Carucate – this was the area that could be cultivated by one plough (with its eight Oxen) in a year and a day. It equates, roughly to 120 acres.
Demesne – Land in “lordship” whose produce is devoted to the Lord rather than his tenants.
Acre – 4,047 square metres but more sensibly there are 640 acres to the square mile. An acre can also be defined as one furlong by one chain (a cricket pitch). The current Parish encloses about 960 acres.
Furlong – a measure of length equal to and eigth of a mile or ten chains. That’s 201 metres in metric which is also very close to one tenth of a Nautical mile or one cable.
Plough – self explanatory but a plough infers that there were eight Oxen to draw it and they will need 24 acres of meadow to graze.
Geld – The English land tax assessed on the HIDE (yet another term but we’ll stop there).
MILL – (L Molendium) driven by water. The Windmill does not appear in England for at least a century after Domesday Book.
TRE – Tempore Regis Edwardi – indicates the position in the time of King Edward, i.e. before the conquest in 1066.
T.R.W – in the time of William
Commended – put into the hands of – a form of Vassalage.
Freeman–
TEXTBOX Some Terms |