It is oft-stated that manorial records provide insights into medieval life that are not easily accessible through other sources. This volume provides examples from a range of such documents from Monks Eleigh, spanning the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries, and again demonstrating just how valuable these sources are for the historian. Vivienne Aldous has drawn together a scholarly edition of these records. Due recognition is also given to the research and memory of John Brian Weller, whose enthusiasm for Monks Eleigh led him to collate these documents, which were left to the University of Suffolk. Indeed, the book includes some examples of his own draft research and drawings.

As a manor of Christ Church, Canterbury, from 991 until its dissolution in 1540, and thereafter under the dean and chapter of Canterbury Cathedral, Monks Eleigh was part of a well-organised administration, even if its lord was absent. As so often, it is this oversight by a long-lived ecclesiastical institution that has enabled the survival of so many of the manor's records. Monks Eleigh was designated as a food manor, directly supplying Canterbury's monks with a range of produce, though this arrangement may have ended soon after 1285 with a reversion to cash rents. Similarly, it came under direct demesne management during the thirteenth century, but Aldous finds evidence that it was temporarily leased in the 1350s and was probably permanently leased out to a farmer by the end of the century. Such changes in manorial management also had an effect on the quality and survival of the documentation, especially after 1380.

The translated and transcribed documents cover several categories - court rolls, accounts, charters, rentals and extents - but they are only a selection of a larger corpus, partly determined by Weller's eclectic research choices. However, all thirty-six known charters from the Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Suffolk Archives are included, ranging from around 1155 to 1360, as are all the (sometimes fragmentary) surviving court rolls. There are fascinating instances of administrative and agricultural life that permeated these sources. For instance, visitations by the monk-warden and his entourage can be seen in the account expenses. We see other officials, such as steward of the court who organised inquests, as well as collating extents, rentals and surveys, as well as several reeves, bailiffs or serjeants, many of whom held office over several years.

The seven extents provide some tantalising surveys of labour services (such as ploughing, harrowing, sowing, reaping, carting and spreading dung), though Aldous recognises that these were the formal expectations and many may have been commuted or adjusted. Indeed, labour services at Monks Eleigh were increasingly converted into cash payments over the fourteenth century, and all were commuted by 1379-80. This was also the year of the first extant rental, perhaps in preparation for leasing the whole manor. This 1379-80 rental is a core document in this collection, listing the holdings of the manor and costing well over £3 to compile as part of an official perambulation. Aldous rightly considers the complexities involved in interpreting this land-holding data and variety of measurements, as well as the transference or continuities of data between rentals.

The annual demesne accounts included lists of rents, all of which were converted to money rents by 1380. The income and expenses give a glimpse into everyday life on an agricultural manor, including repairs, wages, fencing and weeding, while various livestock was also recorded in detail, including the amounts they consumed. The fifteenth-century farmers' accounts are much less detailed, and only two are provided in this volume as examples. Aldous also draws out 'building accounts' from the reeves' and farmers' accounts; this was a particular interest of Weller's.

There are not a significant number of surviving court rolls for Monks Eleigh and only a few, including both general courts and leet jurisdiction, were held each year. The type of business and petty offences are what might be expected on such manors, though they do have the benefit of reaching into the sixteenth century. After the Black Death, Aldous notes that there is little direct indication in these rolls of 'peasant resistance' or agitation, but she nevertheless tries to address what these records might tell us about Monks Eleigh and the 1381 revolt. This uprising seemingly involved better-off men from the manor, but it is difficult to ascertain whether the commutation of labour services or other administrative changes had any influence in their participation, especially as these appeared to be resolutions to some of the generally assumed rebel demands.

One unexpected set of legal documents concerns a particular moment of unrest within the village in 1481. This seemingly stemmed from a factional dispute over an unpaid debt, which led to the stealing of livestock and the illegal detention of the manor's lessee, Adam Turnour. Then, after evensong, Sir James Hobart "with divers other evill disposed persons riotously of their owen wrong [...] made assaute upon the seid Thomas Kebyll and Adam Turnour and them bete, wounded and evill entreted" (301).

There is no doubt that this is a very well-produced volume. Aldous provides both excellent contextual material and footnote references throughout, aiding our understanding of the sources. It is thus a fine addition to the repertoire of the Suffolk Records Society, which does such admirable service in bringing these medieval records to a wider audience.

James Davis