Hello All Last week Barbara sent an e-mail refering to Jim Bates query about Homages in Kingsclere. There follows a article that has been passed to me which touches on the subject:--- The Manorial System By the time of Domesday the manorial system was established in most of England. >From the arrival of the Saxons, leaders had rewarded their followers with grants of land and this had become formalised with the establishment of kingdoms. Lands could be held by direct grant from the Crown or effectively as a sub tenant of a mesne Lord who held lands directly from the Crown. Mesne effectively means middle ie: someone who held land and then sub let it. By the Middle Ages manors were economic units and they included the demesne or land which the lord farmed himself usually by paying wages or by accepting boon work from his tenants ie so many days unpaid work a year. Among the tenants, the freemen paid a rent while the villeins occupied their land in return for providing certain fixed services such as ploughing and harvesting. In practice many occupied lands subject to both sorts of tenure. After the Black Death the system began to change and villein tenure changed first to copyhold, where the tenant held a copy of the part of the manorial roll referring to his plot and later to leasehold where they paid a rent. Meanwhile freehold had evolved into ownership where the tenant was required to provide 'knight service' to his lord. Such freemen were entitled to vote provided other conditions were fulfilled and were eligible for jury service. From 1696 lists of people eligible for jury service were drawn up by the Quarter Sessions. Lords of the Manor were entitled to hold a manorial court over their tenants although the custom and usage for such institutions varied enormously. The courts were presided over by the lord's steward and made up of twelve homagers or jurors who were drawn from the chief tenants of the manor. The manorial jury usually worked from a document known as a custumial or record of the customs of the manor. No such document exists for Kingsclere. Manorial surveys are recorded as far back as the twelfth century but the earliest known for Kingsclere is in 1725. There were officially two manorial courts, the court baron and the court leet. The court baron dealt with land matters such as transfers, copyhold and the payment of services to the lord. They also directed which woodland would provide timber for fencing the highway and building bridges by the lord. The court leet dealt with petty law and order and with the administration of communal agriculture. The land was concentrated in very large open fields and tenants were granted plots for the year so that everyone had a share of the good and bad land. The court also appointed the officers for the year such as the constable. Manorial courts have mainly disappeared although the Kingsclere one certainly survived into the late 1800s, probably because Kingsclere was one of the last Hampshire villages to retain the open field system. They still survive in a few places mainly to deal with common land. A good example is Hungerford with its large common where Hocktide is celebrated in some style and is a great social occasion although the ostensible purpose is to form the manorial court for the year and to let the grazing." Regards Peter Goff Kingsclere, Hampshire www.kingsclere.org.uk All outgoing e-mails are scanned for viruses before despatch.