Holding

       To continue on down the land tenure concepts active for generations among my Jones surname family tree, is moving from 16 legal acres (the shareland : last post) to 64 legal acres now called a "Holding". This was the grouping of 4 tofts into 1 shareland and, then the grouping of 4 sharelands into 1 holding. All this grouping was considered family land (blood relations) and would by several generations down the family tree involve brothers, uncles, cousins, grandfathers and maybe even the great-grandfather. Here again is a copy of my drawings trying to organize all this family collections of land.

      Now, as before, here is an enlarged copy of such a holding as photographed from the air estimated to be occupied before 300 AD. [see last post].

       You might imagine how this holding could include a stable for the horses, a barn for the milk cows, a cowhouse for cattle and, a sheepcote and pigsty for the remaining critters. Of course, there would be a larder and kiln house for diet and drying of harvest. All the families' survival activities would be clustered among the holding.