parcels of land are classed under the names of the several possessors. After an enumeration of various possessions of the Bishop of Salisbury, to whom the Abbot of Sherborne was subject, it continues: "The same bishop holds Lym: it is arable land: one carucate; and has never paid the geld. Fishermen rent it and pay 15 shillings to the monks for the privilege of fishing. There are four acres of meadow. The bishop has one house, yielding 6 pence. "Land of Holy Mary of Glastonbury.—This church held Lym in King Edward's time: paying geld for three hides. It is arable land: four carucates. Ulviet rented it and still rents it of the abbot, having two carucates, 9 villains,* 6 bordars, and four acres of land there. The pasture is four furlongs in length and two in breadth; also ten acres of wood. There are 13 saltmen who pay 13 shillings. The whole is worth 40 shillings. "William Belet's Possession (the Thane).-The same William holds Lime. Alueue did in King Edward's time, paying geld for one hide. It is arable land: one carucate. There is 1 villain, with half a carucate and 13 saltmen. The mills there pay 39 pence. There are 3 acres of meadow. The pasture is 3 furlongs in length and 1 furlong in breadth; and one furlong of wood in length and breadth. It is worth 60 shillings." The annals of Lyme are of a truly pleasing character * Villains: the lowest order of servants. Bordars: persons of a less servile condition, who held a bord, or cottage, with land, on condition of serving the lord's table with provisions. from the time this survey was made. It attained by progressive steps that eminence which subsequent reigns witnessed. Pope Eugenius III., by a bull A. D. 1145, confirmed the previous grant of the Church and Fishery to the Abbey of Sherborne. Trade began to be carried on by the inhabitants, and Henry III., in the 55th year of his reign, granted them permission to hold a fair and market. This is the first positive indication of the increasing importance of the town. The merchants had already existed as a numerous and respectable body, when Edward I., who has been termed with justice the English Justinian, granted to the town the liberties of a haven and borough; before which time, Coker observes, it made no great figure, not being enfranchised. The manor of the Abbot of Sherborne came to the Crown, but it is not ascertained whether by exchange or purchase. The same happened to the Abbot of Glastonbury's manor. Of William Belet's portion nothing whatever is recorded: Hutchins supposes that it was swallowed up in one of the other two, and that both united might have been granted either to the town or some particular persons, In the 8th Edward I. the jury certified the Abbot of Sherborne's claim of assize of bread and beer at Lyme; Elias de Rabayne, supposed to be the abbot's steward, was summoned to answer by what authority he held a 'market in the town. At the higher part of Broad-street was a road leading to Sherborne: it was situated a little farther east than the present Sherborne-lane. On digging in some of the adjacent gardens traces of the road are visible. parcels of land are classed under the names of the several possessors. After an enumeration of various possessions of the Bishop of Salisbury, to whom the Abbot of Sherborne was subject, it continues:— - "The same bishop holds Lym: it is arable land: one carucate; and has never paid the geld. Fishermen rent it and pay 15 shillings to the monks for the privilege of fishing. There are four acres of meadow. The bishop has one house, yielding 6 pence. "Land of Holy Mary of Glastonbury.—This church held Lym in King Edward's time: paying geld for three hides. It is arable land: four carucates. Ulviet rented it and still rents it of the abbot, having two carucates, 9 villains,* 6 bordars, and four acres of land there. The pasture is four furlongs in length and two in breadth; also ten acres of wood. There are 13 saltmen who pay 13 shillings. The whole is worth 40 shillings. "William Belet's Possession (the Thane).-The same William holds Lime. Alueue did in King Edward's time, paying geld for one hide. It is arable land: one carucate. There is 1 villain, with half a carucate and 13 saltmen. The mills there pay 39 pence. There are 3 acres of meadow. The pasture is 3 furlongs in length and 1 furlong in breadth; and one furlong of wood in length and breadth. It is worth 60 shillings." The annals of Lyme are of a truly pleasing character * Villains: the lowest order of servants. Bordars: persons of a less servile condition, who held a bord, or cottage, with land, on condition of serving the lord's table with provisions. from the time this survey was made. It attained by progressive steps that eminence which subsequent reigns witnessed. Pope Eugenius III., by a bull A. D. 1145, confirmed the previous grant of the Church and Fishery to the Abbey of Sherborne. Trade began to be carried on by the inhabitants, and Henry III., in the 55th year of his reign, granted them permission to hold a fair and market. This is the first positive indication of the increasing importance of the town. The merchants had already existed as a numerous and respectable body, when Edward I., who has been termed with justice the English Justinian, granted to the town the liberties of a haven and borough; before which time, Coker observes, it made no great figure, not being enfranchised. The manor of the Abbot of Sherborne came to the Crown, but it is not ascertained whether by exchange or purchase. The same happened to the Abbot of Glastonbury's manor. Of William Belet's portion nothing whatever is recorded: Hutchins supposes that it was swallowed up in one of the other two, and that both united might have been granted either to the town or some particular persons, In the 8th Edward I. the jury certified the Abbot of Sherborne's claim of assize of bread and beer at Lyme; Elias de Rabayne, supposed to be the abbot's steward, was summoned to answer by what authority he held a market in the town. At the higher part of Broad-street was a road leading to Sherborne: it was situated a little farther east than the present Sherborne-lane. On digging in some of the adjacent gardens traces of the road are visible. Dugdale alludes to a manor of the Abbot of Glastonbury, containing about this time six hides. This has been considered to relate to Uplyme, although his was the largest of the three manors, and has been confounded with Colway. Gregory Charlemaigne held a place [placea] in Lyme of the abbot by knight's service, and yearly rent of 4s. and suit of court at Uplyme: the town is distinguished as Netherlym-supra mare. The history of Lyme for many years is almost exclusively the history of the borough. After it became the demesne lands of the Crown, and then the king's borough, it received the additional name of Regis, which it has ever since retained. King Edward I., in the twelfth year of his reign (1284), by a charter, dated at Aberconway, granted that the town of Lyme be a free borough, and the men to be free burgesses; that they might have a guild [gilda mercatoria] and other liberties, and free customs throughout England, which had been granted by his predecessors to the burgesses of Melcomb-Regis and the citizens of London, relating to mercantile affairs. The grant of these liberties conspired so eminently to the prosperity of the town that many merchants soon after came to settle in it; and a bridge was erected to facilitate the communication between the two sides of the river,- a spot selected for building as it enjoyed a contiguity to the key. The merchants who came to Lyme about this period were principally from the interior, as the numerous local names of early representatives sufficiently demonstrate. The town's first flourishing period was approaching. No |