Chapter Two NORMANS AND PLANTAGENETS : 1086-1485 THE DOMESDAY BOOK . OCHDALE'S written history begins in 1086, when William the Conqueror sent his men all over England to find out how much land was being cultivated and how much revenue he might expect R to collect : the result was the Domesday (or Doomsday) Book, so called because of its uncompromising thoroughness and detail . Its two volumes, written in crabbed Latin, with words occasionally scored through in red for emphasis, instead of being underlined, are now displayed at the Public Record Office, London . One can imagine the difficulties of the Norman inspectors : how unwillingly and in what various dialects the English land-holders gave their answers when the " day of reckoning " came upon them . Perhaps this may account for the fact that "Rochdale" is set down as " Recedham ." It was probably then, as we still hear it today, pro- rounced as " Ratchda ' " with a long " a," and a soft Cheshire " c." Very freely translated and abbreviated, this is the gist of the Domesday entry concerning Rochdale as it was in the time of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), excluding such details as the King's personal property and lands in the Salford Hundred : King Edward held Salford . To this Hundred belonged 21 manors held by as many thanes ; in which there were 112 hides and 102 carucates of land . Camel, a tenant of 2 of these hides in Recedham, was free of all customs but these six : theft, housebreaking, premeditated assault, breach of the peace, not answering the reeve's summons, and 1 4 ROCHDALE RETROSPECT continuing a fight after swearing on oath to desist . The fine for these was 40 shillings . In 1086, Game], now termed a knight, held 2 carucates of land, by the gift of Roger of Poictou. Even this simplified version requires some explanation : Game] the Thane had held 2 hides of land and the Lordship or Manor of Rochdale, under Edward the Confessor, but after the Battle of Hastings King William rewarded his victorious Normans with English lands (taking care, it would seem, to scatter the grants far and wide so that his nobles did not become too powerful), and Roger of Poictou for a time held the whole of the Ribble-Mersey lands . In 1086, however, Game] still held 2 carucates which had been given to him by Roger . According to William Farrer's account of this section of the Domesday Survey, " theoretically the Lancashire hide contained six carucates, or teamlands, and every teamland represented the area of arable land which a team, or gang of eight oxen could annually plough," but such measurements varied considerably according to local conditions . As Salford Hundred was assessed at some 20 hides of arable land, Game! in 1066 held about a tenth of this, but in 1086 his possessions had shrunk to a sixtieth . The Ribble-Mersey area was surveyed together with part of Cheshire and was divided into six Hundreds ; although Salford was the largest and most valuable, only four places in it are mentioned by name : Salford, Manchester, Radcliffe and Rochdale . Game] appears to have been especially privileged in being exempt from all but six customs, possibly because of the difficult and isolated nature of his land . This may explain the heaviness of the fines imposed : if they had to be collected at all they must be worth the trouble! In the West Derby Hundred, for instance, fines of ten shillings were exacted for such offences as bloodshed, rape or absence from the Shiremoot, and five shillings for non-attendance at the Hundred Court, or for disobeying the reeve's summons to appear . Although the Domesday Book was a magnificent achievement, it contains both complications and shortcomings : such terms as " leagues " and " poles " cannot be precisely defined ; the wilder parts of the country were less thoroughly surveyed. The origin of the Hundred itself is obscure (it is said to mean either a hundred villages or a hundred people), but it became an administrative unit within a Shire . The Manors of the Thanes, also, in feudal times, became separate units whose Lords received fees or rents for lands farmed within the Manor, together with services performed for the Lord by his tenants . The Domesday Book was not intended to be a census : the families of such classes as free men, for instance, were not indicated, although slaves may have been counted separately . Moreover, the method of assessing a manor by a particular number of hides for taxation purposes was not meant to show the amount of arable land which it contained . NORMANS AND PLANTAGENETS : 1086-1485 1 5 However, Farrer's interesting summary gives an estimate of the wild and sparsely cultivated Salford Hundred at the beginning of the Norman period . There were, according to him, roughly 112 ox teams held by 450 persons (of various classes connected with the land) . The total population was under 3,200 people . On the basis of Gamel's 2 hides, it is fair to suggest that the total population in the Rochdale district would he over 300 people . From Rochdale's Norman days until the 19th century . its physical boundaries remained much the same : it was one of the largest manors in the Salford Hundred, being bounded on the north by Rossendale and Cliviger, with Tottington, Bury, and Middleton to the west and south, and Yorkshire to the east . For purposes of comparison, Fishwick in 1889 gives the area as 41,828 acres, including Todmorden, which is now in Yorkshire . MEDIAEVAL ROCHDALE. From the Domesday Survey, from the early place-names as exam- ined by Dr . Schram, from a few early remains and from various documents, a picture of mediaeval Rochdale begins to emerge . There was certainly a Norman, or earlier, church of St . Chad standing on the present site some 80 ft . above the Roch . Its position suggests that the river valley was either wooded or considered unsafe when the church was first built . One wonders whether there is some grain of historical truth in the legend that the first foundations were on the north bank of the river and each night were found carried across to the south side by boggarts, or phantoms . The story is told in The Gohlin Builders by John Roby ; there is, also, on the south side of the tower a mediaeval carved face (perhaps of a supernatural being) which looks resolutely southwards . The church is dedicated to the St. Chad who was was Bishop of Lichfield in the 7th century . Moreover, one of the require- ments of a Saxon thane was that he should hold lands and a church . During 1816 restorations a hollowed stone was discovered and believed to be the original Saxon font ; other remains included a small lachrymatory, or tear-bottle (such as the Romans left in their tombs), and a few very early Norman stone fragments . The nave pillars of the present church are of the 13th century . Of the existence of an early Norman, perhaps a Saxon, castle there is little doubt : it is referred to in 12th century charters as " the castle of Rachedal," and an early 13th century charter indicates its position as being on Castle Hill (which overlooks the present Gas Works and Dane Street), referring both to " the ditch of the castle " and rights of way for " ingoing and exit to the place of the castle " and to lands in Castleton . Fishwick gives a plan of Castle Hill as it was in 1823 before the northern mount was demolished . There is a later scale drawing in the second volume of the Victoria County History of Lancashire . The entrance was from the south-east, up ground which slopes from what is now Manenester Road . Rochdale Market : Public Record Office photograph of an A .D. 1251 SHORTENED VERSION . Grant to Edmund de Lacy, king's yeoman, and his heirs, of a weekly market on Wednesday at his manor of Racchedal, which Margaret, countess of Lincoln, holds of him in dower : and of a yearly fair there on the vigil, the feast and the morrow of S .S. Simon and Jude. (Cal. Charter R . Vol . I, 1226-1257 . p. 362) . The Domesday Book : Public Rec- ord Office photo- graph of part of the Domesday Book relating to Rochdale. (Domesday Book . Vol.1. P . XVI) . Royal Charter . (Charter Rolls, Chancery. No . 43 . 35 Hen . lll . m.5 .) Rochdale Court : Public Rec- ord Office photograph of two Rochdale Court records, dated 27th October and 26th November, 1323 . (Court Rolls . 17 Ed. Il. P . 183 . No . I l . m .3) . TRANSLATION . Perquisites of the Court of Rachedal, on Thursday, the Eve of the Apostles Simon and Jude, in the 17th year (27th October, 1323). Of Matthew, son of Enot, for trespass „ William Rathebon, for breach of the peace . Sum , . 7d . Perquisites of the same Court, on Saturday the Morrow of St . Katherine, m t e )ear ( t oven Of the Abbot of Wallay, for entry to land 40d. „ Daude of Baunford, and his wife, because they failed in the law 2s. „ Alan of Turnagh, for a rescue (recussus) made . 3d. Alan of Welhevid, because he did not prosecute ., 3d . William of Ligh(t)alleres, for many defaults . 3d. William Broubgh., for many defaults 3d . „ Richard of Baunford, for withholding a debt . 3d . „ Henry, the Smith, for entry to one cottage 4d . „ Richard le Keuer, because he did nut prosecute 4d . „ Thomas Payt. for selling flesh contrary to the assize 6d. „ John of the Milnehouses, for the same . 6d . William fox, for the same 6d . „ the wife of John of the Milnchouses, for licence to brew 3d.