DOMESDAY SURVEY 



Passing to the north of the Ribble, no fee, with the possible exception of 

 Hornby, was of more ancient creation than Henry I.'s time. The incidental 

 mention in charters of the period 109 3-1 102 of the fee of Warin Bussel of 

 Preston, and of the lands of Roger de Montbegon beyond the river 

 Ribble, constitutes the entire evidence to prove that portions perhaps of the 

 fees of Penwortham and Hornby had been granted respectively to these 

 knights by Roger of Poitou during the reign of the Conqueror or his 

 successor. 



In conclusion it may be suggested with some confidence that the 

 survival at the dawn of Lancashire history in the reigns of Richard I. and 

 John of thegnage and drengage tenure in many manors, points to the 

 presumption that the greater number of manors so held had descended in 

 unbroken possession to their owners from their pre-conquest forefathers,^ a 

 presumption which is further strengthened by the prevalence in early 

 Lancashire records of Anglo-Saxon and old Norse personal names amongst the 

 holders of land. For eighty years or more after the making of the great 

 survey the manorial history of these regions remains concealed by impenetrable 

 darkness. With the commencement of the sheriffs' accounts (Pipe Rolls) and 

 monastic chartularies, an intermittent and irregular light begins to be shed, 

 which gradually gains power until, with the taking of the great inquest of 

 service in 12 12, the names of the manorial lords of this county with a 

 description of their manors, tenures, and services, stand revealed in the full 

 light of history. 



^ Although there is evidence to show that these lands were sometimes granted out by John, count of 

 Mortain, to tenants to hold by these tenures {Cal. of Charter: R., Record Com., 26-7), it is not certain that 

 the grants were always made to neu> tenants. 



[THE HOLDERS OF LANDS] 



CESTRESCIRE Crosebi [Little Crosby], Magele [Maghull], 



f. 262 b., col. a. AcHETUN [Aughton]. There (are) 2 hides.' 



T. r-n ■ LuuijL TT Wood(land) 2 leagues long and broad and 



Roger of Poitou held the land between Ripe ^ eyries of hawks 

 [Ribble] and Mersha [Mersey]. Now the king 



holds (it). Dot held Hitune [Huyton] and Torboc 



f. 269 b. [Tarbock]. There (is) i hide quit from every 



_ „ rr. T Tiir ^^^ [consuetudo) except (praeter) geld. There 



Between Ripa [Ribble] and Mersha J3 j^^j ^^ ^ ^^^^^^^ ^t was worth 20 shil- 



[Mersev] lings. 



Roger of Poitou held the under-written land Bernulf held Stochestede [Toxteth]. There 



between Ribble and Mersey. (j^j ^ ^j^g^,^ ^f j^^j ^^j ^^^^"-^ ^^^J^ ^^ j^^j_ 



It rendered 4 shillings. 

 In Derbei [West Derby] Hundred 



T^u T^- Tj J u J TT J Stainulf held Stochestede [Toxtethl. There 



There King iLdward had one manor called /• \ ^ ■„ ^ fij juir n 1 



T-. vwT . T^ u 1 vu t u • r ('*) ^ virgate of land and half a carucate of land. 



Derbei rWest Derby], with 6 berewicks. t» „ „„ ,„ *u . u-ir 



T-u I \ 1,-j T-u • 1 J r ..1 u " ^^ worth 4 shillings. 



There (are) 4 hides. There is land for 1 5 ploughs. ° 



(There is) forest 2 leagues long and l (league) 1 These 2 hides were thus distributed :— Roby 



broad and a hawk's eyry. 2 carucates, Knowsley 4, Kirkby 2, Little Crosby 3, 



^^ , , ,, , _, PT. , n Maghull ^, and Aughton J. Total 12 carucates 



Uctred held 6 manors, Rabil [Roby], = 2 hides. ' Achetun 'here represents the township of 



Chenulveslei [Knowsley], Cherchebi [Kirkby], BickerstafFe, lying next Aughton on the east. 



283 



