New Men but Old Ways

The Saxon is not like us Normans:
His manners are not so polite.
But he never means anything serious till he talks about justice and right.
When he stands like an ox in the furrow with his solemn set eyes on your own
And grumbles, "This isn't fair dealing;" my son, leave the Saxon alone.

Rudyard Kipling


Now Norman and Saxon had to settle down together as best they could, with different languages and different customs.

But because William was so determined to be considered the rightful heir to Edward the Confessor he saw to it that the ways of the Anglo-Saxons were those which should be followed. So that although the "Witanagemot" became in time "Parliament", the problems of the manor were thrashed out in the manor 'court' according to custom, and those customs varied from manor to manor. Both languages had to make concessions: in many cases two words were used for the same thing. We talk of "shires" as well as "counties"; cattle were "cows" in the field; "sheep" in the pasture, but "beef" and "mutton" when carried into the lord's hall. It would take time before the news of all these happenings reached a remote village such as Gedling, and therefore at first the ordinary life of the village would be unaffected.

Before the Conquest, the story of Gedling is simple: the manor (or manors) was held by the Saxon Thegn Otta or Otti, and then by his son Tochi. Tochi's manors were immense, stretching right across the "middle" of England, Mercia, and the number of those who held land under him was necessarily large - among them were Dunstan, Unlof, Lenton, Fredges and Ulvert, already mentioned. After the disappearance, or death, of Tochi, and he is not mentioned again, these names gradually disappear also, although the readiness with which Nottingham submitted to William on his second raid to the north to put down rebellion seems to suggest that a certain number of them remained who had already submitted; "king's knights" as they were called, and that the defiance of Nottingham was somewhat half-hearted. But almost immediately Norman names appear in the records as was inevitable.

The first and perhaps the greatest of these was William Peveril, the bastard son of the Conqueror, if tradition is true. His lands form a compact group in the western half of Nottinghamshire, covering all roads leading from the west and south to the county town, and continuing across the Trent, as he also held the manor and soke of Clifton. It was he who built the first castle in Nottingham and was the first custodian. Henry I gave him definite possession of it in his reign. His lands were also extensive in the Peak of Derbyshire. Peveril built his own castle in Derbyshire on the typical Norman plan for early stone castles: three stories, entrance on the first floor, storage chamber below and solar above, topped by the ramparts, and rampart walls.

Normans were noted for their choice of a site. Peak Castle stands on a cliff with a sheer drop of several hundred feet on one side backed by Mam Tor and the wild moorland of Kinderscout; the lovely valley of the Wye and Derwent before it, valuable for the lead to be found there.

The King also granted William Peveril ten acres of land for making an orchard in Gedling. Within living memory there stood an orchard on Jessop's Lane just below the great church. Is it too much to imagine that in Norman days its extent was larger; that it stretched towards Mapperley, as far as the dip in Arnold Lane which marks the place where the famous Gedling stone was quarried - the stone of which the church was built, and Nottingham Castle, and St. Mary's church repaired.

Like so many of his kind, Peveril did his utmost to curry favour with the Church by founding a Priory - as an investment for the future as it were. Peveril built as Lenton for Cluniac Monks, but to make assurances doubly sure, he gave to his monks of St. Mary in Nottingham "the English borough with all its appurtenances, granted to him by his lord King Henry I".

Peveril's rival was Roger de Busli, who also held manors in Gedling. About Roger we know a great deal: he was of the best type of Norman baron. He derived his name fromBully-le-Vicomte near Neuf Chatel (Seine Inferieure); his title from the Abbey of Holy Trinity, Rouen. He also had large estates stretching into Derbyshire. He was lord of Hallam and built a castle where the river Sheaf meets the Don, and did his best to encourage the little company of cutlers there - a very poverty stricken group, but the forbears of those who have made Sheffield steel famous the world over. He founded his priory at Blyth in 1068, and built his main castle at Tickhill. His name is not often found on the writs of the reign which proves that he was rarely in attendance on the king; probably engaged with his lands. He dies just before Rufus (the Conqueror's son) in 1100, his only son predeceased him, therefore his honour escheated to the King.

A further holder of lands in Gedling was Goisfried de Ancelin or Hanselin or Aslin. He seems to have held the manors of Gedling, Stoke and Shelford in his own hands, and to have resided at Shelford. His son, Ralph founded a monastery at Shelford, and on his death without male issue, all his lands passed to his daughter, Rosa. She was given in marriage to Thomas Bardolph, in Henry II's reign. The Bardolphs were to continue in the history of Gedling for many generations, but they actually built their castle at Stoke to guard the ferry. This castle, built where the road to Stoke leaves the Southwell road is said to be still traceable. It was surrounded by a moat, the walls enclosed a bailey, perhaps two, of upwards of two acres. Here were held the Court Baron and Court Leet, to which all the tenantry of the manors of Gedling, Carlton, Stoke and Shelford, "did suit", in other words, must attend. This court coped with all matters which would now be dealt with by Magistrates in Police Court or Petty Sessions. As late as 1488 we get the record that Sir Henry Plessington claimed against Alice Leek one messuage (dwelling) house, two carucates of land and 30 acres of meadow in Gedling and Stoke Bardolph, and in 1539 Edward Molyneux suffered the recovery of 3 messuages, 2 cottages, 100 acres of land and 300 of pasture and meadow land at the price of white gloves yearly.

From Doomsday Book we can form some picture of life in those far off days. Gedling seems to have consisted of two "settlements", one on the hill beside the church, and the other to the north of the church where the Ousedyke weaves its way towards the Trent: this is known as "The City" - that word is used even in 1979. The houses of that day consisted of one room only, of wood probably, this being so abundant owing to the nearness of the forest, of crutch-type construction; the walls filled in with plaster and daub: glass being unknown, the window openings would be closed with shutters; an open hearth in the centre of the floor, with a louvre in the thatched roof for the exit of smoke (if it did 'exit').

Much has been written about the manorial system. It was certainly known in England before 1066, but after that date the rules became more rigid. The king was the owner of all land, and gave it out to his tenants-in-chief, in return for military service. These in their turn sub-divided what they received to the peasantry, who cultivated the land according to the "custom of the manor". They, with some exceptions, were tied to the land - they were unfree, and paid their rent to their lord by service, cultivating the demesne of his land, and owing him certain dues. In many parts of the Midlands the three field system operated: 1 field for oats or barley, 1 wheat, and 1 fallow. Each village had rights of pasture in the meadows and certain rights in the waste. or uncultivated, forest surrounding the village, such as cutting of timber and pannage for the swine. We have no record of whether Gedling had three fields, although the name Netherfield, "the low" field, suggests such a possibility. In neighbouring Derbyshire, Sheffield had only two, the Allsop and Bailey Fields; but in Sheffield the moor came right up to the parish church, now the Cathedral, and the fertile land stretching down to the Don was divided into narrow strips called "Crofts". The names of Sheffield streets in that part of the city - Scargill Croft, Hollis Croft, testify to this. Sheffield is the only city with a grouse moor within its boundaries.


Written by: F.M. Swann

Transcribed by: Allen Copsey