Aspects of Kentish Local History

other monastic obedientiary, has survived for the later middle ages. In the first place, Room XYZ in the Dean and Chapter Library contains account-rolls of the bartoner for the years 1279-1428 and, secondly, accounts of the serjeant of the barton plough-land (caruca de bertona) for the period 1291-1471. In the same collection there are accounts of the bartoner as keeper of the malt-hall for the years 1377-1460, and a number of loose accounts for individual years. None of the series is, of course, unbroken, but the accounts occur with exceptional frequency in the years under consideration. Finally, rolls of the bartoner's court are extant for the period of 1434-1522, rounding off and completing an altogether remarkable body of manuscript survivals.
   Apart from his judicial work in the Barton court, the bartoner had four main functions allotted to him by the monastic chapter. First, he supervised the cultivation of the plough-land and the rearing of stock on the manor, which was placed under the immediate direction of a serjeant (serviens). Next, he saw to the receipt of barley and oats at the granaries. Thirdly, he was responsible for the milling and malting operations and, lastly, for the delivery of the malt at the brewery in the curia of the priory, where it was made into beer.
   The plough-land of the barton consisted of a wide belt of land to the north of the city, stretching from the parish of Northgate to the manor of Sturry. Part of it was simply called Bertona, but the larger part was known as Colton. All the main cereal crops, save rye, were grown

on the manor. In 1291, for example, 50 1/2 acres were sown with wheat, 73 1/2 acres with barley, and 4 1/2 acres with oats, making a total of 128 1/2 acres under crops. Wethers and ewes grazed on the pasture lands, and there were also a number of oxen and pigs. But the manor was not nearly as important as Ickham and Monkton and other large arable farms of the Christ Church monks in Kent. It was one of their smaller estates, and is chiefly of interest for the milling and malting operations which took place within its confines.
   It is easy to see why the Canterbury monks chose the manor of Northwood as the site of their barton. It was conveniently situated on the river Stour¹ and was within easy reach of Fordwich, the medieval port of Canterbury. After being unladen at the Fordwich quay, the corn was taken on pack-horse or by cart to the granaries of the barton by way of that long causeway which is still discernible on the Sturry Road. The great increase in corn production on the Canterbury estates in the thirteenth century was reflected in the buildings of the barton, for in 1225 the treasures devoted a sum of £20 towards the construction of a new granary for the storing of the vast corn supplies. All the barley and oats were taken to these granaries, and the bartoner was strictly enjoined in 1305 not to sell any without the express consent
  ¹ I am indebted to my friend Mr. Graham Webster, late of the Canterbury Surveyor's Department, for the accompanying map.