We are very lucky to have a list of householders in Langham in 1305. A survey was made in that year of
the Countess of Cornwall’s possessions in Rutland including Oakham Lordshold and Langham. It even
listed what duties each tenant owed to the Lord, but as each duty has a monetary equivalent attached it
is thought that by then the duties had been commuted for cash. In 1305 most people did not have
surnames, a man was known by his place of birth, by his occupation, by a nickname, by the place in the
village where he lived, or as (for example) “John son of Richard.” (By the end of the 1300’s almost
everyone had adopted a surname.) The survey shows that in Langham there were seven Free Tenants:
Richard de Ware
William de Okeham
Thomas de Bokeland
Gilbert Clere
Henry Stele
William in the Holme
Hugh son of Christiane
There is a note that “the community of the town” held one acre paying twelve pence a year. Was this a
recreation ground? Then there were fifty-eight Bondmen, mostly described by their father or mother’s name.
There were some nicknames such as:
Thomas le Goude
Agnes Garbod
Millicent Syred
Robert Spynke
A few were identified by locality:
Roger in le Lane
Hugh a la Grene
Henry Benethegate
William Byeston
Some tenants are women, including “Agnes who was the wife of Richard son of Simon son of Godwin”.
Finally there were about thirty one Cottagers, tenants of a cottage and no more. They included:
Robert atte Grene
William Fynche
The woman of Weston
Beatrice Benerech
Langham Village History Group ~ © 1996 - 2022
Langham in the 2nd Millenium - by David Tew