II
The statement 'there is land for b ploughs' is an attempt to indicate the extent of
arable land in a manor, and may be regarded, in this county and a number of others, as an
estimate of the number of plough-teams which the estate could support if it were fully
exploited. The total estimated team-lands in Middlesex is 676¼. A plough-team, it is
generally agreed, was, for the purposes of the Survey, considered to consist of eight oxen
or other ploughing beasts. Fractions such as half a plough-team are often recorded in
Domesday, and not infrequently these are expressed in terms of oxen. In the Middlesex
statement of teams there are many references to half-teams; references to oxen occur
only twice, although others are recorded in connexion with the estimate of meadowland.
On Geoffrey de Mandeville's ½-hide estate at Greenford (69) there is land for two oxen,
and on Alveve's estate in Spelthorne Hundred (98) there is land for four oxen. This last
statement and a reference to meadowland for six oxen on the manor of Dawley (57) may
possibly be taken as confirmatory evidence that in this county the team was considered
to consist of eight oxen.
In Middlesex the total of team-lands is less than the total of geld hides and in this
respect the assessment may be regarded as 'high'. It is in fact considerably higher than
in many of the neighbouring counties. Of these Berkshire is the only one in which, as
in Middlesex, the team-lands are fewer than the hides, but Berkshire is also one of the
counties which benefited by a wholesale writing down of the assessment after the Conquest. (fn. 51) An analysis of the individual entries for Middlesex shows that the proportion
of team-lands to hides is fairly consistent throughout the county. There are few cases in
which the team-lands exceed the hides, whilst instances in which the team-lands and
the hides are equal, with one or two notable exceptions, are confined to small estates.
The divisions of plough-teams between the demesne and the men is omitted only on
some of the smallest Middlesex estates. With very few exceptions the total teams,
existing and potential, agree with the team-lands. Although not infrequently the number
of teams actually at work is less than the team-lands, a statement is often made concerning the number of additional teams which could be put to work on the estate. On the
Archbishop of Canterbury's manor of Harrow (4) it is recorded that there are 4 teams
in demesne and there can be 5 more, and among the francigene et villani there are 45
teams and there can be 16 more. (fn. 52) Similarly at Stanmore (64) there are in demesne 2
teams and there can be one more, and among the villani there is 1½ team and there can
be 2½ more. The consistency with which this information brings the total number of
teams into agreement with the number of team-lands makes it apparent that in the eyes
of the jurors the two were normally expected to agree. There are in this county only
eleven entries in which there is a difference between the number of team-lands and the
combined total of the teams at work and those which could be added.
Where the plough-teams are fewer than the team-lands an explanation is not readily
forthcoming, but the entry for Isleworth at least calls for some comment. Here the
teams at work, together with those which the manor could support in addition, fall
short of the number of team-lands by ten teams. Although the general accuracy of the
record is unquestioned, the possibility of error in this instance should not be disregarded. There is also a coincidence in the fact that Enfield shows a deficiency of four
teams compared with team-lands, and Tottenham in the same hundred has a surplus of
four. Feltham has a deficiency of three teams in demesne, and if these were added to the
teams at work the total would exceed by two teams the number of team-lands. Here the
'over-stocking' of the men's land almost compensates for the teams by which the demesne
is deficient. Altogether in Middlesex there are recorded 549¾ teams at work, and there
could be 122 more, from which it must be inferred that in this county those who gave
the information considered that the land was not being utilized to its full capacity. The
total is 4½ teams fewer than the number of team-lands.
A comparison of the teams (in demesne and among the men) with hides, where the
information given is complete, (fn. 53) reveals that, whereas the hides are divided almost
equally between the demesne and the men, the men held or could hold considerably
more teams than could be supported by the demesne. This low proportion of teams in
demesne may suggest a small 'home farm', sufficient to provide for the needs of the lord
and his household, but the teams of the peasantry were presumably used where necessary
to help to cultivate the demesne. In Middlesex, however, the teams seem to indicate very
approximately the proportion of arable held. This seems to be the natural explanation
of entries such as Stanmore and Harrow, (fn. 54) in which are recorded the number of teams
by which the demesne is deficient. The high proportion of the assessment borne by the
demesne is probably to be explained by sources of income other than arable land: services
and dues exacted from the peasants, and income from mills, fisheries, and other amenities
where they existed.
In this county the holders of the men's teams are stated to be villani or francigene et
villani. There are eight entries in which the francigene, possibly of superior economic
status to the villani, shared with them the plough-teams. (fn. 55) At Greenford (43), Hillingdon
(56), and Tottenham (96) the holders of the teams are stated to be villani, but there are
on these manors francigene who share part of the assessment and it is reasonable to
assume that they too held a proportion, if only a small one, of the teams. (fn. 56) The term
villani in the phrase 'b caruce villanorum, normally refers to members of that class but
in at least one instance, assuming the entry to be complete, the term must have been
extended to cover bordarii, namely in Stepney (9) where the villani are said to hold
three teams although the only men recorded are 14 bordars.