SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 



The selions, called in English * shotts,' varied considerably in size, 

 ranging from an acre down to a quarter acre. At Northill*in the 15th 

 century they averaged one third of an acre, but examples occur in the same 

 manor at a later date of a selion ' called a Throughshott,' containing i acre, 

 and of another called an ' Atherall Roode ' containing i J roods. This latter 

 term appears to be the same as ' Otherhalfyerd,' which also occurs at 

 Northill, as well as in other Bedfordshire manors. 



In this connexion it is important to study the question of the measure- 

 ment of the land, and this is not so simple a question as it sounds. While it 

 is abundantly clear that the geld hide of Domesday contained 4 virgates, the 

 number of virgates to the areal hide is not so certain. In a survey of the 

 manors of Ramsey Abbey ^ instances may be found in the adjacent counties of 

 Cambridge and Huntingdon of hides containing four, five, six or seven 

 virgates, but on the abbey's Bedfordshire manors the hide was 4 virgates.* 

 Here, however, uniformity ceased ; in Shillington the virgate was 1 2 acres, 

 in Barton 24 acres, and in Cranfield 48 acres.' In Cranfield, indeed, in 

 1 244, the jurors say that ' they do not know how many acres make a virgate, 

 because sometimes 40 acres make a virgate, and sometimes fewer.' ^^ The 

 size of the acre might also vary, depending in its turn upon the measuring 

 rod, or perch, used ; at Shillington in 1255 the perch of 16 ft. was in use, 

 but it may be doubted if this was the case uniformly throughout the county. 

 The carucate, or plough-land, was also variable, instances occurring on the 

 Hundred Rolls" of carucates of 80, 100, and 120 acres, the latter being the 

 most common. This after all is not unreasonable, for the amount that a 

 plough could till would tend to vary with the nature of the soil. 



Further complications are introduced into our statistics by the use in 

 Bedfordshire of the ' long hundred ' of six score. This was employed on the 

 manors belonging to Ramsey Abbey at least as late as the 15th century, so 

 that, for instance, ccxl must be read as 280 (not 240), and 1,672 is written 

 mcccv"xij. The ' long hundred,' if it was ever universal, was generally 

 abandoned in many, probably in most, parts of the county at an early date, 

 but its existence continued to be recognized; thus at Grovebury in 1342 

 3^. was paid for 200 ' taknayls ' — per majus centum, ^* while on the other hand 

 at Stevington in 1350 the arable was estimated at 280 acres — per minus 

 centum}^ 



Turning now to the important question of tenures, we are fortunate in 

 possessing a great mass of material, some of it unusually early. The Domes- 

 day Survey ^* shows that in the time of the Confessor a large proportion of 

 the land in this county was in the hands of thegns and sokemen who could 

 alienate their estates at will, or as the Survey puts it, ' could do what they 

 wished with their land.' Most of these men who survived the Conquest 

 must have lost their free status, but in the surveys of Bedfordshire manors 

 made during the 12th century the amount of land held freely compares 

 favourably with many parts of England. In the first half of that century 

 surveys were made of Barton, Cranfield and Shillington." At Barton out of 



° Ct. R. bdle. 153, no. 34. ' Ramsey Chartul. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 208-15. 



' But a half hide containing 4 virgates occurs at Shillington in 1255. Ibid, i, 458. 



' Ibid, iii, 21 1-12. " Ibid, i, 437. " Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), ii, 321-3. 



" Mins. Accts. bdle. 741, no. 4. " Inq. p.m. 23 Edw. Ill, no. 75. 



" V.C.H. Beds, i, 207-9. " Ramsey Chartul. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 274. 



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