Tuesday, October 19, 2010

What did the Normans think of Tonbridge....

Terra Epi Rovecestre
De ifto m est in Tonebrige tantu de filua 7 de tra. qd Isdem eps ten Estantes T.R.E. defd p v1. folins 7 m p iiii. folins....

Which is old Norman french and loosely translates as:
(under the heading) Land of The Bishop of Rochester

In Tonbridge there is as much woodland and land from this manor as is assessed at 20 shillings.

So there you have it our only mention in the Domesday book of 1086; that shows us what the Normans thought of Tonbridge: basically a pounds worth of timber which, admittedly, in those days was not insignificant. Better than no mention at all I guess!....

1 comment:

Paul Bailey said...

The Normans still thought it worth their while to build a castle in the town; even though it was probably constructed to keep the local populace in check!