The parish and manor of Kedleston now contain about 1,000 acres, of which 580 are in the Pak; but it may, perhaps, admit of doubt whether the vill of Kedleston did not contain a greater quantity of land when the first deed was executed.
As far as any deeds exist, and as far as is known, the estate granted by the first deed has never been divided; and consequently the statements of Collins that Richard (IX.) held the fourth part of a knight's fee, and that Richard (XI.) held three parts of a knight's fee, would appear to be incorrect.
Several things in the first deed, which was executed in 1198 or 1199, are worthy of notice. "Villa, in our law and in our ancient deeds, has two different meanings. Among the Saxons it denoted an estate in the country, with suitable buildings, into which the produce of the estate might be carried; the word being formed from "vehilla, quod in eam convehantur fructus." This is, no doubt, the original meaning of the word, and hence came the name villanus, a villain, which originally denoted a person living in a vill, and had no degrading meaning; but in course of time was applied to designate the bondsmen of the lord of a manor, and, as they were of a low and vile condition, it ultimately came to be applied to any low, degraded, or vicious person. Villa, in the sense we have described, is common in our old deeds, and is frequently used as equivalent to a manor. Thus, in a grant by Queen Elizabeth, Sir Henry Curwen is styled "dominus villæ et manerii de Workington." And there can be no doubt that in this deed villa has the meaning referred to, A subsequent deed in 1410 grants "manerium nostrum de Ketilstone cum omnibus pertineutiis suis, simul cum advocatione ecclesifc ejusdem villæ;" where villa and manerium are plainly used as denoting the same thing. And in the Domesday Survey Kedleston is described as a manor.
The more modern meaning of villa, according to Spelman, is "plurium mansionum connectio," and, according to others, it must consist "de pluribus mansionibus et vicinis." We have a deed, in which the terms "in villa et campis de Leek" are used; where villa is plainly used as applied to the part of Leek covered with buildings, in contradistinction to the country part. The terms village or town best represent villa in this sense.
The solemnity of the execution of the first deed here given is remarkable. First we have four judges, Hugh Bardolf (a judge in the time of Henry II., Richard I., and John), Roger Arundel (a justice itinerant in the time of Richard I. and John), Philip Fitz Robert (a justice itinerant in the time of Richard I.), and Geoffry Haket, alias Haget (a judge in the time of Richard I.). Then come other barons and lieges of the king then present, and as we understand this deed, none of these are named; for if this description had been intended to apply to the persons afterwards named, it would have followed after them, in the same way as "Justices of our Lord the King" follows after the judges previously named. Then come certain persons who are named, and lastly many others unnamed.
The deed is really undated, the time mentioned referring to the time when the judges were at Nottingham, which is the 10th Rich. I. This year extended from July 6, 1198, to April 6, 1199, and the deed may have been executed at any time between those dates. We have
