A detailed investigation of Martock in 1086

An incredibly detailed and cutting edge study of the Domesday entry for Martock follows these introductory paragraphs: The Domesday Book was commissioned in 1085 by William the Conqueror as a record of tax due to him. The first draft was completed in August 1086 and contained records for 13,418 settlements.The compilers carried with them a set of questions and put these to a jury of representatives - made up of barons and villagers alike - from each county. This was to get around tax evasion, but of course England was then, as now, a complicated place, and ownership and finances were difficult to determine exactly. The first draft for Somerset is the Exeter, or Exon, Domesday, which has more information than the final version. Caroline Thorn has worked the Latin text into modern English, for which we have tried to provide a glossary below.

Frank Thorn then interprets the implications of the wording of the text. The 5,000 words show it to be a complicated matter!

MARTOCK IN DOMESDAY (1086) Translations

EXON DOMESDAY: folio 113a2 (main entry under the heading 'Land of Queen Edith in Somerset')

The King has 1 manor which is called Martock which Queen Edith held on the day on which King Edward was alive and dead. In it are 38 hides and it paid tax for 13 hides. 40 ploughs can plough these [hides]. Of these the King has 8 hides in lordship and 3 ploughs and the villagers have 30 hides and 28 ploughs. There the King has 65 villagers and 24 smallholders and 6 slaves and 14 freedmen and 2 cobs and 23 cattle and 36 pigs and 300 sheep, less 16, and 2 mills which pay 35s. a year, and 1 fishery which pays 5s. a year, and 1 league of woodland in length and 2 furlongs in width and 50 acres of meadow and 1 league of pasture in length and as much in width; and it pays £70 a year at face value and [it would pay] 100s. more if Bishop Walkelin testifies.*

To this manor have been added 4 hides, 2 of which Alwin son of Banna held on the day on which King Edward was alive and dead, and it is called† Oakley and it pays 50s. a year in Martock, the King's manor, and 2 thanes held jointly the other 2 hides in the time of King Edward, but nonetheless they paid 40d. as a customary due in Martock and now it pays 40s. in Martock, the King's manor.

From this manor has been taken away 1 manor which is called Compton [in Dorset] which lay in Martock on the day on which King Edward was alive and dead. In it is 1 hide of land and 1 virgate and it can be ploughed by 2 ploughs. Now Ansger the cook holds it. There Ansger has 4 men who have 1 plough; and it is worth 30s. a year, and when Ansger acquired it [it was worth] 50s.; and there have been taken away from the aforementioned manor a further 6 virgates which Aelfric‡ Small of Hampshire holds and they are worth 40s. a year and they were worth as much when Aelfric acquired them.

* The clause 'and 100s. more if Bishop Walkelin has testified' is an addition made by the scribe of the entry, partly interlined and partly in the outer margin of the Exon manuscript.

† The Exon scribe interlined 7 uocat[ur].

‡ The name was corrected by the Exon scribe from albric' (Aubrey) to aluuric' (Aelfric) by underlining some letters for deletion and interlining new ones; the form Albricus represents Old German Alb[e]ric, which is the equivalent of Old English Ælfric: von Feilitzen, Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, p. 180.

EXON DOMESDAY: folio 516b1 (Terrae Occupatae)

The King has 1 manor which is called Martock which Queen Edith held. To it have been added 4 hides. Alwin son of Banna held 2 of these on the day on which King Edward was alive and dead. It is called Oakley and it pays 50s. a year in Martock, the King's manor. And 2 thanes held the other 2 hides jointly in the time of King Edward, but nonetheless they paid 40d. as a customary due in Martock and now it pays 40s. in the same Martock.

EXON DOMESDAY: folio 516b3 (Terrae Occupatae)

From the King's manor which is called Martock has been taken away 1 manor which is called Compton which lay in it on the day on which King Edward was alive and dead. In it is 1 hide of land and 1 virgate. Ansger the cook holds these and it is worth 30s. a year and when Ansger acquired it, it was worth 50s. Also from this aforesaid Martock, a further 6 virgates of land have been taken away which Aelfric Small of Hampshire holds and they are worth 40s. a year and they were worth as much when Aelfric acquired them.

GREAT DOMESDAY: SOM 1,27 (Land of the King)

The King holds MARTOCK. There are 38 hides. Before 1066 it paid tax for 13 hides. There is land for 40 ploughs. Of this [land] 8 hides are in lordship and [there are] 3 ploughs there and 6 slaves and 14 freedmen and 65 villagers and 24 smallholders with 28 ploughs. 2 mills there paying 35s, and 50 acres of meadow. [There is] pasture 1 league long and as wide. [There is] woodland 1 league long and 2 furlongs wide. A fishery pays 5s. It pays £70 at face value and 100s more if Bishop Walkelin has testified.

To this manor 3 hides have been added. Three thanes held these before 1066. They pay £4 10s in |Martock.

From this manor have been taken away 1 hide and 1 virgate of land in COMPTON [in Dorset]. Ansger the cook holds them. There is land for 2 ploughs. Four men have 1 plough there. It was worth 50s; now 30s.

From this same manor 1 ½ hides have been taken away. Aelfric Small holds them and they are worth 40s.

Commentary on the Great Domesday entry

[These notes are a greatly expanded version of those written in 1980 by the present authors for the Phillimore edition of Great Domesday. It is intended to incorporate them in a revision in due course. The Exon notes from the 1980 volume have been omitted as all the material is included in the passages from it translated above.]

SOM 1,27 [Exon 113a2; Terrae Occupatae 516b1;3]

MARTOCK. The Domesday form of the name is Mertoch, those in Exon are Maertoch, Maertocha, Martocha, Mertocha (folio 113a2), and Maertoc, Maertoca (folio 516b1;3). The etymology proposed by Ekwall, Dictionary of English Place-Names, under Martock (stoc by a mere, that is 'outlying settlement by a pool or lake'), depends on the identification of the form Merkestok from the Assize Rolls as relating to Martock and supposing that the loss of medial -s- is due to Norman influence; there are no pre-Domesday forms. Ekwall, however, rejects the -k- spelling of the first element of Merkestok as 'miswritten'; if it is not so, it would represent Old English mearc, 'marker', 'boundary mark', 'boundary'. If the first element is indeed mearc, this would probably relate to the boundary between the 'land of Yeovil' and the land of South Petherton-Curry (see below); if the last element is stoc, then this is of great significance for the origin of Martock.

Martock became an Ancient Parish (Youngs, Local Administrative Units, i. pp. 431-32) with dependent chapelries at Ash and Long Load). The Ancient Parish, which probably represents the 1086 core estate, mainly has primary boundaries: the River Yeo, the River Parrett and the Foss Way. However, the north-west corner of this area is occupied by Muchelney Ancient Parish and in the north-east an area of Tintinhull Ancient Parish intrudes west of the Foss Way. Nonetheless the compilers of VCH Somerset, iii. p. 255, iv. pp. 76-78, are inclined to identify the whole area as being 'a Saxon royal estate', with Muchelney and part of Tintinhull subsequently granted from it. These days, however, the further question needs to be asked: 'What sort of Saxon royal estate?'

Since the first mention of Martock is in Domesday Book, the only pre-Conquest history known is that it was held by Edith, Edward the Confessor's queen. The size of the estate (about 40 hides) is not large enough for it to have been one of the earliest Somerset estates, nor are there other signs (it is not unhidated, does not pay food-rents, does not make payment at 20d to the ora) that would support such a supposition. Moreover, if the last element in the name is indeed stoc, then Martock was in origin a dependent, not a principal, settlement. It is more probable that it was granted out of something larger, perhaps out of an ancient royal estate lying on or along the River Yeo, of which the hundred of Yeovil named in the Exon Tax Returns (itself being a grouping of the separate hundreds of Tintinhull, Stone, 'Houndsborough', Martock and the manor-hundred of Lyatts or Coker also named in Exon) give an echo in the eleventh century. Three other Ancient Parishes (Kingsbury Episcopi, Tintinhull and Muchelney) intrude into the area bounded by the Rivers Yeo and Parrett and by the Foss Way, an area perhaps once notionally assessed at 50 hides. That a portion of Kingsbury Episcopi lies east of the River Parrett is almost certainly because the river has changed its course; see VCH Somerset, iii. p. 38; Aston, 'Archipelago in Central Somerset', p. 67. However, the religious estate of Muchelney probably began as a group of hermitic settlements on the islands of Muchelney, Midelney and Thorney, initially on uncultivated ground remote from the world. Their existence seems to have been recognised at least by the eighth century, when a church was built and grants of land began; see VCH Somerset, iv. p. 49; Aston, 'Archipelago in Central Somerset', especially p. 69 note 4. Certainly the lands around Muchelney were in 1086 an unhidated liberty (SOM 9,1), and probably formed the church's earliest possession. In the case of Tintinhull, it is the subject of two tenth-century grants. Since we do not know when Martock was first created as an estate, let alone as a reginal one, it is possible that the estates of Muchelney, Tintinhull and Martock were successive creations from the land of Yeovil, and, in particular, that Martock was created later than the other two and had to accept their boundaries. In this case, the boundaries formed by the rivers are not so much those of Martock, as those of the lands dependent on Yeovil, separating them from the lands dependent on Somerton to the north and the lands of South Petherton-Curry to the west. The sequence in which these estates were carved out of something larger depends on whether Oakley, which lies to the east of Tintinhull, was part of an original continuous block of land called Martock, rather than simply being a detached outlier. If it was the first of these, then this strengthens the notion that Tintinhull was partly or wholly created from Martock, but it also means that the Foss Way was not its original eastern border; see Oakley note below. At all events, Martock seems to be an example of a not uncommon pattern, where a queen has been given a part of an ancient royal estate for her use and support.

Most of Queen Edith's lands (including Martock) were retained by King William in 1086. Martock itself was granted to Count Eustace of Boulogne[-sur-Mer] under William II or Henry I; see VCH Somerset, i. p. 440. On his death, the land passed to his daughter Maud, who married Stephen, the future king, and then to their son William Count of Boulogne. On his death in 1159, it passed to Farmus [Pharamus] of Boulogne who was grandson of Eustace of Boulogne's illegitimate son Geoffrey. On the death of Faramus in 1183-84, it passed to his daughter Sibyl who was the wife of Ingram de Fiennes. Thereafter, with interruptions, it descended in the Fiennes family. The overlordship of most of the sub-infeudations was the same as of the principal manor; see Book of Fees, pp. 84-85, 239, 243, 1156, 1432; Feudal Aids, iv. pp. 282-83, 315, 327, 338; Complete Peerage, xi. p. 479; VCH Somerset, iv. pp. 84-85.

It is evident that so large an estate will have contained several other named places in 1086, but which are passed over in silence and whose statistics are engrossed with those of the capital manor. Most of these are represented by the tithings of which the manor-hundred consisted. These are often referred to as ten (six more than might be expected, as this hundred contains only 40 hides), and a round tally of ten can readily be identified from various lists. Apart from Martock itself, these were: (Bower) Hinton [ST4518], 'Load' [represented by Long Load and Little Load (both ST4623)], Coat [ST4520], Ash [ST4720], Milton [ST4621], Stapleton [ST4621], Witcombe [ST4721], Hurst [ST4518] and 'Newton'. The list was not static: 'Falconbridge' (represented by Falconers Farm [ST4621]) is sometimes included; 'Newton' is sometimes named with Hurst; Hurst itself is sometimes coupled with Bower Hinton, while 'Westcombland' is sometimes treated on its own, sometimes regarded as part of Coat tithing; see Feudal Aids, iv. pp. 282, 327; Lay Subsidy Roll 1327 (Dickinson), pp. 129-31, 1334; Somersetshire Pleas, i. pp. 57, 291; Hamilton, National Gazetteer; VCH Somerset, iv. p. 76.

Of these, 'Falconbridge' was the greater part of Milton, held by Peter de Faucunberge in 1284-85, the smaller part being then held by Richard of Boulogne; see Rotuli Hundredorum, ii. p. 139; Feudal Aids, iv. p. 282; Somersetshire Pleas, i. pp. 292, 440-41; Somersetshire Pleas, ii. p. 15; VCH Somerset, iv. p. 79. Stapleton, which had perhaps been granted out before the bulk of Martock went to the Honour of Boulogne, was held in the late twelfth century, and thereafter for some generations, by the St Clair family; see Book of Fees, pp. 85, 1384; Feudal Aids, iv. p. 282; VCH Somerset, iv. p. 87. In 1284-85, the greater part of Load was held by the Templars; see Feudal Aids, iv. p. 282. Ash was known as Essebolon (that is, 'Ash Boulogne') in 1288-89; see Feet of Fines (Somerset) i. p. 277. 'Newton' lay between Hurst and Bower Hinton; see VCH Somerset, iv. p. 80 (map). 'Westcombland' (in Buckland St Mary Ancient Parish) was an outlying portion of Martock, and was still counted with it in the 1841 census; see Kirby's Quest (Dickinson) p. 325. It must have supplied resources that Martock itself, flat and alluvial, lacked; see Woodland note below.

No church is recorded for Martock in this entry, although Domesday is inconsistent in recording both churches and priests; often other sources or archaeological investigation show that a church must have existed in 1086 (or often much earlier) though Domesday fails to record it. In the case of Martock, one is first mentioned in 1156 when the church of Menroch [a mangled form of Martock] with its appurtenances in Bath diocese was part of a general confirmation by Pope Adrian IV of the holdings of the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel (Normandy) in Guernsey and England (Round, Calendar of Documents, France, pp. 268-69 no. 736). This being a general confirmation, the grantor and the circumstances of the grant are unknown. In practice, the bishopric of Winchester seems to have held it for some years, for it was restored to the abbey in 1176-78 by Bishop Richard, notifying the monks that 'having long possessed the church of Mertoc, by the gift of the abbot and brethren of Mont-Saint-Michel, he restores it to them absolutely ...'; see Round, Calendar of Documents, France, p. 276 no. 758. By 1190-91 it had been acquired by the Bishop of Bath; see VCH Somerset, iv. p. 102. There it is suggested in that the church may have originally been a minster for the Saxon royal estate, but that would have been surprising in view of Martock's proximity to Ilchester where an important (minster-)church is recorded by Domesday (St Andrew's of Northover, SOM 8,37. 15,1). The existence of a church at Martock in the eleventh century and its relative importance depends in part of the role that the Bishop of Winchester plays in the payment from the manor; see Walkelin note below.

38 HIDES. The size is unusual for a manor of this kind; one would expect a multiple of ten or at least of five. The total of land given below as taken from the manor is 2 hides and 3 virgates, and the amount added is 4 hides according to Exon (3 hides in Great Domesday). If the added land had previously belonged to Martock, then, with the restoration of the land taken away, the manor would have been 44 hides and 3 virgates in extent, within reach of 45 hides. But the addition and the ablations are imponderables.

WOODLAND. It is unlikely that the terrain around Martock contained this woodland, more probable that it was a remote resource. 'Westcombland' in Buckland St Mary was attached to Coat tithing in Martock and was still regarded as part of Martock in 1841; see Kirby's Quest (Dickinson) p. 325. It is not a settlement site, but appears as an area name on the Ordnance Survey six-inch map of 1890, spread across Ordnance Survey Grid squares ST2414 and ST2514, the name starting just south of Buckland Farm (ST240149). It probably represents part or all of the woodland attributed to Martock, as well as possible foraging for the pigs and grazing for the sheep. The area is now open, but was probably wooded in 1086. It is possible that Oakley and Compton (see below) and other places unnamed together supplied the timber or charcoal or pannage or rough grazing that the core estate of Martock lacked. As far as possible, an estate would be granted with all the resources to support it, and if they were not within the bounds (which would be constrained by other factors, including the prior granting of other estates), they would have to be separate dependencies. The very large primitive estates of Somerset (extending over hundreds of hides) may well have been organised in corridors stretching from marsh and meadow, to hill and wood, rather as were the Lathes of Kent and the Rapes of Sussex, and indeed the hundredal corridors of Devon. It is possible that the several hundred hides once dependent on a Yeovil royal estate had joint and common access to the upland resources that lay along what became the Somerset-Dorset border and that when the great estate was broken up, each new estate was given a share of these resources.

'Westcombland' will not have accounted for the whole of Buckland St Mary Ancient Parish, which will probably have been enlarged to encompass this and possibly other woodland outliers. Nonetheless, the element 'West-' is probably in relation to Buckland St Mary. The latter is represented in Domesday by two other estates (SOM 47,1;7) amounting to 2 ½ hides. They presumably arose by the assarting of some, but not all, of the woodland in what came to be the Ancient Parish.

Later, the Templars held an estate at 'Westcombland', and also at [Long] Load in Martock itself, both of which were attached to their manor of Templecombe which had been given to them c. 1185 by Serlo FitzOdo. On the dissolution of the order of Templars, these lands passed to the Knights Hospitallers who held Westcombeland as a member of Templecombe in 1338. At the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, Westcomb'land was listed as a free chapel 'joined to the commandery of Templecombe'; see Monasticon Anglicanum, vi. p. 801; Larking, Knights Hospitallers in England, pp. 183-84; Valor Ecclesiasticus, i. p. 201; VCH Somerset, ii. p. 147; vii. p. 78 note 48; Knowles and Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses, p. 295. It is, however, by no means certain that this land was identical with the outlier of Martock there that was silently included in the Domesday entry.: the Templars held an estate at 'Westcombland', while Martock had a resource, which it continued to hold to modern times.

£70. The main scribe of Great Domesday wrote septuag' (septuaginta, '70'), with .lxx. below it, in the inner margin of the manuscript. The .lxx. in the adjacent text was written over an erasure and these marginal notes by the scribe were to remind him what to write when the surface of the parchment had been re-prepared for writing; such marginal notes were generally erased when the insertion had been made into the text. He may taken septuag' directly from his source, and then realized that it should be .lxx. in the Domesday text.

100s MORE IF BISHOP WALKELIN TESTIFIES. Walkelin was Bishop of Winchester (1070-1098) and one of King William's most trusted advisers, a role he continued to perform for William's wayward son, William Rufus. As Winchester was the seat of royal power and of the treasury, Walkelin will have provided much of the expertise and the clerks to support William's rudimentary administration.

However, his role in Martock is obscure. The land of Martock, if it existed as a separate entity at such early dates, will have originally been in the diocese of Winchester (founded 662), then of Sherborne (founded 705) and finally of Wells (founded 909), so any ecclesiastical connection, if it existed, between Martock and Winchester will have been very ancient. However, the obvious connection to make in this sentence is between the 'face value' and '100s more'. Walkelin might here seem to be authorising an additional payment and it is tempting to think that this is to adjust for clipped or alloyed coins. However, this is normally done by weighing and assaying by fire, or by taking 20d rather than 16d for each unit of account (the Danish ora). It also seems unlikely that the coins went to Winchester or that Bishop Walkelin processed to Martock for this sole purpose, although his agents could have managed the business. Other of Edith's estates (Milverton, Keynsham, Chewton Mendip: SOM 1,26;28-29) paid 'at face value', but there is no mention of anyone's authorising additional payment. It is possible that Walkelin was in fact 'farming' this royal estate, or looking after it on the king's behalf, as other important men did elsewhere in the kingdom. Moreover, Martock would be a convenient stopover if he were to visit his great double hundred and estates of Taunton and Pitminster (SOM 2,1-10). However, this is all a speculative attempt to make sense of an entry unparalleled in Domesday. VCH Somerset, iv. p. 92, suggests that the additional payment was from the rectory estate which was valued at £5 in 1291 (Taxatio Ecclesiastica, p. 197). This poses the question as to whether the rectory estate (and indeed the church) existed in 1086 and why, if it did, the payment was not routine.

TO THIS MANOR 3 HIDES ... MARTOCK. According to Exon (folios 113a2 and 516b1), there were 4 hides added which had been held by a total of 4 thanes; the main scribe of Great Domesday almost certainly made a simple slip of the pen, writing iii for iiii.

The 2 hides held by Alwin son of Banna, mentioned in these Exon entries, are 'cross-referenced' in the fief of Alfred of 'Spain' (SOM 35,24) where the entry reads: 'Alfred had Oakley himself. Alwy held it before 1066. This has been added to Martock, the King's manor'. The corresponding entry in Exon (folio 374b3), as also the entry in the Terrae Occupatae (folio 517a2), give the 1066 holder as 'Alwin son of Banna' and state that he held 'jointly'. It is likely that Alwy and Alwin were one and the same, rather than brothers, and that at some point a nunnation mark has been mistakenly added (Aluuī = Aluuin), as there are more instances of Alwy son of Banna. Alwy was Alfred's chief predecessor, and, according to Eyton, Somerset Survey, i. p. 65, he was the same as the Alwy the reeve of SOM 35,1. The Terrae Occupatae entry also states that 'it [Oakley] did not belong to it [Martock] on the day on which King Edward was alive and dead'. Two hides at Oakley on which tax has not been paid are mentioned in the Tax Return for the Yeovil group of hundreds (Exon folio 79a1). The holder is not mentioned, but is probably Alfred of 'Spain', the reference being to these same 2 hides.

The other 2 hides mentioned in these Exon entries, which were not necessarily at Oakley, do not appear elsewhere in Great Domesday.

Thus these 4 hides are really two and two. The 2 hides at Oakley held by Alwin (or Alwy) son of Banna and then by Alfred of 'Spain', are not said to have been related in any way to Martock before 1066, whereas the other 2 hides paid a customary due at that time. This might suggest that the latter two had once been an integral part of Martock (making it 40 hides in extent), and only temporarily alienated for some period between 1066 and 1086. A number of other lands held by Alwy (identified as the son of Banna in Exon in the entries corresponding to SOM 35,13;16, but the other 1066 holders called simply 'Alwy' in SOM 35,1-5;10;15;17-23 are likely to have been the son of Banna too) passed without difficulty to Alfred of 'Spain', so it is not clear why the descent of this land was apparently contested and awarded to the king, since some sort of legal process seems implied. The issue, though not capable of solution, is important, as it bears on the hidage of Martock, and also on its original extent. Oakley is divided from Martock by Tintinhull, so if Oakley were ever integral to Martock and continuous with it, then Tintinhull will have been extracted from Martock. On the other hand, it could have been an outlying portion, like Compton [Dorset] and 'Westcombland'. If it was a part of Martock in any sense, this 'clearing in the oaks' might have supplied resources that Martock lacked, for example timber and pig-pannage; equally it might originally have been an assart in, and a resource for, the greater land of Yeovil.

FROM THIS MANOR ... COMPTON [IN DORSET]. This 'Compton' was identified by VCH Somerset, i. p. 440 (see also iv. p. 92), as Compton Durville, an identification reproduced by the Phillimore printed edition, but with a query. Certainly, the nearest 'Compton' to Martock is Compton Durville, in South Petherton Ancient Parish. Ansger was the Count of Mortain's cook, and there was certainly a Mortain connection with Compton Durville, as Mauger held 3 hides there from the same count (SOM 19,3). However, there seems no reason, agricultural or tenurial, why a piece of the ancient estate of South Petherton should have been a member of the queen's manor of Martock.

In fact this land must have been part of [Over and Nether] Compton in Sherborne Hundred, Dorset, for in the Tax Return for Sherborne Hundred (Exon folio 23b2) 'the king has had no tax from 1 hide and 1 virgate which Ansger the cook holds by gift of the king', a holding that does not occur elsewhere in Domesday Dorset; see VCH Dorset, iii. p. 145. Over Compton (ST5816) and Nether Compton (ST5917) lie just to the east of Yeovil, across the River Yeo. Sherborne Hundred consisted almost entirely of estates of Sherborne Abbey, which also held land in Compton in 1086 (DOR 3,5). However, Ansger's portion of Compton may have originated like 'Westcombland' and possibly Oakley as woodland or rough pasture for the Yeovil royal estate or for Martock itself; see Woodland note above.

The reason for, and circumstances of, this acquisition by Ansger are unclear. He held nothing nearby which is the usual excuse for encroachment. He was the rapacious servant of a rapacious and well-placed lord, but the Tax Return may well be right in suggesting that on this occasion the transaction was legitimate: a royal gift, presumably for unspecified loyalty or services.

1 ½ HIDES HAVE BEEN TAKEN AWAY. Also in the Terrae Occupatae entry (516b3). This land does not seem to occur elsewhere in Domesday. It is identified by VCH Somerset, i. p. 440, as 'Westcombland', but no evidence is offered. VCH Somerset, iv. p. 92, accepts the identification but with the reservation that 'Westcombland' continued to be part of Martock. It is more probable that 'Westcombland' is silently included by Domesday in Martock itself, like other members or tithings, leaving Aelfric Small's land unidentified.

Books and Articles cited above

Aston, 'Archipelago in Central Somerset' ... M. Aston, 'An Archipelago in Central Somerset: the Origins of Muchelney Abbey', Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 150 (2007), pp. 63-71.

Book of Fees ... Liber Feodorum. The Book of Fees commonly called Testa de Nevill, reformed from the earliest MSS, 3 volumes, State Papers (London, 1920-1931).

Complete Peerage ... G. E. Cokayne The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland ... (revised edition, 13 volumes, by V. Gibbs, H. A. Doubleday, G. H. White, R. S. Lea, London, 1910-1959). Ekwall, Dictionary of English Place-Names ... E. Ekwall The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names, 4th edition (Oxford, 1960).

Exon Domesday ... There is no translation. For the text, see Domesday Book (Record Commission), London 1783-1816: Volume 3 Libri Censualis Vocati Domesday Book, Additamenta ex Codic. Antiquiss., comprising the Liber Exoniensis (Exon Domesday), the Inquisitio Eliensis (Ely Enquiry), the Liber Wintoniensis (Winton or Winchester Domesday) and the Boldon Book; (this is volume 4 in some bindings).

Eyton, Somerset Survey …

Feet of Fines (Somerset), i. ... E. Green (ed.), Pedes Finium commonly called Feet of Fines for the County of Somerset, Richard 1 to Edward I (A.D. 1196 to A.D. 1307), Somerset Record Society 6 (1892).

von Feilitzen, Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book … O. von Feilitzen, The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, Nomina Germanica 3 (Uppsala, 1937).

Feudal Aids ... Inquisitions and Assessments relating to Feudal Aids with other analogous Documents preserved in the Public Records Office AD 1284-1431, 6 volumes, State Papers (London, 1899-1920). Great Domesday ... The Latin text, translation and notes are most easily available in the Phillimore edition: Domesday Book (History from the Sources): Somerset (edited by Caroline and Frank Thorn, Chichester, 1980) Hamilton, National Gazetteer ... N.E.S.A. Hamilton, National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (London, 1868). Kirby's Quest (Dickinson) … F. Dickinson (ed.) Kirby's Quest for Somerset, Somerset Record Society, 3 (1889). [Kirby's Quest is so called from its introductory note: ... inquisitiones inde factas coram domino Johanne de Kerkbie tum Thesaurario domini regis ('enquiries made on that subject before lord John of Kirkby, then the treasurer of the lord the king'). It is the same as the 1284-85 inquisition included in Feudal Aids.] As well as Kirby's Quest and a Supplement drawn from the 1303 inquisition (pp. 1-52), this volume contains the Nomina Villarum for Somerset (pp. 53-78); the Exchequer Lay Subsidy of 1327 (pp. 79-281), the Tax Roll for Somerset of the First Year of Edward the Third (pp. 282-84) and a list of hundreds extracted from the 1841 Census. Knowles and Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses ... David Knowles and R. Nevill Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales (London, 1971). Larking, Knights Hospitallers in England ... L. B. Larking (ed.) The Knights Hospitallers in England: being the Report of Prior Philip de Thame to the Grand Master Elyon de Villanova for A.D. 1338 (Introduction by J.M. Kemble), Camden Society volume for 1855 (1857).

Lay Subsidy Roll, Somerset (1327) ... F. Dickinson (ed.), 'Exchequer Lay Subsidies', in Dickinson, Kirby's Quest, pp. 79-281.

Monasticon Anglicanum ... W. Dugdale (ed.), Monasticon Anglicanum, 6 volumes in 8 (London, 1817-1830).

Rotuli Hundredorum ... W. Illingworth and J. Caley (eds.), Rotuli Hundredorum, 2 volumes, Record Commission (London, 1812, 1818).

Round, Calendar of Documents, France ... J. H. Round, Calendar of Documents preserved in France, volume: 918-1206, State Papers (London, 1899).

Somersetshire Pleas i .... C.E.H. Chadwyck Healey (ed.), Somersetshire Pleas (Civil and Criminal) from the Rolls of the Itinerant Justices (close of 12th. Century to 41 Henry III), volume i, Somerset Record Society, 11 (1897)

Somersetshire Pleas, ii. .... L. Landon (ed.), Somersetshire Pleas from the Rolls of the Itinerant Justices (41 Henry III to the end of his reign), volume ii, Somerset Record Society 36 (1923).

Taxatio Ecclesiastica ... Rev. S. Ayscough and J. Caley (eds.) Taxatio Eeclesiastica Angliae et Walliae, auctoritate Papae Nicholai IV, Record Commission (London, 1802).

Valor Ecclesiasticus ... J. Caley and Rev. J. Hunter (eds.), Valor Ecclesiasticus temp. Henrici VIII, 6 volumes, Record Commission (London, 1810-1834).

VCH ... Victoria History of the Counties of England. The volumes cited are:

VCH Dorset, iii (1968)

VCH Somerset, i. (1906)

VCH Somerset, ii. (1911)

VCH Somerset, iii.(1974)

VCH Somerset, iv. (1978)

VCH Somerset, vii. (1999)

Youngs, Local Administrative Units ... F.A. Youngs Jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, I: Southern England; II: Northern England, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, 10, 17 (London, 1979, 1991). F.R. ThornC.M.J Thorn10.02.2010 [Frank Thorn and Caroline Thorn assert their rights as authors of this study. It is not to be used without acknowledgement or reproduced without permission. Permission is, however, granted to any local history society in Martock or nearby to use it non-commercially to further the objectives of the society]