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 3l. 7s. 4d., or 1l. 1s. 4d. more than would have been the case at the normal rate of 32 pence the carucate.[1] 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 4l. 14s. 8d.'—a sum which does not agree with the total value obtained from the component items, but which is within 1s. 8d. of double the 'carucate geld' due on that amount of land. It is difficult to be certain of the explanation of this, but it is at least possible that originally these lands were farmed at the normal rate of 32 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.[2]
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 12 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 considered, 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
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- ↑ 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 16s. 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 somewhat. In Newton hundred the thegns paid only 30s. 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 145l. 2s. 2d. (the values of the individual hundreds add to 145l. 8s. 10d.), each of the 474 carucates of land between Ribble and Mersey was of the average value of 6s. 1½d. The values of the demesne lands in 1086 are recorded as worth—for the part held by Roger of Poitou 23l. 10s., for the part held by his knights 20l. 11s. (but the figures add to 22l. 12s.). Taking the area of the demesne lands as recorded, viz., 109 caracutes, and the corrected total of the value as 46l. 2s., we get an average value of 8s. 5½d. per carucate of the demesne. Dealing with the 364 carucates 7 bovates of land held by thegns in 1066 as yielding a rent of 5s. 4d. per carucate, we obtain the sum of 97l. 6s. This added to the previous sum gives a total of 143l. 8s., as against the sum of 145l. 2s. 2d., recorded in the survey as the value T.R.E. of the six hundreds.
