228 



Notes on the History of Mere. 



Saxon Remains. 



Of Saxon remains there are none, if we except a portion of the 

 east wall of the tower of the Parish Church, which was discovered 

 in 1895 hidden behind the plaster, and described by Mr. Ponting 

 in his paper on Mere Church, Wilts Arch. Mag., xxix., 22. 



Domesday Book. 



The earliest authentic details of the parish are to be found in 

 Domesday Book, and it is remarkable that in the case of so large a 

 parish as Mere such a scanty report is given, unless we assume that 

 it was in consequence of its being a royal manor, which manors, 

 we are told, " never paid geld, neither were assessed in hides." In 

 the Exchequer Domesday there are three entries under the 

 heading of Mere, and these represent very small occupations, so 

 the probability is that the remainder of the manor was in demesne. 

 There are two entries relating to Seles, and one to Chedelwich. 



"Godric the huntsman holds 1 virgate of land which pays geld in Meea. 

 The land is a half carucate. He has there 1 coscet and a half acre of meadow. 

 It is worth 5 shillings." 



"Uluric holds Mera. Allic held it in the time of King Edward and it paid 

 geld for 1 virgate and a half of land. The land is a half carucate which is there 

 with 4 bordars and half an acre of meadow and 1 acre of pasture. It is worth 

 7 shillings and sixpence." 



"Ulnod holds 1 hide in Meee and it paid geld for so much in the time of 

 King Edward. The land is 1 carucate, which is there with 6 cottars and 4 acres 

 of meadow and 1 acre of pasture. It is worth 20 shillings." 



So that probably these three holdings, about 200 acres, contained 

 at that time all the assessable land in the parish, excluding Zeals 

 and Chadenwyche, the remainder being in the hands of the King. 



The Manor. 



The manor has from time immemorial been attached to the 

 crown, and although there are some documents relating to the 

 Church of Mere of an earlier date in the muniment room of 

 Salisbury Cathedral, which will be noticed hereafter, the earliest 

 mention of the manor I have seen is in Kennet's Parochial 

 Antiquities : — 



