Aldham (Suffolk) was held continuously through the later Middle Ages by the de Vere earls of Oxford. It formed part of a cluster of demesne manors in north Essex and south Suffolk, close to one of the earls' principal residences at Castle Hedingham (Essex). As a medium-sized manor, with a high proportion of villein land and held continuously by a single aristocratic family, Aldham provides a good example of the type of manor where villeinage should have been strongly and conspicuously upheld.

Customary land tenures

In the early fourteenth century there were more than 200 acres of customary land at Aldham, organized into 28 standardized holdings: four 15-acreware, sixteen 8-acreware, three 4-acreware and five 1-acreware holdings. The area of free land is not known, although it was probably greater than the customary area, and some land was held on mollond tenure (an intermediary tenure between free and unfree). Each 15-acreware villein holding owed a nominal cash rent, ploughing service on six acres of demesne, and a total of 17 week and 42 harvest works each year; each 8-acreware holding owed a nominal cash rent, ploughing service on three acres of demesne, and 11½ week and 42 harvest works; while the smaller holdings owed no ploughing services, but carried a heavier relative burden of other labour services.