Beornweald 12 was a small landowner in east Kent whose single yoke of land was worth 12 shillings.
Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB
List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB
Holder 1066
Shire
Phil. ref.
Vill
Holder 1066 DB Spelling
Holder 1066
Lord 1066
Tenant-in-Chief 1086
1086
subtenant
Fiscal value
1066
value
1086 value
Holder 1066 ID conf.
Show on map
Kent
5,216
Each
Bernoltus
Beornweald 'of Each'
Edward, king
Odo, bishop of Bayeux
Osbern fitzLetard
0.50
0.60
0.80
A
Map
Total
0.50
0.60
0.80
The name Beornweald occurs only once in DB, as the owner of one of two small estates at Each, a mile or so west of the royal borough and port of Sandwich. Both manors comprised 1 yoke of land and were worth only a few shillings; the other one does not have its TRE owner recorded in DB (Kent 5:212). They presumably corresponded to the later hamlets and manors of Upper Each (now Each) and Nether Each (now Each End) but there is no means of deciding which Each was which (Hasted 1797–1801: X, 123–4).
Sandwich had a population of perhaps a couple of thousand, must have had extensive cross-Channel trading connections, and must have been supplied with foodstuffs from a hinterland which included Each. In light of those circumstances, the owner of Each may well have been a burgess of Sandwich rather than a rich peasant; and if he was a burgess he may well have had the Continental name Bernald rather than the English name Beornweald, though the latter remains a safer bet.
Bibliography
Hasted 1797–1801: Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of Kent, 2nd edn, 12 vols (1797–1801)
© 2016 King's College London