Monkton Farleigh in Domesday Book
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Domesday Book resulted from a survey for taxation purposes that was ordered by King William I in 1086. It was written in a mixture of Latin and Old English as a series of abbreviations for terms that are unfamiliar today.
There are two entries for property in Monkton Farleigh in Domesday Book:
Brictric holds Farlege [Monkton Farleigh]. His brother [Alwy] holds it from him.TRE [Tempus Regis Edwardi -in the time of Edward the Confessor] it paid geld tax for 5 hides. [Now] 4 carucates, 1 carucate in demesne [in the lord’s hands], 4 serfs. 5 villeins and 3 borderers with 3 carucates. Pasture 20 acres, wood 3 acres. Valued at 70 shillings.
Ælfric [of Melksham] holds Farlege. Brictmer [Beorhtmær] held it TRE, it paid tax for 5 hides. 4 carucates, 1 in demesne, 4 serfs. 5 villeins and 3 borderers with 3 carucates. Pasture 20 acres, wood 3 acres. Valued at 70 shillings.
This suggests that there were two manors in Farleigh in different hands, but the descriptions for the assessment of the two entries are suspiciously identical. Brictric’s land was probably based around the location of the present Manor House, while Ælfric’s may have been to the west at Farleigh Wick.
A hide was a measurement of land area used for taxation purposes. It varied across the country, but may be reckoned as about 120 acres (c48.56 hectares).
A carucate, or ploughland, was the area of arable land that could be maintained with a team of oxen and was about the same size.
Sir Charles Parry Hobhouse, Lord and historian of Monkton Farleigh, estimated the population of the manor (Brictric’s?) at about 70.
Brictric was an Englishman who had extensive scattered holdings, including Trowbridge. He fell from favour, possibly from remarks he is said to have made about Queen Matilda, wife of King William, before the Conquest. His property all passed to Humphrey de Bohun and continued in his family for some time.
The name Ælfric was associated with many places before 1066 adn in Domesday Book, but they may be more than one person. The one who held the Wiltshire manors at Farleigh, Whaddon and Wilsford in 1086 is quite likely to be the same.