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Hwætmann 2

Name

Summary

Hwætmann 2 was a small landowner in south Herefordshire whose solitary manor of 1 hide was reckoned thegnland and paid a customary rent of 30s., probably to Earl Harold’s manor of Much Marcle.

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire	Phil. ref.	Vill	DB Spelling	Holder 1066	Lord 1066	Tenant-in-Chief 1086	1086 Subtenant	Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value	Conf.	Show on Map
Shire Herefordshire	Phil. ref. 1,75	Vill Yatton	DB Spelling Wetman	Holder 1066 Hwætmann 'of Yatton'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 William, king	1086 Subtenant Humphrey the chamberlain	Fiscal Value 1.00	1066 Value 1.50	1086 Value 1.50	Confidence A	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

Yatton, in the rolling hills east of the river Wye in south Herefordshire, was entered in DB as the final item in the Terra regis for the shire, in a format which differs from that for any other of William I’s Herefordshire manors.

In Yatton Hwætmann held one hide paying geld, and could go where he wished. Hugh held at farm from Humphrey the king’s chamberlain, and it used to pay 30s. and still pays the same [meaning ‘still ought to pay’?]. This land was thegnland TRE but afterwards it was changed to reeveland, & so the king’s commissioners say that the land itself & the rent which comes from it have been taken covertly from the king.

In Getvune tenuit Wetman unam hidam geldantam . 7 poterat ire quo uolebat. Hugo tenuit ad firmam de Hunfrido . camerario regis . 7 reddebat .xxx. solidos . 7 adhuc reddit tantundem. Haec terra fuit tainland T.R.E. sed postea conuersa . est in Reueland . 7 ideo dicunt legati regis . quod ipsa terra 7 census qui inde exit furtim aufert’ regi.

The wording and content (notably the absence of any information about ownership or resources in 1086) make it clear that Yatton was recorded separately only because its changed status had deprived the king’s officers of part of their revenues. Yatton was historically a chapelry of Much Marcle (Youngs 1991: 137), a large manor which belonged to Earl Harold TRE and was centred only a couple of miles away (Herefs. 1:7). A reasonable inference would be that Hwætmann’s hide had been thegnland within Much Marcle, and therefore that Hwætmann had been the earl’s thegn.

There are no circumstances which connect Hwætmann 2 at Yatton with the other Hwætmann on the Dorset coast.

Bibliography

Youngs 1991: Frederic A. Youngs, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, II: Northern England, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks 17 (1991)