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Leofcild 5 was a small landowner, commended to Archbishop Stigand, who had 3 carucates worth £4 10s. divided between two adjoining estates in mid Suffolk. He was himself the lord of a handful of smaller men in the immediate vicinity.
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
Suffolk
29,2
Somersham
Leffcilt
Leofcild 'of Offton'
-
Roger d'Auberville
-
1.00
1.50
1.50
B
Map
Suffolk
7,60
Offton
Lefficilt
Leofcild 'of Offton'
Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury
Roger Bigod
Hugh de Houdain
2.00
3.00
3.00
B
Map
Total
3.00
4.50
4.50
Lord 1066
Shire
Phil. ref.
Vill
Lord 1066 DB Spelling
Holder 1066
Lord 1066
Tenant-in-Chief 1086
1086
subtenant
Fiscal value
1066
value
1086 value
Lord 1066 ID conf.
Show on map
Suffolk
7,60
Offton
Blæcsunu 'of Rendham'
unnamed antecessor of Roger Bigod
Roger Bigod
Hugh de Houdain
0.01
0.01
0.01
B
Map
Suffolk
7,60
Offton
Ealdwine 'of Offton'
unnamed antecessor of Roger Bigod
Roger Bigod
Hugh de Houdain
0.01
0.01
0.01
B
Map
Suffolk
7,62
Flowton
Lefcilt
Brungar 'of Burstall'
Leofcild
Roger Bigod
Hugh de Houdain
0.08
0.10
0.10
B
Map
Total
0.10
0.12
0.12
Offton and Somersham are adjoining vills and parishes about 6 miles north-west of Ipswich in the prosperous farming country of High Suffolk, and the Leofcild named as a landowner in both places was clearly the same person. At Offton, his 2 carucates made him the largest holder in the vill, and he was presumably the unnamed antecessor of Roger Bigod (his successor there) who was the lord of two small free men with just 1½ acres, having the full commendation of Blæcsune and half the commendation of Ealdwine. The parish church and its glebe were also recorded on Leofcild’s holding, but about half the vill was in the hands of other, smaller, free men. He was also the largest proprietor in Somersham, again with about half the vill (1 carucate). Another of his commended men was Brungar, who had 10 acres at Flowton, just south of Somersham.
Leofcild 5 is not likely to have been the same person as the sometime sheriff of Essex (Leofcild 3), since he was described as a free man rather than a king’s thegn and was commended to Archbishop Stigand, who also had the soke of Offton.
Leofcild’s manors were divided after the Conquest, Offton passing to Roger Bigod and Somersham to Roger d’Auberville, for reasons which are not yet clear: both places were in the heartland of d’Auberville’s fief, but Bigod also acquired several manors in this part of Suffolk.
Leofcild farmed at both Offton and Somersham in 1066, with 2 ploughs, a flock of 40 sheep, and some other livestock at Offton, and a single plough at Somersham.
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