Description of a Manor House
This description of a manor house at Chingford, Essex in England was recorded in a document for the
Chapter of St. Paul's Cathedral when it was granted to Robert Le Moyne in 1265.
He received also a sufficient and handsome hall well ceiled with oak. On the western side is a worthy bed,
on the ground, a stone chimney, a wardrobe and a certain other small chamber; at the eastern end is a
pantry and a buttery. Between the hall and the chapel is a sideroom. There is a decent chapel covered
with tiles, a portable altar, and a small cross. In the hall are four tables on trestles. There are likewise a
good kitchen covered with tiles, with a furnace and ovens, one large, the other small, for cakes, two
tables, and alongside the kitchen a small house for baking. Also a new granary covered with oak shingles,
and a building in which the dairy is contained, though it is divided. Likewise a chamber suited for
clergymen and a necessary chamber. Also a hen-house. These are within the inner gate.
Likewise outside of that gate are an old house for the servants, a good table, long and divided, and to the
east of the principle building, beyond the smaller stable, a solar for the use of the servants. Also a
building in which is contained a bed, also two barns, one for wheat and one for oats. These buildings are
enclosed with a moat, a wall, and a hedge. Also beyond the middle gate is a good barn, and a stable of
cows, and another for oxen, these old and ruinous. Also beyond the outer gate is a pigstye.
From J.H. Robinson, trans., University of Pennsylvania Translations and Reprints (1897) in Middle Ages
Volume I: p283-284.
Definition of a Manor
What exactly were Medieval Manors? A manor was the district over which a lord had domain and could
exercise certain rights and privileges in medieval England. A typical manor would include a Manor House
which was built apart from the village where the peasants lived.
Medieval Manors - Feudalism & Grants of Land
Middle Ages Feudalism was based on the exchange of land, called a fief, for military service. King William
the Conqueror used the concept of feudalism to reward his Norman supporters for their help in the
conquest of England. The land belonging to the English was taken and given to Norman Knights and
Nobles. These estates were known as Manors. Life lived under the Medieval Feudal System, or Feudalism,
demanded that everyone owed allegiance to the King and their immediate superior. Everyone was
expected to pay for the land by providing the following services:
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Work days - completing any chores required
Providing trained soldiers to fight for the King and clothes and weapons for the soldiers
The Owners of Medieval Manors - Ecclesiastical Manors
Not all manors were held necessarily by lay lords rendering military service (or again, cash in lieu) to their
superior. A substantial number of manors (estimated by value at 17% in England in 1086) belonged
directly to the king. An even greater proportion (rather more than a quarter) were held by bishoprics and
monasteries. Ecclesiastical manors tended to be larger, with a significantly greater villein area than
neighbouring lay manors.
How big were the Medieval Manors? What were Fiefs?
Medieval manors varied in size but were typically small holdings of between 1200 - 1800 acres. Every
noble had at least one manor; great nobles might have several manors, usually scattered throughout the
country; and even the king depended on his many manors for the food supply of the court. England,
during the period following the Norman Conquest, contained more than nine thousand of these manorial
estates. Another name given to this land was a Fief. A fief was the land held by a vassal of a lord in return
for stipulated services, chiefly military.
Fief
Medieval Manors - The Lands of the Manors
The lord's land was called his "demesne," or domain which he required to support himself and his retinue.
The rest of the land of the Manors were allotted to the peasants who were his tenants. A peasant, instead of
having his land in one compact mass, had it split up into a large number of small strips (usually about half
an acre each) scattered over the manor, and separated, not by fences or hedges, but by banks of
unploughed turf. Besides his holding of farm land each peasant had certain rights over the non-arable
land of the manors - the common land. He could cut a limited amount of hay from the meadow. He could
turn so many farm animals including cattle, geese and swine on the waste. He also enjoyed the privilege of
taking so much wood from the forest for fuel and building purposes. A peasant's holding, which also
included a house in the village, thus formed a self-sufficient unit.
Medieval Manors - Hunting on the lands of the Manors
The Feudal System right of hunting was of all privileges dearest to and most valued by the nobles. The
severest and cruellest penalties were imposed on "villains" who dared to kill the smallest head of game on
the lands owned by the lord.
Medieval Manors - The Manor House
The lords who occupied his manor would invariably build a Manor House for his wife and family. Manors
which were not occupied by the lord were managed on his behalf by a bailiff. The Manor House was
residential property, and differed from castles in that it was not built for the purpose of attack or defence.
The Manor House varied in size, according to the wealth of the lord but generally consisted of a Great
Hall, solar, kitchen, storerooms and servants quarters.
Medieval Manors - The names of the Medieval people who worked on the manors
The lords of the Medieval Manors exercised certain rights including Hunting and Judicial rights. The
Lord of the Manor was based in the Manor House and from here he conducted the business of the manor.
People who worked on the manor are described as follows:
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Vassal - A Vassal or Liege was a free man who held land ( a fief ) from a lord to whom he paid
homage and swore fealty. A vassal could be a Lord of the Manor but was also directly subservient
to a Noble or the King
Bailiff - A Bailiff was a person of some importance who undertook the management of manors
Reeve - A Reeve was a manor official appointed by the lord or elected by the peasants
Serf - A serf was another name for a peasant or tennant. Medieval Serfs were peasants who worked
his lord's land and paid him certain dues in return for the use of land, the possession (not the
ownership) of which was heritable. The dues were usually in the form of labor on the lord's land.
Medieval Serfs were expected to work for approximately 3 days each week on the lord's land.
Peasant or Villein - A peasant or villein was a low status tenant who worked as an agricultural
worker or laborer. A peasant or villein usually cultivated 20-40 acres of land
Cottager: A low class peasant with a cottage, but with little or no land who generally worked as a
simple laborer
Servant: Servants were house peasants who worked in the lord's manor house, doing the cooking,
cleaning, laundering, and other household chores
Medieval Manors - The Role of a Yeoman
A yeoman owned his own land and often farmed it himself. His land would be equivalent to 30 - 120 acres.
A yeoman of the Middle Ages was required to be armed and trained with a bow. Wealthy yeoman would
be expected to also be trained and armed with a sword, dagger and the longbow. Yeoman were therefore
often employed to guard and protector the nobility.
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