The Erleigh Lands in England
King Henry I – King from 5 August 1100 – 1 December 1135
Henry I, also known as Henry Beauclerc, was the fourth son of William the Conqueror. William the Conqueror died in 1087, and in dividing his lands, William appears to have followed the Norman tradition, distinguishing between Normandy, which he had inherited, and England, which he had acquired through war. Henry’s elder brothers, Robert Curthose, inherited Normandy, and William Rufus, inherited England, but Henry Beauclerc, the younger son, was left landless.
On the afternoon of 2 August 1100, William (Rufus) II – King of England, went hunting in the New Forest, accompanied by a team of huntsmen and a number of the Norman nobility, including his brother Henry. An arrow, possibly shot by the baron Walter Tirel, hit and killed William Rufus. William Rufus had been a terribly unpopular King and some thought that the “accident” may have been an intentional assassination.
Henry rode to Winchester, where an argument ensued as to who now had the best claim to the throne. Many of the English Barons favored Robert as the successor to rule England, as he had inherited Normandy from his father, and Henry and the barons had given Robert homage in previous years. Robert was abroad at the time, returning from the Crusades.
Henry argued that, unlike Robert, he had been born to a reigning king and queen, thereby giving him a claim. Tempers flared, but Henry, supported by Henry de Beaumont and Robert of Meulan, held sway and persuaded the barons to follow him. He then occupied Winchester Castle and seized the royal treasury.
Henry was hastily crowned king in Westminster Abbey on 5 August 1100 and seized the English throne, promising to correct many of William’s less popular policies at his coronation.
In accordance with English tradition and in a bid to legitimize his rule, Henry issued a coronation charter laying out various commitments. The new King presented himself as a King who would restore order to a trouble-torn country. He announced that he would abandon William Rufus’s policies towards the Church, he promised to prevent royal abuses of the barons’ property rights, and assured a return to the gentler customs of Edward the Confessor; he asserted that he would “establish a firm peace” across England and ordered, “that this peace shall henceforth be kept.”
Henry solidified his support as King with his existing circle of supporters who were not previously in the King’s service, many of whom were richly rewarded with new lands, and by keeping those in the existing administration who had been popular. He also ousted those from William’s administration who had been unpopular. On 11 November 1100, Henry married Matilda, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland, to further strengthen his rule. Matilda had originally been named Edith, an Anglo-Saxon name, and was a member of the West Saxon royal family, being the niece of Edgar the Atheling, the great-granddaughter of Edmund Ironside and a descendant of Alfred the Great.
Henry’s brother Robert invaded England in 1101. He disputed Henry’s control of England, but his military campaign ended in a negotiated settlement that confirmed Henry as king.
Restoring the Saxon Lords and Saxon Traditions
Henry drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government, and taxes but strengthened it with additional central governmental institutions. He brought “Saxon” systems back into public life, which lessened the angst and tensions of the “Norman” rule and “Norman” overlords.
Many of the officials that ran Henry’s system were termed “new men”, he elevated relatively low-born “Saxon” individuals who were in favor of his reforms. These “new men” rose through the ranks as knights and administrators, managing justice or the royal revenues.
One of these “new men” was John de Erleigh, who was previously a Saxon Lord and was awarded lands and status because of his military service as a knight loyal to Henry.
The de Erleigh family held lands first in Berkshire and then soon afterward in Somerset.
The manor of “Erleigh Regis”, later called Earley Whiteknights, located in the Berkshire land which in the Doomsday survey of 1086 was called “Herlei”, was given to the Erleigh family sometime in Henry I’s reign. These lands were very near (about 20 miles) Windsor Castle which was the royal residence of King Henry I. The Berkshire lands may have been the “administrative” or “business” seat for the Erleigh family.
The family also was given large possessions of land sometime in Henry I’s reign, in the county of Somerset, for which they owed the service of acting as royal chamberlain, and from the 12th century at least to the time of the extinction of the male line, their principal residence seems to have been in the west of England, while they also possessed considerable interests in Ireland.
Berkshire Lands
ERLEIGH REGIS or ERLEIGH WHITE KNIGHTS
The manor of ERLEIGH REGIS or ERLEIGH WHITE KNIGHTS (Herlei, xi cent.; Erleye, Ere, Erlegh, xiii cent.; Early, Erleigh, xiv cent.; Arley, xvi cent.) was held before 1066 by Almar in alod (a feudal estate with no superior) of King Edward the Confessor, and at the time of the Domesday Survey 0f 1086 was part of the royal demesne (owned by the King) and was assessed at 4 hides. Two fisheries and a close in Reading were among the appurtenances of the manor. In the latter part of the 12th, in the 13th, and part of the 14th centuries, the manor was held of the king by a family of knightly rank, the Erleigh family, who took their name from the place.
North Petherton Hundred
A large royal estate at North Petherton, which was constituted in 1084 as a hundred, was assessed at 38 hides, 3 virgates, and ½ ferling. Most of the estate was granted away by the Crown, including the manor of North Petherton, to which the hundred jurisdiction was later attached. Manor and hundred were granted at fee farm by Henry I to John of Erleigh (d. c. 1162). The manor was given by Henry I to John of Erleigh. John held it in 1157 and died c. 1162. His successor was William of Erleigh, the king’s chamberlain, but John’s widow, Adela or Alice, held part of the estate in 1166.
Henry I also granted Crandon in Bawdrip at farm, and Adsborough (Tetteberg) in Creech St. Michael, Chedzoy, the former grazing farm (vaccaria) of the royal estate, Pawlett, and Pignes in Bridgwater in fee.
North Petherton hundred, which grew out of the former royal estate, was held by the family of John of Erleigh like the manor of North Petherton until 1371
More information:
Somerton Erleigh
In 733 Ethelbald of Mercia occupied the ‘royal town’ of Somerton, formerly in the possession of the West Saxon kings. The kings of Wessex re-established themselves there by the early 9th century, and continuous ownership by Saxon Kings may thereafter be assumed. By the time of Domesday parts of the original estate had been alienated, but the manor included most, if not all, of the present parishes of Kingsdon and Pitney. The area of the estate was later contracted in consequence of the separation of Somerton Erleigh by 1176
William de Erleigh (son of John de Erleigh) paid 100s. in 1176 for lands in Somerton which may have been alienated from the royal estate in that year. His grandson John (II) de Erleigh, who had succeeded in 1199, held the estate in 1210–12 as a royal chamberlain. These lands were later known as the manor of SOMERTON ERLEIGH.
More Information:
We shall now quote from Collinson’s “History of Somersetshire” his account of the de Erleighs and their holdings in that county. The first is:
BECKINGTON.
“A village between Bath and Frome, ten miles from the former and three from the latter. Its most considerable possessors, after the Conquest, was the family of Erleigh or de Erlega, so called from a lordship near Reading, in Berkshire, who had large possessions in this county, viz., the manors of Beckington, Durston, Babcary, Michael’s- church, the manor and hundred of North-Petherton, and the manor of Somerton-Parva, denominated from them, Somerton-Erle, or Erleigh.”
NORTH-PETHERTON.
“The manor of North-Petherton, had after the Conquest, for its possessors the ancient family of de Erlega, or Erleigh, so denominated from the lordship of Erleigh, near Reading, in the County of Berks.
In the time of Henry II., William de Erleia (for so was his name then written) certified to the King that, by virtue of his tenure, he had a right to be the King’s Chamberlain. After having been possessed by the Erleighs for many successive generations, this manor passed at length from them to the family of Beaupine.” Collinson, vol. iii., p. 54. “This church (North-Petherton), though it can now boast of few curious or ancient memorials, has been the burial-place of the Erleighs.”
DURSTON.
“The Erleighs were, soon after the Conquest, possessed of this manor and held it till the time of Henry VI. (1422-1471), when it was transferred by an heir female (K-12) to the house of St. Maur.” “To the east of Durston is the priory of Buckland-Sororum, founded about the year of our Lord 1167, by William de Erleigh (B-2), lord of the manor of Durston, for the health of his own and his wife’s soul, and for the souls of Henry II. and Eleanor, his Queen, for canons of the order of St. Augustine.” “As an endowment of this priory, William de Erleigh gave the church of Petherton, with all its members, chapels, and appurtenances, viz., the church of Chedzay, member thereof, with all the right the brethren of the hospital have or ought to have thereby in the church of Pawlet; the chapel of Huntworth; the chapel of Newton-Comitis; the chapel of Thurloxton; the chapel of Shurston; the chapel of Newton-Regis; the church of Beckington, with all its appurtenances; the church of Kilmersdon; and the church of Shirston.” – Collinson, vol. iii., pp. 95-98.
ST. MICHAEL’S or MICHAEL-CHURCH.
“In the process of time, this land became incorporated with the other possessions of the Erleighs, lords of Petherton and Durston. Henry de Erleigh, by his deed without date, granted to the Abbot and Convent of Athelney all his right in the patronage of the chapel of St. Michael’s-Church, with all his lands lying at Ridene, and other appurtenances, to hold to the said Abbot and Convent, and their successors in the said Monastery of Athelney, forever.” – Collinson, vol. iii., p. 99.
SOMERTON-ERLE or ERLEIGH.
Sometimes also called Somerton-Parva, it was so named from its possessors and residentiary inhabitants, the family of Erleigh. They held this manor by grand serjeancy of being the King’s Chamberlain and pouring water on his hands upon his birthday. In the time of Edward III. (1327-1377, John de Erleigh sold the manor of Somerton-Erle, with the advowson of the chapel of the said manor, to Richard Brice” – Collinson, vol. iii., p. 185. The John de Erleigh referred to was probably “The White Knight” (I-10), who was compelled to sell a large part of his estate to procure his ransom from the Spaniards.
BABCARY.
“This manor was very anciently held by the family of D’Erleigh or de Erlega, lords of Durston, Beckington, Michael’s-Church, and North-Petherton” – Collinson, vol. ii., p. 60.
MANSEL.
“In the time of Henry II., William de Erleigh (B-2) granted it (Mansel) to Philip Arbalistarius, in free marriage with Mabil, his daughter, to be held by the payment of two young pigs every Whitsuntide, at his court of Durston; which grant Ancilia, widow of the said William de Erleigh, confirmed to Philip de Maunsel, son of the above-mentioned Philip, who was the first of this family that assumed
the name of Maunsel or Mansel.” Collinson, vol. iii., p. 72. This is an example of the derivation of the family name from the
name of an estate. The following may be quoted here as it relates to members of the Somerset family, whose names will appear in the next chapter:
BLAGDON or BARTON.
“Smart Goodenough, Esq., Sheriff of this County (Somerset), died about the year 1720, when this estate came to William Earle, Esq., Serjeant-at-law, who married a daughter and co-heir of the said Mr. Goodenough, and who, at his death, left this manor of Blagdon, Barton, or Grange of Barton, and other estates in Pitminster, to his son, Goodenough Earle, Esq.” Collinson, vol. iii., p. 285.
WEST-HARPTREE-TILLY.
“William Earle, sergeant-at-law, by his will, dated May 17, 1739, gave 501 to the parish of West-Harptree.” Another ancient house, the property of Goodenough Earle, Esq., “who inherits the manor of West-Harptree-Tilly. At the east end of the fourth aisle (of the West-Harptree Church) is a handsome mural monument of stone, and on the tablet, this inscription :
“Hie juxta jacent Henrietta, uxor Willielmi Earle, arm. filia Smart Goodenough. arm. de Barton prope Taunton; nata 6 Martij, anno 1676. denata 31 Januarij, 1703.Robertus Earle, gent.,filiusnatutertiusWilhelmi Earle, arm. natus 22 Januarii; denatus 7 Februarij, 1703. Willielmus Hall Earle, gent., filius Natu secun- dus Willielmi Earle, servient ad legem, natus 6 Julii, 1700;denatus28Julii,1721.WillielmusEarle,serviens ad legem, filius natu quartus. Tho. Earle equitis aurati de Crudwell in agro Wilton, obiit 10 die Martii, anno aetatis 78, Dom. 39.”
Medieval Land Terms
The feudal system, in which the land was owned by a monarch, who in exchange for homage and military service granted its use to tenants-in-chief, who in their turn granted its use to sub-tenants in return for further services, gave rise to several terms, particular to Britain, for subdivisions of land which are no longer in wide use.
a hide: the hide, from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning “family”, was, in the early medieval period, a land-holding that was considered sufficient to support a family. This was equivalent to 60 to 120 acres depending on the quality of the land. The hide was the basis for the assessment of taxes.
a hundred: a division of an English shire consisting of 100 hides.
a Knight’s fee: is the amount of land for which the services of a knight (for 40 days) were due to the Crown. It was determined by land value, and the number of hides in a Knight’s Fee varied.
A note on measures of land used in feudal times.
A messuage was a piece of land intended for or containing a dwelling.
A virgate was about 30 acres.
A carucate was about 100-150 acres or as much land as could be tilled with one plow.
A hide was sufficient land, about 120 acres, for the support of one free family and its dependents.
Shires (counties) were divided into hundreds containing a nominal 100 hides supporting 100 knights.
