162 MANORIAL ADMINISTRATION
On most manors we may confidently imagine that the steward
only came into actual contact with the peasant at the Manor
Court or in exceptional circumstances, although his orders and
decisions as to the manorial economy must have had a great effect
on the lives of everyone in the village. Much closer to the
villager—often in daily contact with him we find lesser officials,
and of these the bailiff and the reeve are most important. It is
necessary to avoid sweeping statements with regard to these two
officials, for every manor had its own system. Sometimes we
find both bailiff and reeve active on the manor; sometimes the
bailiff is in charge of several manors and has to move about
frequently to supervise their effective working; sometimes we
find no trace of any bailiff at all, for many manors, no doubt, were
controlled by the lord in person or by a member of his family,
thus obviating the need of a bailiff.1 Small manors, or manors
lying close together and belonging to the same lord, were often
overseen by a bailiff who only paid occasional visits. To this
end Simon of Senlis writes:
Know also, Lord, that I will, if you please, commit the custody
of your manor of Bissopestone to Henry, a serving man (? serviens) of
Bourne, and chiefly on account of the sheep, because I think Henry
will manage in such a business well and competently, and will also be
able easily to keep (custodire) the manor of Bourne, together with the
manor of Bissopestone, and easier than Burne and Bexle on account
of the crossing over the water.. .and then some one else will be able
to keep Bexle without a horse.2
The large number of instances in which we find a bailiff managing
more than one manor suggests that this was a very common
practice, and that the presence of both reeve and bailiff through-
out the whole of the year on any but very large manors was
wasteful.3 These officials who over-saw a number of manors
were often given the rank and pay of a sergeant (serviens), but
there is little to differentiate their duties from those of the ordinary
bailiff.4
1 Rogers, Prices, n, 608 ff.; Kettering Compotus, 84.
* Sussex Arch. Soc. in, 54.
8 Wykeham's, Register, n, 229,497,5^2; Mm. Ace. 1143/18; Rogers, Prices,
I, 13; Davenport, op. cit* 50, etc.
* Hall, Winton Pipe Roll, 13, 15, 16, 34, 50; and especially xvn; A.A.S.R.
327, 330.