Here follow the Services, Dignities and Dues that the men holders of the lands of the Seigneurie of the Fief D’Anneville are obliged to perform and render, each according to his tenure, to the Seigneur D’Anneville their landlord.

All men holders of Villein lands of the Seigneurie of the Fief D’Anneville owe Campart on tilled lands and also owe Revart de Campart on untilled lands, to wit six deniers per vergée each year to be paid to the Seigneur. Those Tenants who owe Campart are obliged to cart and bring it to the Seigneur’s slackyard and to stack it at their own expense and to cover it with their own coverings. If through their fault it suffers damage they shall answer for the damage. If it is uncovered by the wind, they shall replace the coverings at all times necessary. And they shall guard the stackyard until all the corn is gathered there. When the corn shall have been threshed the Assembleur shall have it winnowed and carried into the granary, and he shall have the straw and the chaff and his Sunday dinner. This shall be done and observed in every fee and tenement of villein lands of the Seigneurie of the Fief D’Anneville. And the Tenants pay their Chefrentes by the Small Measure.

The men holders of lands free of Carnpart must pay their Chefrentes by the Great Measure called Rente Censière, and the Tenants of each Fief or Tenement are obliged to elect an Assembleur to collect the Rentes and revenues due to the Seigneur, as well of Melange, Moulage. Poulage and Campart of corn, as of those of the other lands of the said Fief and Seigneurie hat are farmed out. And the said Assembleurs must bring all the Rentes and dues to the Seigneur’s granary or to such other place in the island as he may command that they bring them. Should the said Assemblers not pay their Rentes at the appointed times the Seigneur or his Receiver or clerk may cause them to be arrested by his Prévôt or Chief and imprisoned in his prison or in such other prison as it may please the Seigneur to imprison them.

To the aforesaid Seigneurie belongs the right of Court and Middle Justice, held on the lands of the fief by a Seneschal and a Clerk, chosen and appointed by the Seigneur of Anneville (added later: the Chaplain of the Chapel of ST. George), assisted by Freemen called Vavasseurs who hold lands of the said Seigneurie to perform the said service, and who hear causes in dispute and pleading between the Tenants living on the lands of the said Fief and Seigneurie of Anneville, as well of Personalty as of Realty. There is right of appeal from their findings to the Court of the lord of King in the said isle.

All the Freemen holders of Caruées or half Caruées of land are obliged to answer as Chiefs to the Seigneur of Anneville for their tenures and to pay him Relief or half-Relief and to render to him homage when there is a change of Tenant, this in recognizance that they hold and take of the said Fief and Seigneurie of Anneville. 

There are two Caruées of land of the said Seigneurie that have been given out for the rendering of the service of Notary to the said Court. The Abbot of St. Michel holds the Caruée of Rozel to provide one of the said notaries who sits with the Freemen In the said Court, the other Caruée is called the Caruée of Longues which the Abbot of Noirmoutier holds to provide the other notary, and they are called Sieurs (Gentlemen) for the time being, and they have the right to the rent of Melange.

There is another Caruée of land on which is built the Seigneur’s prison, the Chief Tenant is obliged to guard the prisoners, and he sits with the Freeman in the Seigneur’s Court, and he owes homage and Relief on a change of Tenant.

There are thirty-six bouvées of land called “the thirty-six bouvées of le Comte” and the Chief Tenants are obliged every year, each in his turn to guard the granary of the Seigneur during the time that the corn of the Seigneur’s Chefrentes and dues is brought there, one man by day and two men by night, and the said Chiefs of Bouvées must provide and elect a Prévôt at their own charge and expense who by his office gives seisin of lands, is party for the defaults of the Tenants In the Court of Heritage, attaches or abandons, and seizes and imprisons for debt or other causes the men of the said Seigneurie, is present at the execution of men of the said Seigneurie who are condemned to death taking them out of the hands of the King’s officers and seeing that the execution is carried out on the lands of the said Fief and Seigneurie of Anneville so that the forfeiture of their heritages and chattels shall belong to the Seigneur of the said Fief.

In the aforesaid fief and Seigneurie there are seven Bordages, the Bordiers of the said Bordages are obliged by their tenures to be present at the each sitting of the Plaids d’Heritages to bear record of the Judgments given by the Seneschal and Vavasseurs, and they are obliged  to be present at the execution of men condemned to death, and must be at the command of the Seigneur or of his Seneschal whenever they are notified.

All the Free Tenants, Prévôt, Officers and Bordiers are obliged to appear at the three Chief Pleas of the Seigneur’s Court and particular the Michelmas Chief Pleas on penalty of a fine, and shall have their dinner at the cost and expense of the Seigneur. All the other Tenants and under-tenants are obliged to appear at the Seigneur’s Court on being summoned, and the aforesaid Tenants of each Fee or Tenement must acknowledge and enumerate the lands that they hold and the Chefrentes and Revenues that they owe which must be done in authentic form signed by twelve honest Tenants, 1 and shall be kept by the Seneschal with the Rolls and Records of the Seigneur’s Court.

The Chief Tenants of the Villein Bouvéees owe Aid of Relief to their Seigneur, to wit twelve deniers Tournois per acre of their Chefvauté which is Free, the said fine is taken by the new Seigneur when he pays his Relief to the King for the Aforesaid Fief and Seigneurie of Anneville.

The Seigneur of the aforesaid Fief can call his men from the lord the King’s Court to hear the causes in dispute and pleadings of his men before they go into the said King’s Court. He takes and collects the fines of his said Court, he has the forfeitures of his men, the escheats by extinction of line, and the sales of the lands, rentes and revenues on the whole extent of his fief and Seigneurie.2 He has the right of pursuit, by his officers, of stray beasts taken on the lands of his fief and Seigneurie according to the custom of the Island. He has right to Wreck of the Sea which he must share with the lord the King in the manner that King Edward the First has ordered.

Six Bouvées of land of the aforesaid fief were in ancient times given to the commonalty of the Island to be a market place, which lands are situated between the Caruées of Anneville, Fauville and Rozel and are called Les Landes du Marché.

To the aforesaid fief belong la Mare de Carteret, la Clairemare and la Mare Hala with their fisheries and appurtenances, as well as other lands left as Commons along the seashore from the Chapel of Our Lady of Pulias to the brook of the Fountain of St. Briocq which flows into Rocquaine harbour in the parish of St. Peter-in-the-Wood. One half of the said vacant lands or Commons belongs to the Abbot of St. Michel and the other half to the Fief of Anneville.

All men who reside or make their dwelling on the lands of the said Fief are obliged to have their corn ground at the Seigneur’s mills, whether the corn is of their own growing or bought.

The Seigneur of the said Fief has his Manor, Chapels, Dovecote and Fishpond. He has the right of chase of hares and conies throughout the whole Island which right has been granted to him because of the liberty of the market which is held on the lands of his fief. He has the right of free Warren on all the lands of his fief and Seigneurie of Anneville by the grant of Edward the First, son of the illustrious King of England Henry the Third, as contained in his Charter sealed with the Great Seal of England. He takes and collects all other profits, emoluments and escheats that may occur on the lands of his said fief in the same way as the lord the King of England does in his fiefs in the said Island.

This is the true copy of the Extente of the Fief and Seigneurie of Anneville translated from the original Latin into French by the Notaires et Tabellions Apostoliques resident in this said Island, and acknowledged and approved by the assembly of the Seneschal, Vavasseurs, Officers, Prévôt, Bordiers and Tenants, and sealed with the Seal of the Jurisdiction of Le Comte, and delivered to the right honourable Seigneur, John de Chesnay. Seigneur of the said Fief and Seiqneurie of Anneville, the 8th of October the Year of Grace 1406.

Original Document here

A recent act authenticated in 2022 by the Royal Court affirms that the fief of Anneville retains all rights, revenues, emoluments, casualties, and other appurtenances and dependencies, with no exceptions, including all rights, charters, titles, and prerogatives pertaining to the said Fief. This is in accordance with a patent granted by King Henry III in the thirty-second year of his reign to Guillaume du Chesney and his heirs, which was confirmed to Thomas Faschin and his heirs forever by His Majesty King Henry VIII in the thirty-seventh year of his reign under the great Seal of England, EXCEPT for the rights transferred to Her Majesty and Her Royal Successors by the Order of Her Majesty in Council titled 'The Feudal Dues (Guernsey) Law 1980

In the intricate matter of the Fief d'Anneville's boundaries and privileges, the supremacy of legal documentation over historical speculation stands clear. The comprehensive legal structure, meticulously detailed in the "Enquiry on the rights of the Seigneurs d'Anneville" and corroborated by assessments from the King of England's commissioners, as well as crucial rulings from the Royal Court, such as the significant 1668/69 decision, unequivocally affirms the fief's legal standing and rights. Grounded in legal principles, these findings cut through historical ambiguities with decisive clarity. Historians must acknowledge that the complex tapestry of Guernsey's fiefdoms, muddled by the disappearance of original charters and the murky waters of subsequent historical events, renders historical narratives speculative at best. (If precedence were given to historical interpretation over legal fact, we would face a world rife with contradictions, such as the Duke of Normandy being a vassal to the French king based on historical ties!). Specifically, in the context of the Fief d'Anneville, the potential for even a single piece of evidence to redefine the entire historical landscape underscores the paramount importance of legal verdicts as the ultimate arbiters of truth. Immutable and commanding, these legal pronouncements define the only reality recognized by the juridical framework governing fiefs, relegating any conflicting historical interpretations to the realm of non-actionable speculation. READ MORE HERE