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Ælfnoth 68

Name

Summary

Ælfnoth 68 had a manor in south Suffolk TRE assessed at 3 carucates and with a value of 70s; he held it from Earl Harold, and his manor’s soke belonged to the abbey of Bury St Edmunds.

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 Suffolk	Phil. ref. 49,1	Vill Layham	DB Spelling Alfnod	Holder 1066 Ælfnoth 'of Layham'	Lord 1066 Harold, earl	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Hugh de Grandmesnil	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 3.00	1066 Value 3.50	1086 Value 5.00	Confidence C	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

Ælfnoth 68 had a manor at Layham, one of several manors and small holdings there beside the River Brett in south Suffolk, which he held from (tenuit de) one Harold TRE.  This lord was probably Earl Harold (Harold 3) and the formula suggests that Ælfnoth was in his lordship as a dependent tenant rather than by commendation, although this is not certain.  The soke of Ælfnoth’s manor belonged to the abbey of Bury St Edmunds, who also held another of the Layham manors.

Ælfnoth’s manor practiced a mixed agriculture.  He had two ploughs to work the arable land on his demesne with another two ploughs on the lands of his dependent peasants, who comprised four villans and seven bordars and who, with their households and Ælfnoth’s five slaves, provided the manor’s workforce.  On the pastoral side Ælfnoth’s main concern was sheep-farming, although this was augmented by smaller numbers of goat, pigs and cattle.

Ælfnoth 68 represents the only instance of this name occurring in DB as a TRE holder, although it is possible that he could also occur among instances of the name Alnoth.  One of only two instances in which someone called Alnoth was in Earl Harold’s lordship was the tiny estate of Alnoth at Langer in south-east Suffolk (the other instance was in Dorset).  Langer is only 16½ miles from Ælfnoth’s manor at Layham and so a connection could be considered, but against this is that Alnoth’s lands had passed to Roger Bigod (Roger 6) by 1086 whereas Ælfnoth 68’s manor passed to Hugh de Grandmesnil (Hugh 5), who acquired no estates held TRE by someone called Alnoth.  In the absence of other evidence the matter must be left open.