Llangattock Lingoed Genealogy: Manorial Records

Manorial Records

Being close to the English border and low-lying, this part of Upper Gwent (Uwchcoed) came under Norman control fairly early, within a hundred years of the Conquest. The lordship of Abergavenny was established in the early 12th century, probably simply by the supplanting of a Welsh nobleman by a Norman adventurer. Similarly, the manor probably already existed in some form and it is likely that the more important families, freemen landholders, transferred their allegiance to the new lord. It was held in demesne: such lands, according to Rees, "usually originated as the private lands of the conquered Welsh chieftain". The manor, and newly-created ecclesiastical parish, of Llancadoc was on the eastern boundary of the lordship; further east was Grosmont, which was eventually merged into the lordship of Monmouth and Three Castles, under direct royal control.

Abergavenny lordship leases

Ministers' Return 1256-57

The earliest surviving manorial record is of the ministers accounts for the period September 8 1256 to September 8 1257. The accounts come in two parts, the first dealing with cash and the second with produce and payments in kind.

The genealogical content is slight: the names of the reeve, David, and three persons whose deaths entailed payments to the lord, Gronow Lud, Eva Korref and Symon Wrec Nicholas [wrec = gwraig = wife?]. [The accounts for the manor of Grosmont also refer to "Adam, the parker of Lyncoit".]
Part of the manor was being let out at a total annual rent of £5-19s-2½d.
The manor court yielded a further 29s.
The main crop of the grange, in terms of quantity, was oats (about 3,000 bushels). Just over a third of this was used for seed and two-fifths delivered to other manors, mainly to Abergavenny, but also to the other castle manors of White Castle, Grosmont and Monmouth. A small proportion was used as animal feed, mostly for the oxen. The second largest crop was rye (nearly 1500 bushels). Roughly one-sixth of this went for seed and a little less than a half as livery, or provisions, for 4 ploughmen, 2 reapers (including one from Penros), a carter and a harrower. A third went for the livery of the reeves of Abergavenny and Penros. Finally, the grange produced some 1300 bushels of wheat, nearly a half of which was re-used for seed. The remainder was granted to the reeves of Abergavenny and White Castle. Some idea of the value of these crops can be gained from the prices given for the small amounts that were bought or sold. The total for rye would be £11-8s. and for wheat £7-13s. Unfortunately, the only oats sold were "rotten and damaged by water", but the total value even at that price would be £17-17s.
From the quantity set aside for seed and published figures on typical rates of sowing per acre (bearing in mind that there was considerably variability) the acreages farmed can be estimated as: wheat 30-40 acres; rye 11-19 acres; oats 31-44 acres. With the addition of the 10½ acres of meadow that was mown, this gives a total of some 80-110 acres in the lord's demesne.
The manor had a mill. Although there are references to this in later documents, its location has never been firmly established.
There is mention of the "park of Lyncoyt", which was the lord's hunting area. This is possibly the first known written reference to the name Lyncoyt (Lingoed). Later, there is reference to the cost (9d) of repairing the "paling of Lyncoyt" which had been blown down by the wind. This probably also refers to the park, indicating that this one, like most others, was fenced. The park would have been largely woodland and it is likely that it was here that pigs were let out to feed in autumn in return for pannage.
The reference to 120 men being paid for a day's weeding is surprising. Probably it means "man-days". Otherwise, even assuming that "men" also meant women, who would have been used for such work, this suggests a population for the manor that was not a great deal less than it was in the nineteenth century.

FULL TRANSCRIPTION

Inquisitions Post Mortem: Laurence de Hastings 1348 and his widow Agnes 1368

Inquisitions Post Mortem were inquiries, undertaken after the death of a feudal tenant in chief (that is, a direct tenant of the crown), to establish what lands were held and who should succeed to them. These ones are particularly valuable because they illustrate the ravages of the Black Death (Y Farwolaeth Fawr - The Great Death or Pestilence - in Welsh).

Laurence de Hastings, Lord of Abergavenny and Earl of Pembroke, died in 1348. In that year, the total revenues from "Lancadok Lyncoyd" were £11-2s-8d (Llanvetherine, by comparison, yielded £8-17s-4½d); the manor also had "a corn-mill, £11-16s.-9¾d. rent, works and perquisites, including a mill and weir".

Four years later there was an additional commission because it appeared that Laurence's widow Agnes had "more in her dower of the free holding of the said earl in the lordship of Bergeveny" than she ought to have, including "the park of Lyncoid and the office of forester of the mountains". Then - exceptionally compared with other parishes - the revenues were slightly higher at £12-19s-4d (in Llanvetherine they had fallen to £4-0s-0¾d), though this might be explained by the later figure including addtional sources of revenue.

Agnes herself died in 1368 and it is notable that by then the Rents of Assise had fallen from £9-14s-2½d in 1348 to £2-0s-0d. This later document refers also to the fact that "Lancadok Lyncoyt" included the manor so called and "a park with deer".

(Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem Vol. IX, p.117, p.127; Vol. XII, p.201)

On November 16 1348 Edward III made an order “to deliver to Agnes late the wife of Laurence de Hastynges [among a number of other places] the town of Michael, Lancadok and Lyncoyd Capella, Killitha”.

(Calendar of Close Rolls 1346-49, p.575)

An entry for April 28 1349 again records an “order to deliver to Agnes late the wife of Laurence de Hastynges [among a number of other places] Michaelstone [villa Michaelis], Lancadok and Lyncoyd-Chapel, Killitha”.

(Calendar of Close Rolls 1349-54, p.17)

In 1397, Philippa, the widow of Laurence de Hastings' grandson, John, was granted by Richard II her late husband's possessions, including "the tenants of Llancaddock by [iuxta] Llincoed", "as fully as John de Hastynges, lord of Bergavenny, held the same".

(Calendar of the Close Rolls 1396-99, p.181)

Ministers' Account 1512-13

Rental, Lordship of Abergavenny 1586

Rental, Lordship of Abergavenny 1627

Rental, Lordship of Abergavenny 1661-62

Terrier 1701-02

There are two books of manorial accounts dating from around 1700. The most useful is a terrier, that is a register of the estate, of 1702, which gives greater detail of holdings. It is clear from a rent-roll of the previous year that some of the details of ownership and possession had changed from those given in the leases and these changes have been included {in curly brackets}. Unfortunately, the locations of the various properties are not clearly indicated — the phrase "by meares and boundes there well knowne" occurring several times.

There are separate listings of those leasing land from the Lord of Abergavenny, the lord of the manor, (including land in the "antient Parke called Parke Lyngoed") and those who owned their land, but paid quit rent or chief rent in lieu of feudal services. This latter group included those who were socially superior: the major ones, in terms of value, being Charles Morgan, William Powell and James Morgan — of Great House, Pool Hall and Old Court respectively (though these names, apart from Pool Hall, are not used in the document). All three, together with Phillip Cecill, who owned dwellings rather than farmland, are accorded the title of "Esquier". At the next level are three "gentlemen": Thomas Davies "of Langattock Lyngoed" (probably the grandfather of James Davies), William Pritchard and William Price, whose holdings are smaller and of lesser value. Further down the social scale, again, are those described as "yeoman": Charles Thomas, Lewis William and William Watkins. Those who leased land are not generally given a title, but some were clearly farmers of substance. Chief among them are Arnold ab Arnold of Llanvihangel Crucorney, John Powell of Landillo Pertholy, Henry John Rosser of Landillo Pertholy, John Arnold and Elizabeth Nicholas "of the parish of Lanvihangell widow".

MORE DETAILS

Court Book, Lordship of Abergavenny 1816-17