Page:VCH Worcestershire 1.djvu/339

 THE DOMESDAY SURVEY these three manors are all among those of which, the Evesham Chronicle asserts, the abbey was deprived by the bishop of Bayeux on the death of abbot ^thelwig. So also were Acton (Beauchamp) and ' Lenche,' which Domesday enters under ' the bishop of Bayeux's land' (fo. 176). It tells us that the former had belonged to Evesham Abbey T.R.E., and that Urse had received it from the Abbot in exchange for other land, and that, in 1086, he held it ' of the bishop of Bayeux's fee.' The Evesham Chronicle (p. 95) explains this by saying that Acton was the patrimony of ^Ethelwig, who had given it, with ' Brainesford,' to Urse in exchange for Bengeworth, which he occupied wrongfully,^ but that ' he detains wrongfully all three.' And Domesday shows him accordingly, on the opposite page (fo. 175^), occupying Bransford, which the 'county' said had been held by the abbot of Evesham when king Edward died.^ The last case is that of ' Lenche ' (which I identify with Sheriff's Lench), held in 1086, of the Bishop's fee, by Urse. Domesday tells us that Evesham Abbey ' was seized of it for many years, till the bishop of Bayeux took it from the abbey and gave it to Urse.' The Evesham Chronicle speaks of it as ' Leinch quam Ursini tenent contra Rotulum Winton ' (p. 97), which must clearly refer to the above entry in Domesday. In all these cases, therefore, the evidence of the Evesham Chronicle is in virtual harmony with that of Domesday, the entries in which, indeed, it helps to explain. It should be observed that Urse had extensive rights at Droitwich ; of the sixteen estates he held in chief, no fewer than ten entitled him to a share in the proceeds of its salt, a total of 2 1 1 saltpans and 7 burgesses being entered as his. The existence also of his ' park,' close by, at Salwarpe points to his personal residence, while a careful examination of fos. 172, 172*^, will show that he 'farmed,' as sheriff, the royal rights at Droitwich, which were important and extensive enough to give him much opportunity for oppression. Here we have the explanation of a passage which has given rise to misapprehension. Domesday states that Sodbury (Gloucestershire), then in the King's hands, had land in (Droit) wich from which it was entitled to receive yearly 25 sestiers of salt ; ' but the sheriff Urse has so impoverished (vastavit) the tenants that they cannot now render the salt' (fo. 163-^). Robert the Despencer, Urse's brother, occurs prominently in Heming's Cartulary as a despoiler of the church of Worcester,' and Domesday reveals him also as securing her lands at Piddle, Moor, and Hill, a hide at Knightwick, and a house at Worcester. From Pershore Abbey also he obtained an estate, at Wadborough, where he had his ' park.' His lands, therefore, in the main, lay about Pershore. In this county, however, he was not a tenant-in-chief, as he was in some others. I have elsewhere shown * that Robert's fief did not, as has been alleged, and the fate of its two moieties, see p. 254 above. * See p. 261 above. 265
 * The chronicle here adds, 'sicut medietatem iterum postea fecit.' For Bengeworth,
 * At Lawern (p. 253), Elmley (p. 268), and Charlton (p. 269).
 * Feudal England, pp. 175-6, 179, 194-5.