Fifteenths and tenths, 1334

A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 4. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1959.

This free content was digitised by double rekeying. All rights reserved.

'Fifteenths and tenths, 1334', in A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 4, (London, 1959) pp. 294-303. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol4/pp294-303 [accessed 18 March 2024]

In this section

FIFTEENTHS AND TENTHS: QUOTAS OF 1334

By the last quarter of the 13th century Englishmen had become familiar with a system of tax assessment which took no account of such old-fashioned assessments of wealth as hides or knight's fees. This new system of assessment was based on a valuation of certain personal property, usually described by the vague word 'movables'. Of this value Parliament had granted the king a fraction: the fraction itself varied from grant to grant but in each grant a greater fraction was levied on cities, towns, and royal demesne than on other areas. Thus in 1332 the townsman found himself contributing a tenth of his assessed movables but the countryman only a fifteenth. In addition there were some categories of goods which the collectors were instructed to ignore, and as a result the statistics from the collections deal only with those Englishmen and women who were wealthy enough to fall under the scrutiny of the local assessors. It is rather like an iceberg the size of whose submerged depths is unknown. In addition there was probably evasion and under-assessment everywhere.

At each fresh grant there was a new assessment. The resulting rolls were preserved in the Exchequer and were sometimes compared when evasion was suspected. (fn. 1) But the degree of survival varies very much from county to county. Wiltshire has only the rolls from 1269, 1297, 1327, and 1332. (fn. 2) The roll for 1269 is a simple list of village totals; and that of 1297 is not an elaborate list of individual personal possessions (such as that for part of Yorkshire) (fn. 3) but merely a collector's note of the totals collected from each hundred and from the boroughs. In 1327 the Wiltshire roll has 33 membranes and its list of boroughs and villages and of property owners is of the same form as the roll from Somerset already printed. (fn. 4) The roll for 1332 follows the same form and is of particular importance since it was the last tax to be assessed on a fresh personal valuation. (fn. 5)

In 1334 the Exchequer was content to accept from each city, borough, and vill a sum which had resulted from a series of local negotiations between the collectors and the communities. So long as this sum reached at least that of the personal assessments in each vill in 1332 no further questions were asked, and the local community was left to share out the tax among its members as it pleased. The result of this change of policy can be seen in the sudden shortening of the Wiltshire rolls which now needed to be no longer than a list of the 540 or so separate vills in the county; personal names and assessments disappear. (fn. 6) It can also be seen in the various increments when the 1332 and 1334 sums are compared. Thus Salisbury paid £74 6s. 1d. in 1332 and £75 0s. 2d. in 1334; Old Salisbury paid 17s. 4d. on each occasion, probably a concession to its empty poverty; Wilton's total rose by 6s. and the whole rural hundred of Staple paid 10s. more. This close relation between the personal assessments of 1332 and the 'quotas' agreed upon in 1334 makes it impossible to put too much weight on the figures yielded in 1334, as an exposition of the whole of the 'wealth' of the various places in the county and the kingdom.

In the next grant and collection of a fifteenth, in 1336, it was found convenient to use the same assessment as in 1334, and not to inquire further into personal wealth. But what began as an administrative convenience hardened into a convention, and there were villages which were paying at the same rate in the reign of Charles I as they had been in 1334. But in addition to the ease of collection the Exchequer soon had a good reason for not wishing to carry out a fresh personal reassessment. Reassessments are all very well if a tax collector thinks that people are getting wealthier, but if in fact they are worse off it is to the Exchequer's interest to hold by a bargain like that of 1334 and to listen only to the most desperate petitions for relief, such as those from places washed away by the sea, drowned in the floods, or burned by the Scots and Welsh. (fn. 7)

In the years immediately following the Black Death there was an urgent need to give some temporary and local relief to places whose population had diminished, but the rigidity of the assessments even between 1334 and 1352 may be another of those signs that some contraction in population and economic activity was already under way and had been noticed by the Government. In the years of the plagues the local quotas of 1334 were adjusted by applying a relief fund made up of the fines collected locally from offenders against the Statute of Labourers. No schedule of village-by-village reliefs seems to have survived from Wiltshire, and no relief was applied at all in the collections of 1352 and 1353 when many other counties were relieved. In 1354 a sum of £280 9s. 5d. was applied against the £1,521 5s. 10d. which was due, and in later collections there were small reliefs obtained from the sale of the confiscated goods of fugitives and felons. (fn. 8)

In 1433 the complaints of the 'over-taxed, impoverished and depopulated places' was such that the parliamentary grant now specifically provided for a reduction (deduccio) in the rigid quotas of 1334. A sum of £4,000 (later £6,000) was distributed in relief. Wiltshire was faced with distributing £167 6s. 6¾d. or about 11 per cent. of the sum usually due. From the surviving rolls of deducciones it seems that at first there was a realistic basis of relief, and that a particular vill was not relieved in the same proportion each year and indeed might well not be relieved at all. In 1433 only 3 vills from the 8 in Cadworth hundred obtained relief, but in 1442 3 more were relieved and one of those relieved in 1433 had its relief cut. In 1446 only 4 of these 6 places were relieved. (fn. 9) But here again the flexible passed into rigidity and in the collections after 1480 the same sums were allowed without alteration. In the taxation rolls of the 1620's there are villages solemnly assessed to the sums fixed in 1334 abated by the reliefs fixed in the 1470's.

The basis for Table 1 is the roll of particulars for 8 Edward III (1334). (fn. 10) Where the text was obscure, this document has been checked against the rolls for 1332, (fn. 11) 1338–9 (fn. 12) and 1348–9 (fn. 13) and against a register, prepared about 1420, in which the township totals for the whole kingdom, apart from the palatinates of Chester and Durham, were entered. (fn. 14) The register contains several misreadings, and in certain other ways is of limited value for comparative purposes. Thus it places some vills in different hundreds from those to which they were assigned in 1334, without, however, necessarily indicating any change in the hundred totals, and sometimes the vill totals are different from those of 1334. (fn. 15)

All totals are expressed in the table in shillings and pence, even where in the original they are expressed also in pounds. The vill totals have been summed and have been found to tally with the hundred totals except in the cases of Chippenham and Warminster hundreds, which exhibit inexplicable discrepancies.

Wherever possible place-names have been identified with a modern equivalent, and for this purpose The Place-Names of Wiltshire (E.P.N.S., 1939) has been taken as the standard. This volume is arranged by the hundreds of 1086 and these in turn are subdivided into the civil parishes existing about the time of publication. Within the parishes are grouped hamlets, farms and other sites and places of no present administrative significance. By 1334 some of the Domesday hundreds had disappeared (fn. 16) and some of them had altered their constitution. Besides this there is no reason to conclude that the parishes of the 20th century always or indeed often coincide with the vills of 1334 that bear the same names. The identifications therefore are largely artificial. Places that are less than parishes have been entered in the table with the name of the enclosing parish, as given in The PlaceNames of Wiltshire, added in brackets. (fn. 17) These bracketed appendages are added only for the sake of helping the reader to find the vill upon the map and are not to be taken as indicating that the vills lay within those parishes in 1334 or even necessarily that they may be deemed to do so now. A consequence of the adoption of these methods is that some hamlets or even parishes appear in one hundred in 1334 and in another in The Place-Names of Wiltshire. Thus Surrendell was rated in Chippenham hundred in 1334, but it is said to lie 'in Hullavington', which was then a vill in Startley hundred. Vills of the same name but with different prefixes or suffixes, like East and West Tockenham and the three Blunsdons, and vills linked together to form a single parish, like Pitton and Farley, have been treated in the table as though each was a distinct parish in 1939. Changes in boundaries that have occurred since 1939 resulting in the absorption of one parish into another have been ignored. Places transferred to another county since 1334 are expressed, in round brackets, as 'in' that county. Unidentified places are enclosed in quotation marks.

The range of tax quotas was large. At the head of the ladder was Salisbury, assessed at 1,500s. At the foot were several tiny fiscal units assessed at 10s. or less. These are Choulston (4s.), Hatch (4s.), Ratfyn (5s. 6d.), Twyford (6s. 8d.), and Tytherley (3s.) in Amesbury hundred; Addeston (5s.) in Dole hundred; Ansty (8s.) and Whitecliff (6s. 8d.) in Dole hundred; Stokke and 'Ford' (8s. 6d.) in Kinwardstone hundred; Trowle (5s.) in Melksham hundred; Rabson (10s.) Shaw (8s.), and Snap (8s.) in Selkley hundred; and Melbourne (9s.) and Stoke (10s.) in Westbury hundred. They may be compared with the lists of small fiscal units of 1377 (p. 312), and of small parishes of 1428 (p. 314). Some names appear in all three lists. Table 3, which shows the most highly rated fiscal units, differs markedly from the Table on p. 313 which shows the fiscal units containing the largest number of tax payers in 1377. The head and foot of the ladder are brought into proportion by Table 2 which shows the percentage of fiscal units that fell into various size-groups, beginning with those paying less than 10s. and ending with those paying over 150s. The figures for the two neighbouring counties of Gloucestershire and Dorset are printed in parallel, and it will be seen that the distribution is very similar, and that the county averages also show affinities. These similarities do not show in other counties; (fn. 18) Lincolnshire, for example, had a much greater proportion of large quotas and Northumberland a preponderance of small assessments.

Table 1: Fifteenths and Tenths in 1334

Tenths

Salisbury

Salisbury s. d.
Market aldermanry (fn. 19) 525 0
Meadow aldermanry 86 0
New Street aldermanry 382 9
St. Martin's aldermanry 477 8
Assessment of collectors 28 9
Total 1,500s. 2d.

Other Places

s. d.
Bedwyn, borough 46 8
Calne, borough 110 0
Chippenham with Rowden, borough 346 8
Cricklade, borough 110 0
Devizes, borough 120 0
Downton, borough 110 0
Malmesbury, borough 230 0
Marlborough, barton (fn. 20) 70 0
Marlborough, borough 160 0
Rowde, liberty (fn. 21) 106 8
Salisbury, Old, borough 17 4
Wilton, borough 170 0
1,597s. 4d. (fn. 22)
Ludgershall, borough (fn. 23) 68

Fifteenths

s. d.
Hindon, town (fn. 24) 28 9

Alderbury Hundred 811s. 4d.

s. d.
Alderbury 58 0
Dean, West 50 0
Farley 22 0
Gomeldon (in Idmiston) 58 0
Grimstead, East 40 0
" West 50 0
Hurdcott (in Winterbourne Earls) 18 0
Idmiston 60 0
Laverstock 55 0
Milford (in Laverstock) (fn. 25) 20 0
Pitton 50 0
Plaitford (in Hants) 43 4
Porton (in Idmiston) 64 0
Whaddon (in Alderbury) 28 0
Winterbourne Dauntsey 40 0
" Earls 50 0
" Gunner (fn. 26) 45 0
Winterslow, [West] 60 0

Amesbury Hundred 1,755s. 10d.

s. d.
Ablington (in Figheldean) 90 0
Allington 30 0
Alton (in Figheldean) 11 4
Amesbury, Great 193 4
" Priors 26 8
" West 28 0
Beaches, tithing of (in Wokingham, Berks.) 30 0
'Berghfeld' (fn. 27) 9 0
Biddesden (in Chute) 16 0
Boscombe 76 8
Brigmerston 56 8
Buckhurst, tithing of (in Wokingham, Berks.) 28 0
Bulford 43 4
Cholderton 56 8
Choulston (in Figheldean) 4 0
Compton (in Enford) (fn. 28) 13 4
Deverill, Kingston (fn. 29) 58 0
Diddenham (in Shinfield, Berks.) 30 0
Durnford, Great 43 4
" Little 22 0
Durrington 144 0
Farley Hill (in Swallowfield, Berks.) 24 0
Figheldean 76 8
Hinton (in Hurst, Berks.) 20 0
Hinton Hatch, tithing of (in Hurst, Berks.) (fn. 30) 4 0
Hinton Pipard (in Hurst, Berks.) 16 0
'Hynduryngton' (in Durrington) 36 0
Knighton (in Figheldean) 60 0
Milston 20 0
Netton (in Durnford) 30 0
Newton Tony 63 4
Newtown (in Durnford) 18 0
Normanton (in Wilsford) 12 0
Odes (in Hurst, Berks.) 22 0
Ratfyn (in Amesbury) 5 6
Salterton (in Durnford) 25 0
Sheepbridge, Great (in Swallowfield, Berks.) 60 0
Sheepbridge, Little (in Swallowfield, Berks.) 26 8
Syrencot (in Figheldean) 40 0
Tidworth 40 0
Twyford (in Hurst, Berks.) 6 8
Tytherley (in Hants) (fn. 31) 3 0
Wellow (in Hants) 56 8
Winterslow, [East] 80 0

Blackgrove Hundred 659s.

s. d.
Bincknoll (in Broad Hinton) 43 4
Eastcott, Westcott and Walcot (all in Swindon) (fn. 32) 58 0
Elcombe (in Wroughton) 72 0
Lydiard Tregoze 80 0
Mannington (in Lydiard Tregoze) 18 0
Midgehall (in Lydiard Tregoze) 12 0
Overtown (in Wroughton) 70 0
Salthrop (in Wroughton) 19 0
Swindon, High 133 4
Swindon, West, and Westlecott (in Swindon) 33 4
Uffcott (in Broad Hinton) 33 4
Vastern (in Wootton Bassett) 86 8
Walcot. See Eastcott
Westcott. See Eastcott
Westlecott. See Swindon, West.

Bradford Hundred 582s. 8d.

s. d.
Atworth 38 0
Bradford 96 8
Broughton Gifford 70 0
Chalfield 24 0
Farleigh, Monkton 36 8
Holt 106 8
Rowley (in Wingfield) 53 4
Trowle (in Bradford) 26 0
Winsley 83 4
Wraxall, [South] 48 0

Branch Hundred 754s.

s. d.
Avon (in Stratford-sub-Castle) 22 0
Bemerton 33 4
Burcombe, [North] 20 0
Chilhampton (in South Newton) 23 4
Ditchampton (in Wilton) 32 0
Fisherton Anger (in Salisbury) 25 0
Fugglestone (in Bemerton) 15 0
Langford, Hanging (in Steeple Langford) 40 0
Langford, Little 30 0
Langford, Steeple 48 0
Newton, South 33 4
Quidhampton (in Bemerton) 64 0
Sherrington 52 0
Stapleford 80 0
Stoford (in South Newton) 26 0
Ugford, [North] 70 0
Wishford, Great 60 0
Wishford, Little (in South Newton) 15 0
Wylye 65 0

Liberty of Bromham (fn. 33) 140s.

Cadworth Hundred 316s. 8d.

s. d.
Barford St. Martin 63 4
Baverstock 18 0
Burcombe, [South] 22 0
Fovant 68 0
Hurdcott (in Barford St. Martin) 25 0
Netherhampton 52 0
Sutton Mandeville 55 0
Ugford, [South] (in Burcombe) 13 4

Calne Hundred (fn. 34) 912s.

s. d.
Berwick Bassett 70 0
Beversbrook (in Hilmarton) 28 0
Blackland (in Calne) 35 0
Calstone Wellington (in Calne) 60 0
Cherhill 96 8
Compton Bassett 160 0
Eastmanstreet (lost in Calne) 22 0
Heddington 106 8
Quemerford (in Calne) 64 0
Stock Street (in Calne) (fn. 35) 40 0
Stockley (in Calne) 36 8
Studley (in Calne) 38 0
Whetham (in Calne) (fn. 36) 22 0
Whitley (in Calne) 25 0
Yatesbury 108 0

Cannings Hundred 664s.

s. d.
Bedborough (in Bishop's Cannings) 40 0
Bourton and Easton (both in Bishop's Cannings) (fn. 37) 43 4
Cannings, Bishop's 160 0
Chittoe 30 0
Coate (in Bishop's Cannings) 150 0
Easton. See Bourton
Highway (in Hilmarton) 34 0
Horton (in Bishop's Cannings) 73 4
Nursteed. See Wick
Roundway 66 8
Wick and Nursteed (in Roundway) 66 8

Cawdon Hundred 503s. 8d.

s. d.
Bramshaw (in Hants) 25 0
Britford 126 8
Coombe Bissett 70 0
Harnham (fn. 38) 70 0
Homington 50 0
Longford (in Britford) 32 0
Odstock 30 0
Stratford Tony 60 0
Whitsbury (in Hants) 40 0

Chalke Hundred 666s. 8d.

s. d.
Alvediston 80 0
Berwick St. John with Bridmore (in Berwick St. John) 70 0
Chalke, Bower 90 0
Chalke, Broad 86 8
Ebbesborne Wake 64 0
Fifield Bavant (in Ebbesborne Wake) 30 0
Knighton (in Broad Chalke) 60 0
Semley 58 0
Stoke Farthing (in Broad Chalke) 64 0
Tollard Royal 64 0

Chedglow Hundred 649s. 8d.

s. d.
Ashley and Poole Keynes (in Glos.) 66 8
Brokenborough with Burton Hill (in Malmesbury) 56 0
Charlton and Garsdon 70 0
Chedglow (in Crudwell) and Long Newnton 48 0
Chelworth (in Crudwell) and Crudwell 45 0
Cleverton (in Lea) 18 0
Corston. See Rodbourne
Crudwell. See Chelworth
Eastcourt. See Hankerton
Ewen. See Kemble.
Garsdon. See Charlton
Hankerton and Eastcourt (in Crudwell) 70 0
Kemble (in Glos.) and Ewen (in Kemble, Glos.) 66 8
Lea and Milbourne (in Malmesbury) 50 0
Newnton, Long. See Chedglow
Oaksey 73 4
Poole Keynes. See Ashley
Rodbourne and Corston (both in Malmesbury) 56 0
Sutton Benger 30 0

Chippenham Hundred 2,102s. [recte 2,085s.]

s. d.
Alderton 36 8
Allington (in Chippenham) 46 8
Biddestone 45 0
Box 72 0
Bremhill 310 0
Cocklebury (in Langley Burrell) 12 0
Colerne 100 0
Combe, Castle 60 0
Corsham 300 0
Easton Grey 18 0
Grittleton 80 0
Hardenhuish 18 0
Hartham (in Corsham) 13 4
Kington St. Michael 146 8
Kington, West 65 0
Lacock 160 0
Langley Burrell 48 0
Leigh Delamere 50 0
Littleton Drew 20 0
Luckington 32 0
Nettleton (fn. 39) 130 0
Rowden. See Chippenham, borough, p. 296.
Sherston, Great 86 8
Sherston, Little [Pinkney] 17 0
Slaughterford 20 0
Sopworth 20 0
Stanley (in Bremhill) 52 0
Surrendell (in Hullavington) 22 0
Tytherton Lucas (in Chippenham) 67 0
Wraxall, [North] 38 0
Yatton Keynell 16 0

Cricklade Hundred 520s.

s. d.
Ashton Keynes 116 8
Latton 160 0
Poulton (in Glos.) 96 8
Shorncote (in Somerford Keynes, in Glos.) 46 8
Somerford Keynes (in Glos.) 100 0

Damerham Hundred 423s. 4d.

s. d.
Compton Chamberlayne 126 8
Damerham (in Hants) 130 0
Martin (in Hants) 166 8

Liberty of Longbridge Deverill (fn. 40) 110s.

Dole Hundred 515s. 8d.

s. d.
Addeston (in Maddington) 5 0
Asserton (in Berwick St. James) 13 4
Berwick St. James 90 0
Bourton (in Maddington) 33 4
Elston (in Orcheston St. George) 62 0
Gore, St. Joan à (in West Lavington) 20 0
Homanton (in Maddington) 20 0
Maddington 64 0
Net Down (in Shrewton) (fn. 41) 18 0
Orcheston [St. Mary] 33 4
Shrewton 36 8
Tilshead (fn. 42) 70 0
Winterbourne Stoke (fn. 43) 50 0

Downton Hundred 778s. 8d.

s. d.
Barford (in Downton) 38 0
Bishopstone 32 0
Bodenham 33 4
Charlton (in Standlynch) 200 0
Croucheston (in Bishopstone) 56 8
Downton foreign 46 8
Faulston (in Bishopstone) 18 0
Flamston (in Bishopstone) 25 0
Hamptworth (in Redlynch) 40 0
Netton (in Bishopstone) 34 0
Nunton 38 0
Pensworth (in Redlynch) 53 4
Standlynch 33 4
Throope (in Bishopstone) 16 0
Walton (in Downton) 33 4
Wick (in Downton) 45 0
Witherington (in Standlynch) 36 0

Dunworth Hundred 767s. 4d.

s. d.
Ansty 90 0
Berwick St. Leonard with the hamlet of Chicklade 33 4
Chilmark 46 8
Donhead with the hamlets 260 0
Fonthill Gifford 34 0
Hatch (in West Tisbury) 70 0
Swallowcliffe 33 4
Teffont Evias 20 0
Tisbury 180 0

Elstub Hundred (fn. 44) 849s.

s. d.
Alton [Priors], and Stowell (in Wilcot) (fn. 45) 82 0
Bishopstone (fn. 46) 34 0
Chisenbury 43 4
Coombe. See Fittleton
Enford, Littlecott (in Enford), and Fifield (in Enford) 66 8
Fittleton and Coombe (in Enford) (fn. 47) 26 8
Fyfield. See Overton, [East]
Ham 35 0
Hinton, [Little] 76 8
Littlecott. See Enford
Netheravon 70 0
Overton, [East] and Fyfield (fn. 48) 80 0
Patney 48 0
Stockton 60 0
Stowell. See Alton
Westwood 120 0
Wroughton, [Nether] 106 8

Liberty of Everleigh (fn. 49) 313s. 4d.

s. d.
Collingbourne Ducis 90 0
Compton (in Enford) (fn. 50) 23 4
Everleigh 110 0
Haxton (in Fittleton) 90 0

Frustfield Hundred 274s.

s. d.
Abbotstone (in Whiteparish) 50 0
Alderstone (in Whiteparish) 13 4
Cowesfield (in Whiteparish) 100 0
Landford 66 8
Whelpley (in Whiteparish) 44 0

Heytesbury Hundred 958s.

s. d.
Ansty (in Knook) 8 0
Ashton Gifford (in Codford St. Peter) 36 0
Bathampton (in Steeple Langford) 53 4
Baycliff (in Horningsham) 12 0
Boyton 38 0
Chitterne 110 0
Codford 90 0
Corton, East (in Boyton) 73 4
Deptford (in Wylye) 24 0
Deverill, Brixton 50 0
Deverill, Hill 45 0
Heytesbury 106 8
Horningsham 58 0
Imber (fn. 51) 60 0
Knook 40 0
Orcheston [St. George] 64 0
Tytherington (in Heytesbury) 38 0
Upton Lovell 45 0
Whitecliff (in Brixton Deverill) 6 8

Highworth Hundred 1,321s. 8d.

s. d.
Blunsdon, Broad 66 8
Blunsdon Gay 22 0
Blunsdon St. Andrew 12 0
Burytown (in Blunsdon) 40 0
Eastrop (in Highworth) 83 4
Eaton, Castle (fn. 52) 72 0
Fresden (in Highworth) 11 0
Groundwell (in Blunsdon) 30 0
Hampton (in Highworth) 28 0
Hannington 186 8
Haydon and Haydon Wick (both in Rodbourne Cheney) (fn. 53) 53 4
Highworth 36 0
Inglesham 30 0
Lus Hill (in Castle Eaton) 33 4
Lydiard Millicent, and Shaw (in Lydiard Millicent) 70 0
Marston Meysey (fn. 54) 60 0
Marston, South 116 0
Moredon (in Rodbourne Cheney) 20 0
Rodbourne Cheney 20 0
Sevenhampton (in Highworth) 78 0
Shaw. See Lydiard Millicent
Stanton Fitzwarren 52 0
Stratton St. Margaret (fn. 55) 78 0
Stratton, Upper (in Stratton St. Margaret) 40 0
Swindon, [Even] 22 0
Westrop (in Highworth) 33 4
Widhill, North and West (in Cricklade) 28 0

Kingsbridge Hundred 543s. 8d.

[recte 553s. 8d.]

s. d.
Broad Town 40 0
Clevancy (in Hilmarton) 43 4
Clyffe Pypard 34 0
Corton (in Hilmarton) 36 0
Hilmarton 130 0
Littlecott (in Hilmarton) 26 8
Lyneham 76 8
Thornhill (in Broad Town) 42 0
Tockenham, East 48 0
Tockenham, West 20 0
Witcomb (in Hilmarton) 35 0
Woodhill (in Clyffe Pypard) 22 0

Kinwardstone Hundred 941s. 10d.

s. d.
Bedwyn, Little. See Shalbourne
'Berlegh.' See Crofton
Burbage and Durley 42 0
Buttermere. See Fosbury
Chilton Foliat and Charnham Street (in Hungerford, Berks.) 30 0
Chisbury (in Little Bedwyn) (fn. 56) 108 0
Chute and Conholt (in Chute) 50 0
Collingbourne Kingston 106 8
Conholt. See Chute
Crofton (in Great Bedwyn) and 'Berlegh' 26 8
Durley. See Burbage
Easton 26 8
'Ford'. See Stokke
Fosbury (in Tidcombe) and Buttermere (fn. 57) 33 4
Froxfield. See Standen
Fyfield (in Milton Lilborne) 12 0
Grafton, East and West 40 0
Harding. See Shalbourne
Henset and Puthall (both in Little Bedwyn) 13 4
Marten. See Tidcombe
Milton Lilborne 18 0
Pewsey 140 0
Puthall. See Henset
Shalbourne and Harding (in Great Bedwyn) with Little Bedwyn (fn. 58) 60 0
Standen, [North] (in Hungerford, Berks.) and Standen, [South] (in Chute) with Froxfield (fn. 59) 40 0
Stokke (in Great Bedwyn) and 'Ford' 8 6
Tidcombe and Marten (in Grafton) 53 4
Wexcombe (in Grafton) 53 4
Wick. See Wootton Rivers
Wilton (in Grafton) 40 0
Wolfhall (in Grafton) 20 0
Wootton Rivers and Wick (in Wootton Rivers) 20 0

Bishop's Knoyle Hundred 208s.

s. d.
Fonthill, Bishop (fn. 60) 76 0
Hindon (fn. 61)
Knoyle, East 100 0
Upton (in East Knoyle) 32 0

Melksham Hundred 910s. 8d.

s. d.
Bulkington 106 8
Erlestoke 110 0
Hilperton 60 0
Melksham (fn. 62) 210 0
Poulshot 56 8
Seend 73 4
Staverton 58 0
Studley (in Trowbridge) (fn. 63) 55 0
Trowbridge 130 0
Trowle (in Bradford and Trowbridge) 5 0
Whaddon (in Semington) 46 0

Mere Hundred (fn. 64) 619s.

s. d.
Bradley, Maiden 65 0
Chaddenwick (in Mere) 38 0
Deverill, Kingston (fn. 65) 38 0
Knoyle, West 70 0
Mere 210 0
Stourton 98 0
Zeals 100 0

Ramsbury Hundred 270s.

s. d.
'Assherugg' (fn. 66) 36 8
Baydon 50 0
Bishopstone (fn. 67) 100 0
Eastridge (in Ramsbury) 33 4
Ramsbury (fn. 68) 50 0

Bishop's Rowborough Hundred 638s. 8d.

s. d.
Lavington, West 240 0
Marston 112 0
Potterne 173 4
Worton 113 4

King's Rowborough Hundred 458s.

s. d.
Cheverell, Great 100 0
Cheverell, Little 53 0
Imber (fn. 69) 50 0
Lavington, Market 170 0
Littleton Pannell (in West Lavington 85 0

Liberty of Rowde 106s. 8d.

Selkley Hundred 1,081s. 8d.

s. d.
Aldbourne 206 8
Avebury 116 8
Barbury (in Wroughton) (fn. 70) 11 0
Beckhampton (in Avebury) 39 0
Clatford (in Preshute) 18 0
Hinton, Broad 73 4
Kennett, East 40 0
Kennett, West (in Avebury) 30 0
Lockeridge (in West Overton) 20 0
Manton (in Preshute) honor (fn. 71) 24 0
Mildenhall 32 0
Ogbourne Maizey (in Ogbourne St. Andrew) 34 0
Ogbourne St. Andrew 66 8
Ogbourne St. George 80 0
Overton, West 23 0
Poulton (in Mildenhall) 16 0
Rabson (in Winterbourne Bassett) 10 0
Richardson (in Winterbourne Bassett) 12 0
Rockley (in Ogbourne St. Andrew) (fn. 72) 100 0
Shaw (in West Overton) 8 0
Snap (in Aldbourne) 8 0
Stitchcombe (in Mildenhall) 30 0
Upham (in Aldbourne) 30 0
Winterbourne Bassett 13 4
Winterbourne Monkton 40 0

Staple Hundred 216s. 8d.

s. d.
Chelworth (in Cricklade) (fn. 73) 56 8
Eaton, Water (in Latton) 20 0
Purton 140 0

Startley Hundred 591s. 8d.

s. d.
Bradfield. See Hullavington
Bremilham. See Norton
Brinkworth and Grittenham (in Brinkworth) 73 4
Christian Malford 120 0
Dauntsey and Smithcot (in Dauntsey) 80 0
Draycot Cerne and 'Eston' (fn. 74) 35 0
Foxley 20 0
Grittenham. See Brinkworth
Hullavington, and Bradfield (in Hullavington) 40 0
Norton and Bremilham (in Foxley) 46 8
Seagry 46 8
Smithcot. See Dauntsey
Somerford, Great and Little (fn. 75) 80 0
Stanton St. Quintin 50 0

Studfold Hundred 517s.

s. d.
Allington 60 0
Cannings, All 126 8
Chirton 45 0
Conock (in Chirton) 33 4
Eastcott (in Urchfont) 42 0
Etchilhampton 48 0
Stert 30 0
Urchfont 70 0
Wedhampton (in Urchfont) 62 0

Swanborough Hundred 727s. 4d.

s. d.
Alton Barnes 40 0
Beechingstoke 38 0
Charlton 36 0
Draycot Fitz Payne (in Wilcot) 25 0
Manningford Bohun 56 0
Manningford Bruce (fn. 76) 86 8
Marden 35 0
Newnton, North 53 4
Oare 45 0
Rushall 58 0
Stanton St. Bernard 42 0
Upavon 93 4
Wilcot 37 0
Wilsford 54 0
Woodborough (fn. 77) 28 0

Thornhill Hundred 725s.

s. d.
Badbury (in Chisledon) 86 8
Broom (in Swindon) (fn. 78) 55 0
Chisledon 126 8
Draycot Foliat (in Chisledon) 50 0
Liddington 126 8
Wanborough 280 0

Underditch Hundred 438s. 4d.

s. d.
Heale (in Woodford) 35 0
Lake (in Wilsford) (fn. 79) 80 0
Milford (in Salisbury and Laverstock) (fn. 80) 78 0
Stratford-sub-Castle 52 4
Wilsford 45 0
Woodford, Great 90 0
Woodford, Little 58 0

Warminster Hundred 1305s. 8d. [recte 1205s. 8d.]

s. d.
Bapton (in Fisherton de la Mere) 100 0
Bishopstrow 33 4
Boreham (in Warminster) (fn. 81) 28 0
Bugley (in Warminster) 12 0
Corsley 130 0
Crockerton (in Longbridge Deverill) 14 0
Dinton 106 8
Fisherton de la Mere 80 0
Middleton (in Norton Bavant) 35 0
Newnham (in Sutton Veny) 16 0
Norridge (in Upton Scudamore) 40 0
Norton Bavant 120 0
Pertwood (in East Knoyle) 28 0
Smallbrook (in Warminster) 18 0
Sutton, Great (fn. 82) 80 0
Sutton, Little (in Sutton Veny) 50 0
Teffont Magna 100 0
Thoulstone (in Upton Scudamore) 30 0
Upton Scudamore 108 0
Warminster 150 0
Whitbourne (in Corlsey) 26 8

Westbury Hundred 398s. 8d.

s. d.
Bratton 53 4
Bremeridge (in Dilton) 35 0
Brook (in Westbury) 20 0
Chapmanslade (in Dilton) 25 0
Dilton Marsh (in Dilton) (fn. 83) 18 0
Hawkridge (in Heywood) 16 0
Heywood 34 0
Melbourne (in Bratton) 9 0
Penleigh (in Dilton) 15 0
Stoke (in Bratton) 10 0
Westbury 130 0
Westbury Leigh (in Westbury) 33 4

Whorwellsdown Hundred 768s. 8d.

s. d.
Ashton, Steeple 146 8
Ashton, West 76 8
Baynton (in Edington) 30 0
Bradley, North 52 0
Coulston 56 8
Edington 62 0
Hinton, Great 36 0
Keevil 106 8
Littleton (in Semington) 28 0
Semington (fn. 84) 33 4
Southwick 60 0
Tilshead (fn. 85) 24 0
Tinhead (in Edington) 56 8

Totals

£1,595 13s. 7¾d.

where-of in 15ths £1,421 6s. 1d. in 10ths £174 7s. 6¾d.

Table 2: Fiscal Units of 1334 Classified According to the Size of their Assessments

Tax quotas in shillings Percentage of fiscal units in each size group
Wiltshire Gloucestershire Dorset
1–10 3 4 4
11–20 9 10 16
21–30 12 17 18
31–40 16 14 12
41–50 11 12 14
51–60 11 11 6
61–70 8 5 7
71–80 6 6 5
81–90 4 4 5
91–100 3 3 3
101–10 4 2 1
111–20 3 2 1
121–30 2 2 1
131–40 1 0 1
141–50 2 1 2
Over 150 5 7 4
100 100 100
Number of fiscalunits 511 407 329
Average size of quota per fiscal unit 60s. 60s. 51s.

Table 3: The Most Highly Rated Fiscal Units in 1334

Rate Place
s. d.
1,500 2 Salisbury
346 8 Chippenham with Rowden
310 0 Bremhill
300 0 Corsham
280 0 Wanborough
260 0 Donhead with the hamlets
240 0 West Lavington
230 0 Malmesbury
210 0 Melksham
210 0 Mere
206 8 Aldbourne
200 0 Charlton (Downton hundred)
193 4 Great Amesbury
186 8 Hannington
180 0 Tisbury
173 4 Potterne
170 0 Market Lavington
170 0 Wilton

Footnotes

  • 1. For details of assessment and collection see J. F. Willard, Parliamentary Taxes on Personal Property; and Surrey Taxation Returns, Fifteenths and Tenths, ed. J. F. Willard and H. C. Johnson (Surr. Rec. Soc. xi).
  • 2. 1269: E 179/242/97; 1297: E 179/196/3; 1327: E 179/ 196/7; 1332: E 179/196/8. For the last cf. n. 11 below.
  • 3. Yorkshire Lay Subsidy, ed. W. Brown (Yorks. Arch. Soc. Rec. Ser. xvi).
  • 4. Kirby's Quest for Somerset, &c., ed. F. H. Dickinson (Som. Rec. Soc. iii).
  • 5. For a typical roll of 1332 see Lay Subsidy Roll for Warwickshire, ed. W. F. Carter (Dugdale Soc. vi).
  • 6. Into the Wiltshire roll for 1334 (E 179/196/10) there have been copied the names of taxpayers in Salisbury, Ludgershall, and Hindon.
  • 7. Such exemptions will be found among the county entries in Exchequer, Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer, Enrolled Accounts, Subsidies (E 359) and cases concerning them among the recorda of the communia upon the Memoranda Rolls of the King's Remembrancer (E 159).
  • 8. For the reliefs of 1352–4 see E 163/4/39 and Bertha H. Putnam, Enforcement of the Statute of Labourers, 320*.
  • 9. Wiltshire rolls of deducciones are: 1433: E 179/196/99A and 106; 1436: E 179/196/112; 1443: E 179/196/120; 1488: E 179/196/136; 1489: E 179/196/137; 1545: E 179/ 239/206; undated: E 179/199/430.
  • 10. E 179/196/10.
  • 11. The roll is inscribed 7 Edw. III (1333–4) and this has led to misdating it (cf. V.C.H. Wilts. vii. 81). A comparison between the names of the collectors and the total inscribed upon it and the same data entered in the Exchequer, Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer's dept., Enrolled Accts., Subsidies (E 359/8A, m. 3, no. 7) shows it to be the roll for 1332.
  • 12. E 179/196/14.
  • 13. E 179/196/22.
  • 14. E 164/7.
  • 15. Such discrepancies are noted in succeeding footnotes.
  • 16. See V.C.H. Wilts. v. 3.
  • 17. In a few cases, e.g. Avon in Stratford-sub-Castle, where the Place-Names of Wiltshire is known to err, the correct parish, as it was at the time of publication, has been substituted.
  • 18. Other local studies of the tax data from 1334 are: W. G. Hoskins, 'The Wealth of Medieval Devon' in W. G. Hoskins and H. P. R. Finberg Devonshire Studies, 212–50; V.C.H. Essex iv. 296–302; and Yorks. Arch. Jnl. xxxviii. 54, 229–30, 292–3.
  • 19. Subsequently called wards.
  • 20. With the goods of John Godhyne, merchant.
  • 21. With the goods of John Godhyne, merchant.
  • 22. This total is not struck in later accounts. The reason for segregating Hindon and Ludgershall in E 179/196/10 appears to have been that, as in the case of Salisbury, the names of the tax-payers were copied into the account. A possible additional reason is that Hindon was rated at a 15th.
  • 23. The total includes 2s. which is the assessment of the collectors.
  • 24. In Bishop's Knoyle hundred. The total includes 2s. which is the assessment of the collectors.
  • 25. See also Underditch hundred.
  • 26. 'Winterbourne Cherburgh.'
  • 27. Presumably in or near Chute, since for the poll-tax collection (see below, p. 306) it is rated with Biddesden. It is possibly now in Hants though it is not traceable on the map.
  • 28. See also Liberty of Everleigh.
  • 29. See also Mere hundred.
  • 30. Tithing of Hatch.
  • 31. Presumably a part of West Tytherley, now in Hants: cf. V.C.H. Wilts. ii. 163, v. 1.
  • 32. Westcott and Walcot omitted in E 164/7.
  • 33. Included in Calne hundred in E 164/7.
  • 34. In E 164/7 the Liberty of Bromham is included.
  • 35. Omitted in E 164/7.
  • 36. Omitted in E 164/7.
  • 37. Bond tenants of the Bishop of Salisbury living in Bourton were assessed at 58s. 4d. towards the Bishop's Cannings quota until 1375; afterwards with Bourton and Easton: Cal. Inq. Misc. iv, p. 185.
  • 38. With the assessment of John of Harnham.
  • 39. 140s. in E 164/7.
  • 40. Included in Heytesbury hundred in E 164/7.
  • 41. Omitted in E 164/7.
  • 42. Omitted in E 164/7. See also Whorwellsdown hundred.
  • 43. Omitted in E 164/7.
  • 44. In E 164/7 Compton (see Liberty of Everleigh) is included.
  • 45. In E 164/7 Stowell is included in Swanborough hundred.
  • 46. See also Ramsbury hundred.
  • 47. With the assessment of Hildebrand of London.
  • 48. 'Little' Fyfield.
  • 49. In E 164/7 these 4 places are included in Kinwardstone hundred and Compton also in Elstub hundred.
  • 50. See also Amesbury hundred.
  • 51. See also King's Rowborough hundred.
  • 52. Eaton Meysey.
  • 53. Omitted in E 164/7.
  • 54. North Marston.
  • 55. Lower Stratton.
  • 56. Omitted in E 164/7.
  • 57. With East Bedwyn in E 164/7.
  • 58. East Bedwyn.
  • 59. Froxfield and Standen in E 164/7.
  • 60. 'Prout villa de Hyndon' added in E 164/7.
  • 61. Nothing here because above, i.e. at the head of the table.
  • 62. Rated at a 10th.
  • 63. Omitted in E 164/7.
  • 64. In E 164/7 Bishop's Knoyle hundred is included with Mere hundred, so that the grand total for Mere hundred amounts to 827s.
  • 65. See also Amesbury hundred.
  • 66. With the assessment of Hildebrand of London.
  • 67. See also Elstub hundred.
  • 68. With the assessment of Hildebrand of London.
  • 69. See also Heytesbury hundred.
  • 70. Omitted in E 164/7.
  • 71. With the assessment of John Godhyne, merchant.
  • 72. With the assessment of John Godhyne, merchant.
  • 73. Rated at a 10th.
  • 74. Probably Easton Piercy in Kington St. Michael.
  • 75. Somerford in E 164/7.
  • 76. Manningford Abbots added in E 164/7.
  • 77. Stowell added in E 164/7. See Elstub hundred.
  • 78. Rated at a 10th.
  • 79. Omitted in E 164/7.
  • 80. See also Underditch hundred.
  • 81. 'Buryton'.
  • 82. It is not clear whether this place is the same as Sutton Veny or a place within it.
  • 83. 'Merssh'.
  • 84. Omitted in E 164/7.
  • 85. See also Dole hundred.