40 ESSEX AS A WINE-PRODUCING COUNTY.
county still retain the same name ; thereby affording evidence of
the use to which they were anciently put.
There is, however, evidence, much clearer than the foregoing,
testifying to the fact that the vine was once cultivated at various
places in this county for the purpose of making wine. This
evidence takes the form of actual contemporary records. For
instance, there are in Domesday Book distinct records of no fewer
than eight vineyards which existed in Essex at the time of the
Great Survey (1086). It appears, indeed, that Essex was able to
claim no less than one-fifth of all the vineyards existing in
England at that time ; for, according to Sir Henry Ellis,19 the
whole of Domesday Book contains references to the existence of
only about forty vineyards in England.
The eight Essex records in Domesday Book are as
follows20:—
(1.) At Rayleigh, on the land of Suene, there were "vi.
arpenni21 of vineyard, and it yields [says Domesday Book] xx.,
barrels of wine in a good season" (fo. lxxxvi.).
(2.) At Mundon, near Maldon, on the land of Eudo, there
were "ii. arpenni of vineyard" (fo. xcviii.).
(3.) At either Stambourne or Toppesfield, on the land of
Hamo, there was "i. arpennus of vineyard" (fo. cx.).
(4.) At Great Waltham, on the land of Geoffrey de
Mandeville, there were "x. arpenni of vineyard" (fo. cxv.).
(5.) At Debden, on the land of Radulphus Bainard, there
were "ii. arpenni of vineyard which bear and ii. others which do
not bear" (fo. cxlvi.).
(6.) At Stebbing, also on the land of Radulphus Bainard,
there were "ii. and a half arpenni of vineyard, and only half of
it bears" (fo. cxlvii.).
(7.) At Castle Hedingham, on the land of Alberie de Vere,
there were "vi. arpenni of vineyard" (fo. clii.). Of this vine-
19 Gen. Introduction to Domesday Book, i., p. 116.
20 For convenience, I have quoted the translated entries appearing in The Domesday
Book relating to Essex, translated by T. C. Chisenhale-Marsh (Chelmsford, 4o, 1864).
21 The arpent or arpennus, a French measure of land, was used, both in France and in
England, almost exclusively as a measure of vineyards, though there are several cases in
Domesday Book in which it is applied to woodland or meadow. There are. however, accord-
ing to Sir Henry Ellis, only four cases in Domesday Book in which the extent of a vineyard
is indicated by its acreage. The extent of an arpent, which is uncertain, was perhaps
variable, but it probably ranged from half-an-acre to an acre.