Witham | herewardthewake

Hereward's lands
in Lincolnshire

BARHOLM & Stowe

WITHAM ON THE HILL, Manthorpe, Toft & Lound
RIPPINGALE & Ringstone
ASLACKBY & Laughton

When the Gesta Herwardi framed him as 'Hereward of Bourne', the monks were giving him a convenient home, but the taxman knew better.
Domesday Book – the most extraordinary land survey in medieval Europe – tells a different story. Hereward was not a great castle-lord at Bourne, that was all a 19th century Kingsleyian construct. His landholdings indicate he was a middle-ranking thegn who held scattered manors on the limestone ridge and fen-edge of south Kesteven, nearly all leased from the two great abbeys of Peterborough and Crowland. Though there appears to be much more to it than that.

What is Domesday Book? In 1086, twenty years after the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror ordered a gigantic national audit – the greatest land-survey ever attempted in Europe until modern times. Commissioners rode circuit asking three brutal questions:

Who held this land in King Edward’s day (1066)?
Who holds it now (1086)?
How much is it worth?

The answers were written up in two huge volumes known as Great and Little Domesday. Nothing escaped: plough-teams, villagers, woodland, meadow, mills, even beehives. William wanted to know exactly what he had conquered and who owed him what.

Witham on the Hill
Manthorpe, Toft & Lound

Witham [on the Hill] was a settlement in Domesday Book, in the hundred of Beltisloe and the county of Lincolnshire.

It had a recorded population of 31.8 households in 1086, putting it in the largest 40% of settlements recorded in Domesday, and is listed under 5 owners in Domesday Book.

The name "Witham" comes from the Anglo-Saxon words "wīg" (a willow) and "ham" (a homestead or village), indicating it was a village by a willow tree.

1) Land of Peterborough (St Peter), abbey of

Households: 6 villagers. 2 freemen. 4 smallholders.
Ploughland: 1.5 ploughlands. 2 men's plough teams.
Other resources: Meadow 20 acres. Woodland 40 acres.
Annual value to lord: 2 pounds in 1086; 2 pounds in 1066.

Owners

Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Peterborough (St Peter), abbey of.
Lord in 1086: Asfrith.
Overlord in 1066: Peterborough (St Peter), abbey of.
Lord in 1066: Hereward ('the Wake'). (F21-Ph8,34)

Other information

This entry mentions multiple places: Lound; Manthorpe; Toft; Witham [on the Hill].

Other lands of Peterborough Abbey

2) Land of Peterborough (St Peter), abbey of (F21-Ph8,6)

Households: 2 villagers.
Ploughland: 0.5 ploughlands. 0.5 men's plough teams.
Other resources: Meadow 8 acres. Woodland 40 acres.
Annual value to lord: 5 shillings and 2 pence in 1086; 5 shillings and 2 pence in 1066.

Owners

Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Peterborough (St Peter), abbey of.
Lord in 1086: Ansfrid.
Lord in 1066: Peterborough (St Peter), abbey of.

Other information

This entry mentions multiple places: Lound; Manthorpe; Toft; Witham [on the Hill]

Nestled on the limestone ridge above the fens, Witham on the Hill is a quintessential Lincolnshire village with roots stretching back to the Anglo-Saxon era.
Recorded in Domesday Book (1086) as a prosperous manor held by Hereward 'the Wake' (along with its berewicks Manthorpe, Toft, and Lound), the village was part of Peterborough Abbey's extensive estates, boasting ploughlands, meadow, and woodland.
At its heart stands St Andrew’s Church, mentioned in Domesday and rebuilt in the 18th century, with earlier Norman fragments. Adjacent is the historic Manor House, Palace Farm, once the seat of local lords. Nearby, the village stocks – a rare surviving example – remind visitors of medieval justice.
Today, the village is also home to Witham Hall Preparatory School, a respected independent school set in beautiful grounds.
Witham on the Hill offers peaceful walks, stunning views, a village pub and a tangible link to Hereward’s 11th-century world.

Witham-on-the-Hill_stocks_-_geograph.org.uk_-_298968 (2).jpg by Brian Green.jpg

St Andrew's Church, Witham on the Hill - a church was recorded here in the Domesday survey.

Other Landholders

3) Land of Gilbert of Ghent (F39-Ph24,32)

Households: 2 villagers. 45 freemen. 14 smallholders.
Ploughland: 8.3 ploughlands. 1 lord's plough teams. 10.5 men's plough teams.
Other resources: Meadow 40 acres. Woodland 40 acres. 2 mills, value 3 pounds 4 shillings. 1 church.
Annual value to lord: 2 pounds in 1086; 1 pound in 1066.

Owners

Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Gilbert of Ghent.
Lords in 1086: Berewold; Gilbert of Ghent.
Lord in 1066: Ulf (Fenman).

Other information

This entry mentions multiple places: Lound; Manthorpe; Toft; Witham [on the Hill].

4) Land of Drogo of la Beuvrière (F50-Ph30,32)

Households: 6 villagers. 2 smallholders.
Ploughland: 0.6 ploughlands. 1 lord's plough teams. 1 men's plough teams.
Other resources: Meadow 30 acres. Woodland 40 acres.
Annual value to lord: 2 pounds in 1086; 1 pound 10 shillings in 1066.

Owners

Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Drogo of la Beuvrière.
Lord in 1086: Kolgrim (of Grantham).
Lord in 1066: Ulf (Fenman).

5) Land of Ralph Paynel (F54-Ph35,11)

Households: 4 villagers. 1 smallholder.
Ploughland: 1 ploughland. 0.3 lord's plough teams. 1 men's plough teams.
Other resources: Meadow 10 acres. Woodland 84 acres.
Annual value to lord: 10 shillings and 7 pence in 1086; 1 pound in 1066.

Owners

Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Ralph Paynel.
Lord in 1086: Hakon.
Lord in 1066: Merleswein (the sheriff).

Witham on the Hill Stocks By Brian Green, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12337351

Hereward's Witham on the Hill landholdings as recorded in Domesday Book. Folio 21 Philimores 8,34.

Click on the map and go to the Hereward Heartlands page where you can download the GPX and begin your hike from Witham on the Hill church.
Hike the Hereward Heartlands Trail around Witham on the Hill and its associate berewicks of Lound, Toft and Manthorpe and explore the Bowthorpe Oak on the trail, a mature oak in Hereward's time and his land all around it.
8.6km's (about 5.3 miles) 2.5 to 3 hours ramble.
'take the Hereward Trail across Hereward Country in search of Hereward..'