jan 1, 1515 - rodeland

Description:

A regional word for land cleared of trees. First encountered in an undated thirteenth-century document: ‘that parcel of land called <i>rodeland</i>’, Thurstonland (YRS65/154). It was used in the Wakefield area to distinguish between ancient town arable and land that had been assarted: it was a type of land and I have found no evidence to link it with place-names, unlike ‘royd’ and ‘ridding’ with which it shares much of its meaning: 1307 ‘it is called <i>rodeland</i> because it was cleared (<i>assartata fuit</i>) from growing wood’, Alverthorpe (YRS36/81); 1339 ‘John de Bouderode gave 40d to the lord for … an inquiry as to whether the land which he holds is from the ancient bovates or <i>rodeland</i>’, Ossett (WCR12/134). The dialect spelling ‘roydland’ is on record from the early fifteenth century: 1402 ‘one acre of meadow called <i>Roideland’</i>, Methley (YRS83/146); 1515 ‘half a bovate of land, four acres of land <i>de Roidelande’</i>, Hipperholme (MD225/1/241).

Added to timeline:

Date: