Hugh de Audley, Yalding's
lord of the manor, is one of the largest landowners in England. Hugh
de Audley visits Yalding as often as he can, but while he is away,
the village is managed by his estate bailiff, John Giffard.
Hugh de Audley's main home
is Tonbridge Castle. He also owns
Court Lodge, the largest house in Yalding. John Giffard lives in Court
Lodge and Hugh de Audley stays there when he visits Yalding.
The vicar in Yalding is
Gilbert Hughes. He has only lived in Yalding for a year. Gilbert Hughes,
like all the vicars of Yalding since 1186, was previously a monk at
the Priory of St Mary Magdalene. This priory was built by Richard
de Clare at Tonbridge in about 1135.
Although the land at Yalding
is usually fertile, the people in the village have suffered considerable
hardships in recent years. Yalding is low lying and the land closest
to the river becomes flooded after heavy rainfall.
On 16th July, 1330 it began
raining at Yalding. It rained for the next two weeks and by August,
part of the village was under water. The rain destroyed a large proportion
of the crops and during the winter many people in Yalding died of
starvation.
In 1333 a drought resulted
in another bad harvest. The situation was made worse by a disease
that killed a lot of the sheep owned by the villagers. Two more bad
harvests followed. In 1334, as a result of a very cold spring, and
in 1335, when heavy summer rain ruined crops.
1. Copy the table below.
Read the last two paragraphs and then fill in the rest
of the columns.
2. Look at the Burial
Records. Write down in section 11 of your Family
Information Chart details
of any members of your family who died between 1330 and 1335.
3. (a) Draw a bar-chart
showing the death-rate in Yalding between 1329 and 1336. (b) Explain
why so many people died in Yalding in 1330, 1331, and 1334.
| Year |
Reason
for bad harvest in Yalding |
| 1330 |
|
| 1333 |
|
| 1334 |
a very
cold spring |
| 1335 |
|
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