Could anyone help with this?
In lay subsidy documents (PRO E 179 class) between 1523 and 1547, several
townships surrounding Bromyard and Ledbury in Herefordshire are fairly
consistently cited with the affix "Holywater" (usually with the main name in
the genitive, e.g. "Winslow is Holywatir"). They are "Linton Holywater",
"Norton H." and "Winslow H." (near Bromyard) and "Leadon H.", "Massington
H." and Wellington H." (near Ledbury). Also, in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of
1535 , the tithes of "le Holywater" are to go to Bromyard. The usage appears
not to have been recorded either before or after this period. The documents
were all created at different times and by different persons during the
reign of Henry VIII. Both Bromyard and Ledbury were collegiate churches.
I tried this on Mark Bateson at Canterbury, but he was stimied. Has anyone
come across this elsewhere, or have any ideas on an explanation?
John Freeman
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