Here is a reply I have received from a researcher in Essex. Thought I would share it.
Jim Ottmer
Did nothing in particular and did it very well. --W.S. Gilbert
-----Original Message-----
From: Cranham(a)aol.com [SMTP:Cranham@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, January 25, 1999 12:28 PM
To: ottmer(a)ix.netcom.com
Subject: Essex Domesday: Nazeing
Dear Jim
There are three paragraphs in Domesday on Nazeing, although one is quite long
and shows a close relationship with the next-door town, Epping. Reckon just
providing you the Phillimore English translation of these is quicker than the
hassle of scanning.
As you know, these are all in "Little Domesday", which covers the three
counties of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. In fact, the degree of detail
provided for these three counties is rather more than for other counties in
England, and "Little Domesday" is a volume that is almost the same size as
"Greater Domesday", the other volume which covers the whole of the rest of
England.
In any case, there appear to be at least three, and perhaps four, mediaeval
manors in Nazeing in 1086. The references below to "Then" and "Now"
are
Domesday shorthand for the years 1066 and 1086, the years of the Conquest and
Survey, respectively. The Conqueror had the political position that he was
perpetuating the legitimate arrangement of the time of Edward the Confessor,
and that Harold had merely been a brief usurper, whom William had justifably
dispossessed in order to recover his rightful Crown and English property.
When there are alternative English translations, I have put the latin term
used in (brackets).
1. Folio 16a, or 8,2 in the Phillimore Edition:
"Holy Cross* has always held Nazeing for 5 hides. Then one plough in
Lordship, now one and a half. Then one men's plough, now one and a half.
Always 5 villagers (villeins). Now 2 smallholders (bordars); then two
slaves, now none. Woodland 50 pigs. Meadow 13 acres. Half a fishery.** One
cob, four cattle, 10 pigs, 15 sheep. Value then 40 shillings, now 60
shillings."
* Holy Cross is a reference to the important Abbey at Waltham, about 4 miles
South (down the Lea) from Nazeing. This Abbey was built by King Harold,
c.1060, and was his burial place after being killed at Hastings; there was
probably an earlier Saxon church on the site. The Abbey church was rebuilt c.
1080 in the Norman style, perhaps as penance by the Conqueror. Here and there
bits of Harold's previous Saxon church were re-used in building the new one.
A 15th century guild chapel and undercroft were attached to the south wall of
the nave. The Abbey was the last in England to be dissolved by Henry VIII,
whereupon the eastern half of the Abbey church, and many ancillary buildings,
were demolished. The western half of the church was retained, to be used as a
parish church. This church of 1080 still stands, and is open to visitors
almost every day. The small original town of Waltham is at its gate, now with
its main street closed to traffic, allowing easy appreciation of a nice
variety of Victorian and mediaeval buildings, one of the latter being an
excellent pub across the street from the church, and many others being used as
shops. The Police Station, half way along the pedestrianised street, is an
Edwardian classic, I should think.
** Eels are likely the primary fish in the Lea at that time.
2. Folio 80 b; 37,8 in the Phillimore edition:
"In Nazeing, Odo** holds one hide from Ranulf.* One villager (villein).
Three smallholders (bordars). One plough. Value 20 shillings."
* This man is known as "Ranulf brother of Ilgar" (see below). In modern day
terms, Ranulf could be called one of William the Conqueror's colonels at the
Battle of Hastings.
** The Conqueror had a half-brother called Odo, who was the Bishop of Bayeux
at the time (1086). However, Domesday typically lists his lands separately,
and I don't think this is who is meant; it is not an uncommon 11th century
name, and I reckon more likely that Odo had possession of this small manor,
and was himself the farmer, being Ranulf's tenant.
3. Folio 80 b (same sheet as above); 37, 9 in the Phillimore Edition:
"Two free men held Nazeing and Epping before 1066 as a manor, for
four and a half hides less 15 acres. Then three ploughs in Lodship, now two.
Always three men's ploughs. Then 11 villagers (villeins), now seven. Now
nine smallholders (bordars). Then three slaves, now none. Woodland 100 pigs.
Meadow 54 acres. Pasture worth 32 pence. Then one mill,* now none. Then
seven cattle and 30 pigs, now two cattle and 18 pigs: these are in Nazeing.
In Epping, two cattle, 26 sheep, and 6 pigs. Value always four pounds,
Nazeing 60 shillings and Epping 20 shillings. Besides this, one hide has been
added to this land, which a free man held before 1066 and still holds.** Then
one plough, now half. Then two smallholders (bordars), now three. Woodland
20 pigs. Meadow 12 acres. Value then ten shillings, now twenty. A further
one virgate of land, which was added after 1066 and belonged to Waltham***
before 1066, which Ranulf brother of Ilgar took from there, as the Hundred
testifies. Value three shillings. Ranulf holds all this in Lordship."
*The mill would have been water driven at a sluice on the Lea.
** May indicate a merger with a fourth, small manor, between 1066-1086.
*** The abbey, see above.
As you can see, there is little of genealogical value in these entries, and
this would be typical of the whole of the Domesday Survey, which was
constructed for the purposes of taxation. It may help to know that a Hide was
a measure of 120 acres, comprosed of four virgates (in Essex). However, this
was more of the equivalent of an assessed real estate value for taxation
purposes: a hide of poor land could be geographically much larger than a hide
of fertile land. The relatively small numbers of cattle and sheep illustrates
the point about how Essex is excellent arable country, then as now.
Searching the Elizabethan wills will take longer, and I have to operate a
queue system. You're in line (no longer even the last in line !) and shall
respond when I get to you.
Let me know if anything above is unclear, and I shall be happy to try to
explain further. There is a huge literature on Domesday, some of which I have,
and doubtful points can usually be clarified.
Tony Fox
Cranham(a)aol.com