Lay Subsidy Rolls

The lay subsidy was the name given to any tax imposed on non-clergy, ie ordinary people, for a specific purpose such as to subsidise a foreign war. The Rolls are the documents on which lists of tax-payers are recorded. Each roll is made of long and narrow pieces of parchment about 18 centimetres (7 inches) wide, sewn end to end, to make a continuous strip which is then rolled up to form a giant wheel of cartwheel proportions. Lay Subsidy Rolls from about 1280 to 1334 exist as a major source for medieval history. The tax fell out of use but was revived by Henry VIII, and further occasional assessments were made through to 1623.

The tax was sometimes known as the Tenth and Fifteenth because it was levied on one-tenth of movable property in a town and one-fifteenth of similar property in the countryside, although the detail of the Rolls listed below differs from these proportions. Movable property was chosen for the tax assessment because by this time, wealth was no longer only in the ownership of land. As we don’t know the number of people exempted (due to poverty) and the number who evaded the tax, the Rolls cannot be used to estimate the size of the population, but they do indicate the comparable wealth of different places and identify the prominent families and individuals.

Four Rolls survive for Wychbold and surrounding manors, the area which became Dodderhill, from about 1280, 1327, 1522-7 and 1603. For more information on each Roll, please click on the individual entries below.

The amount paid was recorded in shillings (one-twentieth of a pound, abbreviated as ‘s’) and pence (one-twelfth of a shilling, abbreviated as ‘d’). A mark (marca) was six shillings and eight pence, one-third of a pound; and a half mark (dim marca) was three shillings and four pence, one-sixth of a pound. The totals for each manor are given, sometimes including amounts in pounds (abbreviated as ‘li’). Roman numerals are used.

Each name was written using Latin, and we give a translation which where known includes the meaning of the surname or description of the person. L after a name in our list indicates someone who was probably the Lord of the manor (who could be a man or woman) because of their position on the list and/or the amount paid.

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Lay Subsidy Roll 1280

Lay Subsidy Roll 1327

Lay Subsidy Roll 1603

Click here to download free software to view the lists above