Top of page Name Summary Distribution Map Property List Profile Bottom of page

Æscmann 9

Name

Summary

Æscmann 9 was a free man with a small manor in south Suffolk TRE assessed at 1 carucate and with a value of 30s; he was commended to Robert fitzWimarc (Robert 14) and his soke-lord was Earl Harold (Harold 3).

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. 58,1	Vill Higham	DB Spelling Assemanus	Holder 1066 Æscmann 'of Higham'	Lord 1066 Robert fitzWimarc	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Gundwin the chamberlain	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 1.00	1066 Value 1.50	1086 Value 1.00	Confidence B	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

Æscmann 9’s small manor was at Higham in the very south of Suffolk, by the confluence of the River Brett with the River Stour that forms the border with Essex.  He was a free man in the commendation of Robert fitzWymarc, the sheriff of Essex (Robert 14).  DB states that the soke of Æscmann’s land was ‘in Bergholt’, which indicates that it belonged to the great manor of East Bergholt and therefore that his soke-lord was Earl Harold 3.  Given that Æscmann was described as ‘free’ and no tenurial lord is alluded to then it is possible that he held his land with the power of alienation, although the suggestion is made ex silentio and is therefore speculative.

DB records five free men holding small estates at Higham TRE and for three of them the relevant entry makes reference to a church: Leodmær 12’s manor included ‘the fifth part of a church with 4 acres’; Godric’s manor included ‘a church [with] 4 acres’; and Æscmann 9’s manor included ‘part of a church with 2 acres’.  Although the details are slightly at odds with each other and no entry explicitly states that they relate to the TRE situation, it is very probable that what is being recorded is a single church that either was founded by the corporate activity of these small local landholders (or their predecessors) or else that a single manor and church at Higham had fragmented into multiple holdings. 

With regard to the rest of Æscmann’s manor it seems that he was engaged mainly on arable farming.  He had two ploughs on his demesne and there was another on the land of his men, who comprised one villan and three bordars and who, together with their households, provided most of the labour on the estate.  Æscmann also had a mill, presumably on the River Brett or a leat thereof, for grinding his grain and perhaps some pulses also.  There is no reference in DB to a pastoral side of Æscmann’s manor (the 7 acres of meadow may simply have provided for the oxen of the plough-teams) but his post-Conquest successor had reduced the number of ploughs and introduced some livestock, which suggests a change of agriculture on the manor by 1086.

This is the only reference to someone of this name in DB and there is no reason to consider Æscmann 9 in connection with anyone else.