A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



parts of Lancashire the perch of 21 feet is still employed. Many mediaeval 

 records, however, mention a perch of 20 feet, and it is almost safe to assume 

 that this was the perch or ' rod-fall ' most usually employed in Lancashire, 

 outside the hundred of West Derby,^ and probably employed in the survey 

 throughout the region under review. To a great extent the area of wood- 

 land mentioned in the survey may be located by the aid of mediaeval records. 

 The 2 leagues by i league of wood belonging to the demesne of West Derby 

 lay in the modern townships of West Derby, Croxteth, Fazakerley, and Hale- 

 wood. Ughtred's 2 leagues by 2 leagues extended over Knowsley, Kirkby, 

 and ' Achetun,' i.e. Bickerstaffe. In Little Woolton there was half a league 

 of wood ; in Lathom and Burscough i league by half a league ; in Melling 

 with Cunscough the same area, adjoining Ughtred's wood in Kirkby and 

 Simonswood ; in Lydiate i league by 2 furlongs. In Newton hundred the 

 area of wood measured i o leagues by 6 leagues 2 furlongs. The area of wood- 

 land in this region — known as Makerfield — before the conquest must have 

 amounted to something like one-third of the whole area. No wood is recorded 

 in Warrington hundred, by what appears to be an oversight on the part of 

 the commissioners or their clerks. In the demesne of Salford hundred there 

 was woodland 3 leagues by 3 leagues, and in the thegnlands 6 leagues by 

 4 leagues. The former probably lay in Broughton and in and around Horwich, 

 whilst the bulk of the thegns' woodland probably lay in Rochdale and 

 Tottington. In Blackburn hundred there was wood on the demesne lands 

 I league by i league, probably lying in Ramsgreave, near Blackburn, whilst 

 the thegns had woodlands containing 6 leagues by 4 leagues, lying in Rossendale 

 and Pendle forests, and in manors lying in the Ribble valley. In the demesne 

 of Leyland hundred there was 2 leagues by i league of wood, probably in Ley- 

 land, whilst the thegns had 6 leagues by 3 leagues i furlong lying in the region of 

 Gunolfsmores, and in Brindle, Clayton le Woods, Whittle le Woods, and Chorley. 

 Before passing to the consideration of the infeudations made by Roger 

 of Poitou, it is necessary to determine how much of the region under review 

 — as proved by the wording of the record — he held at or before the date of 

 the survey. The land between Ribble and Mersey had been Roger's, but 

 was then in the king's hand (f. 301^). Amounderness had also passed out 

 of Roger's hand, and was therefore included in the survey under ' the king's 

 land.' Lonsdale, Kendal, Cartmel, and Furness likewise appear, immediately 

 after Amounderness, amongst the king's lands, except five manors in Lonsdale 

 and one manor in Kendal, that is Beetham with its members, which appear 

 under the heading ' The land of Roger of Poitou,' without any remark to 

 show that he had ceased to hold them. On the contrary, under Beetham we 

 read ' Nunc habet Rogerius ' (f. 332), and of certain of his manors in Craven 

 we read of Barnoldswick that ' Berenger de Todeni tenuit, set modo est in 

 castellatu Rogerii pictavensis,' and of Colton — ' Erneis habuit, set modo est 

 in castellatu Rogerii' (f. 332). Of his manors in Derbyshire it is recorded, 

 'Now they are in the king's hand' (f. 273/^), but in Nottinghamshire and 

 Lincolnshire nothing is recorded to suggest that he was otherwise than in full 

 possession of his fief. In Norfolk the survey of his manors is headed ' The 

 lands which were Roger of Poitou's,' ' but again in Suffolk ' and Essex * the 



1 Cockersand Chartulary (Chetham Soc. N. S. vol. 38), p. 115. 



* Dm. Bk. ii. f. 243. « Ibid. £ 346. * Ibid. f. 89. 



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