We find the diſtinction of pariſhes, nay even of mother-churches, ſo early as in the laws of king Edgar, about the year 970. Before that time the conſecration of tithes was in general arbitrary; that is, every man paid his own (as was before obſerved) to what church or pariſh he pleaſed. But this being liable to be attended with either fraud, or at leaſt caprice, in the perſons paying; and with either jealouſies or mean compliances in ſuch as were competitors for receiving them; it was now ordered by the law of king Edgar[1], that “dentur omnes decimae primariae eccleſiae ad quam parochia pertinet.” However, if any thane, or great lord, had a church within his own demeſnes, diſtinct from the mother-church, in the nature of a private chapel; then, provided ſuch church had a coemitery or conſecrated place of burial belonging to it, he might allot one third of his tithes for the maintenance of the officiating miniſter: but, if it had no coemitery, the thane muſt himſelf have maintained his chaplain by ſome other means; for in ſuch caſe all his tithes were ordained to be paid to the primariae eccleſiae or mother-church[2].
This proves that the kingdom was then univerſally divided into pariſhes; which diviſion happened probably not all at once, but by degrees. For it ſeems pretty clear and certain that the boundaries of pariſhes were originally aſcertained by thoſe of a manor or manors: ſince it very ſeldom happens that a manor extends itſelf over more pariſhes than one, though there are often many manors in one pariſh. The lords, as chriſtianity ſpread itſelf, began to build churches upon their own demeſnes or waſtes, to accommodate their tenants in one or two adjoining lordſhips; and, in order to have divine ſervice regularly performed therein, obliged all their tenants to appropriate their tithes to the maintenance of the one officiating miniſter, inſtead of leaving them at liberty to diſtribute them among the clergy of the dioceſe in general: and this tract of land, the tithes whereof were ſo appro-
