u. 4^. 

 more than would have been the case at the normal rate of 3 2 pence the caru- 

 cate.^ The value, therefore, instead of having fallen owing to the abolition of 

 this due, had risen, showing that the 32 pence were additional to the ' value,' 

 though the land would seem as a rule to have been assessed for rent at the 

 same rate of 2 ores of pence for each carucate. There is a further puzzling 

 point in connexion with these three exempt hides ; it is stated that King 

 Edward remitted the rent {censum) of these three hides, and that ' they used to 

 render 4/. 14J. 8^.' — a sum which does not agree with the total value obtained 

 from the component items, but which is within is. Sd. of double the ' carucate 

 geld ' due on that amount of land. It is difficult to be certain of the explana- 

 tion of this, but it is at least possible that originally these lands were farmed 

 at the normal rate of 3 2 pence with the additional burden of the ' carucate 

 geld ' ; that these two charges were taken off by King Edward, who took 

 nothing but Danegeld from these lands, but that subsequently, when Roger of 

 Poitou held the district, these lands were again farmed out, but at a higher rate 

 than the neighbouring estates in consideration of their exemption from the 

 ' carucate geld ' and other dues.' 



An important item in the extent of a manor was the woodland, of which 

 the measurements are usually given. Any attempt to estimate the areas of 

 woodland in the various manors can only be very rough, and must be received 

 with caution for many reasons. First, it is evident that such measurements as 

 are given are merely approximate, and it is also evident that as the woodland 

 lay not in neat rectangular blocks but in straggling and irregular masses, of 

 which the greatest length and breadth were no doubt roughly estimated, the 

 product of length and breadth will not correspond with the superficial area. 

 There is the further difficulty of the relative value of the league and furlong — 

 the units in which the woodland was measured — as Mr. Eyton's suggestion 

 that the league contained 1 2 furlongs would apparently make the area of the 

 woods in Newton hundred considerably in excess of the total area of that 

 hundred. There is further the question of the size of the perch to be con- 

 sidered, for throughout the hundred of West Derby the large or Cheshire 

 perch of 24 feet was, and still is, employed in land measure, and in many 



1 In the case of Huyton and Tarbock the release by the king of certain dues (or forfeitures) increased 

 the value of those manors from the normal 161. the hide to 20s., an increase of one-fourth. The same 

 increase is observable in the case of Kirkdale. 



* The ' rent ' paid in different hundreds (as distinct from the carucate geld) appears to have varied some- 

 vyhat. In Newton hundred the thegns paid only 30J. for 4 hides, in addition to the carucate geld. The 

 carucate also seems to have varied in value according to the situation and soil, and the yield of the casual profits 

 of woodlands and forfeitures. Taking the total value of the six hundreds T.R.E., as recorded in the survey, 

 at 145/. 2S. 2J. (the values of the individual hundreds add to 145/. 8/. lOii.), each of the 474 carucates of 

 land between Ribble and Mersey was of the average value of 6s. i ^J. The values of the demesne lands in 1086 

 are recorded as worth — for the part held by Roger of Poitou 23/. 10^., for the part held by his knights 20/. i is. 

 (but the figures add to 22/. 12/.). Taking the area of the demesne lands as recorded, viz., 109 caracutes, and 

 the corrected total of the value as 46/. 2S., we get an average value of 8/. 5j</. per carucate of the demesne. 

 Dealing with the 364 carucates 7 bovates of land held by thegns in 1066 as yielding a rent of 5/. 4*/. per 

 carucate, we obtain the sum of 97/. 6s. This added to the previous sum gives a total of 143/. 8/., as against 

 the sum of 145/. 2s. 2d., recorded in the survey as the value T.R.E. of the six hundreds. 



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