Fovant in the Domesday book
"The church itself (St Mary at Wilton) holds Fovant. TRE it paid geld for 10 hides. There is land for seven ploughs. Of this land 5 hides are in desmesne, and there are two ploughs, and seven coliberts. There are eight villans, and seven bordars with five ploughs. There are two mills rendering 17s 6d and eight acres of meadow, pasture 4 furlongs long and one furlong broad, (and) woodland two furlongs long and one furlong broad. It is worth £7 10 shillings."
Meanings:
TRE - "tempore Regis Edwardi" - in the time of King Edward, that
is, before the conquest of 1066.
GELD - land tax, normally on a HIDE (the amount of land considered necessary
to support a family).
DESMESNE - land held by the LORD not by tenants.
COLIBERT - a freed man, a former slave
VILLAN : a villager, not a freeman because subject to the Manorial
Court.
BORDAR - a peasant of lower economic status than a VILLAN.
FURLONG - a measure of land 40 perches long. A Perch varied between 14 and 18
feet, sometimes up to 28 feet.
RENDER - to give a customary payment usually in kind, sometimes money.