We have given above some figures which will enable our readers to compare the hides and the teamlands of a county with its modern acreage. Also we have confessed to thinking that we can hardly concede to every teamland that Domesday mentions 120 statute acres of arable land[1665]. On the other hand, we do not think that there would in general be much difficulty in finding 120 arable acres for every fiscal hide, though perhaps in the south the average size of the acre would be small[1666]. However, we have admitted, or rather contended, that before the middle of the eleventh century the hides of the fiscal system had strayed far away from the original type, and the sight of an over-hided vill would not disconcert us. But unfortunately we can not be content with such results as we have as yet attained. We have already seen that the hides attributed to a district show a tendency to increase their number as we trace them backwards[1667], and there are certain old documents which deal out hides so lavishly that we must seriously face the question whether, notwithstanding the continuity of the land-books, we must not suppose that some large change has taken place in the character of the typical tenement.

The Burghal Hidage.

We have said above that we have inherited three ancient documents which distribute hides among districts. We call them in order of date (1) The Tribal Hidage, (2) The Burghal Hidage, (3) The County Hidage. Of the youngest we have spoken. We must now attend to that which holds the middle place. It states that large round numbers of hides belong to certain places, which seem to be strongholds. The sense in which a large number of hides might belong to a burh will be clear to those who have read the foregoing pages[1668]. This document has only come down to us in a corrupt form, but it has come from a remote time and seems to represent a scheme of West-Saxon defence which was antiquated long years before the coming of the Normans. We will give its effect, preserving the most important variants and adding within brackets some guesses of our own.

The Burghal Hidage[1669]

Hides.
to Heorepeburan, Heorewburan[1670]324
to Hastingecestre [Hastings]15 or 500
to Lathe, Lawe [Lewes][1671]1300
to Burhham [Burpham near Arundel]726
to Cisseceastre [Chichester]1500
to Portecheastre [Porchester]650
to Hamtona and to Wincestre [Southampton and Winchester]2400
to Piltone, Pistone[1672], Wiltone [Wilton]1400
to Tysanbyring [Tisbury][1673]700
to Soraflesbyring, Soraflesburieg, Sceaftesbyrig [Shaftesbury]700
to Thoriham, Tweonham, Twenham [Twyneham][1674]470
to Weareham [Wareham]1600
to Brydian [Bridport or more probably Bredy][1675]1760
to Excencestre [Exeter]734
to Halganwille, Hallgan Wylla [Halwell][1676]300
to Hlidan, Hlida [Lidford]140
to Wiltone Wisbearstaple, Piltone wið Bearstaple [Pilton[1677] with Barnstaple]360
to Weted, Weced [Watchet][1678]513
to Orenbrege, Oxenebrege, Axanbrige [Axbridge]400
to Lenge, Lengen [Lyng][1679]100
to Langiord, Langport [Langport]600
to Bathan, Badecan, Baderan [Bath]3200(?)
to Malmesberinge [Malmesbury]1500
to Croccegelate, Croccagelada [Cricklade]1003 or 1300
to Oxeforde and to Wallingeforde [Oxford and Wallingford]2400
to Buckingham and to Sceaftelege, Sceafteslege, Steaftesege [Buckingham and ?][1680]600 or 1500
to Eschingum and to Suthringa geweorc [Southwark and Eashing][1681]1800

These figures having been stated, we are told that they make a total of 27,070 hides[1682]. And then we read ‘et triginta[1683] to Astsexum [al. Westsexum], and to Wygraceastrum mcc, hydas. to Wæringewice [al. Parlingewice] feower and xxiiii. hund hyda.’

Meaning of The Burghal Hidage.

Apparently we start at some burg in the extreme east of Sussex, go through Hastings, Lewes, Burpham, Chichester, Porchester, and then pass through Hampshire, through the south of Wiltshire, through Dorset to Devon, keeping always well to the south. Then in Devon we turn to the north and retrace our steps by moving to the east along a more northerly route than that which we followed in the first instance. In short, we make a round of Wessex and end at Southwark. This done, we cast up the number of hides and find them to be somewhat more than 27,000. Then in what may be a postscript the remark is made that to Essex and Worcester belong 1200 hides (probably 1200 apiece) and to Warwick 2404. The writer seems to know Wessex pretty thoroughly; of the rest of England he (if he added the postscript) has little to tell us. We might perhaps imagine him drawing up this statement under Edward the Elder[1684]. He hears reports of what has been done to make Essex defensible and of two famous burgs built in Mercia; but the military system of Wessex he knows[1685]. Of a military system it is that he is telling us. He does not take the counties of Wessex one by one; he visits the burgs, and his tour through them takes him twice through Wiltshire: westwards along a southerly and eastwards along a northerly line. It is an artificial system that he discloses to us. The 324 hides allotted to ‘Heorepeburan’ (a place that eludes us) may seem insufficiently round until we add it to the 726 given to ‘Burhham.’ The Wiltshire burgs seem to be grouped thus:—

Wilton
Tisbury
Shaftesbury
Malmesbury
Cricklade 		1400
700
700
1500
1300 		2800
2800 		5600

The Burghal Hidage and later documents.