Vol 1: The Bluets - Lackham Countryside Centre

The Bluets 119
the Manor in the fourteenth century; there was a messuage 520 with
garden and curtilage 521 , a dovecot and 160 acres of land , several
pastures, woods and a water mill (there were probably two). There were
restrictions on what could be done with the land; of the total 160 acres
120 acres (75%) could be sown one year but only 80 acres (50%) the
next, with 40 acres (25%) lying fallow. There were a further 20 acres
of pasture, of which the Manor held control all the time could only mow
every other year when they are worth 5s, otherwise they are worth
nothing because they lie in common. 522
Lackham also had land in the Forest, for example an assart - a
clearing being used for cultivation - of 64 acres, held of Queen
Phillipa 523 .
Lackham was held by John de Peyton in right of his wife until her
death in 1348. She was apparently survived by two of her daughters,
Eleanor and Margaret.
520
messuage = mansion. Wiltonensis (1899) Deed relating to the manors of
Bremhill, Stanley, Bromham Battle and Clench AD 1566 Wilts. Notes & Queries III
December 1899, footnote 1 p 175
521
However a messuage was “Originally the portion of land intended to be occupied,
or actually occupied, as a site for a dwelling house and its appurtenances. In
modern legal language a dwelling house with its out buildings and curtilage and the
adjacent land assigned to it's use “[OED (1971) vol 1 p376]. It is clear the usage
here is the earlier term as the curtilage is specified separately. “An area attached
to a dwelling house as part of its enclosure “ The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1976)
6th ed. p 251
522
Stokes, E (1914) Abstracts of Wiltshire IPM returned into the Court of
Chancery in the reign of King Edward III, AD 1327-1377. Index Library Vol 48.
British Record Society
523
Philippa of Hainhault was wife to Edward III. Her marriage was a result of
the problems that led to Edward III ascending the throne: Edward‘s mother,
Isabella of France, was at odds with her husband, Edward II, over the power of
the Despenser family, who were trying to get her marriage annulled. She fled to
the Low Countries and, in exchange for the promise of Prince Edward marrying
Philippa, William II- Count of Hainhault, Holland and Zeeland -, supplied 450
Hainhaultian troops for Isobella‘s return to England. The ensuing uprising led to
the defeat of Edward II, “the Despensers [being] captured, disembowelled and
hanged” [ Emerson, B (1986) The Black Prince pp2-3 ] and Edward III‘s
crowning, in 1327.