There are a number of terms used in the paper ‘Revisiting Some Medieval Documents of Widecombe Church’ which may not be immediately familiar to everyone, especially those who are not local to Dartmoor. Some ecclesiastical terms are included as well.

Term	Description
Acre	Imperial unit of land measurement, equivalent to 0.4047 hectares, or 4,840 square yards.
Advowson	The right to recommend the appointment of a rector or other nominee to a vacant position within a church. Such recommendations still had to be approved by the bishop.
Appropriation	The process whereby the local diocese took over control of an individual parish church, including its revenues.
Archdeacon	The person in charge of an area of the diocese (e.g., the archdeacon of Totnes).
Benefice	A position in a church with a right to revenues, a ‘living’. Size or value of a benefice can vary greatly from one church to another.
Bishop	The highest ranking person in a diocese.
Blackslade	A manor about a kilometre south-east of the village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor. Blackslade was mentioned in Domesday as Blacheslach. Nowadays it is combined with Dunstone to form Dunstone and Blackslade manor. It is believed that the northern portion of the manor was divided off to form part of Northall manor (today Widecombe Town manor).
Chantry	Special service to be performed for a deceased person on a regular basis, e.g., annually, usually paid for by a sum of money set aside for the purpose. Can also refer to a special chapel created for the purpose within a church or cathedral.
Chapel	A subsidiary place of worship to a church, with or without a permanent clergy of its own. Churches often have chapels within them but here we are referring more to a separate consecrated building elsewhere in the parish.
Chaplain	Clergyman usually in charge of a chapel.
Chapter	The body of clergy responsible for the management of a cathedral.
Clergyman	A person who is a member of the clergy.
Custody	One form of grant of control or jurisdiction over a church or incumbency, usually temporary.
Deacon	A clergyman ranking below rector or vicar, although a deacon in a large or wealthy church could rank higher than a rector or vicar in a small church. Probably appointed by a rector or vicar to conduct services, etc.
Dean	The person in charge of a cathedral.
Dean and Chapter (D&C)	The diocesan authorities and the cathedral administrators.
Diocese	The local church authorities and the area covered. Usually there are a considerable number of parishes within the local diocese.
Dunsterston	One of several old English names for Dunstone.
Dunstone	A small hamlet about a kilometre south of the village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor. The manor of Dunstone was mentioned in Domesday as Dunestanetune. Nowadays it is combined with Blackslade to form Dunstone and Blackslade manor. It is believed that the northern portion of the manor was divided off to form part of Northall manor (today Widecombe Town manor).
Ecclesiastical	Pertaining to the Church.
Glebe	Land that was usually owned by the church authorities and held for the benefit of the local rector or vicar.
Incumbency	The holding of the right to a benefice. The holder would not necessarily be resident locally. Could appoint (and pay) someone to conduct services, etc. An incumbency, once granted, was for life, or until the incumbent resigned. Exceptionally, an incumbent could be removed if his behaviour was not appropriate to his position.
Institution	The commencement of something, the granting of an incumbency or other benefit to a member of the clergy.
Knight	In medieval times a knight would have served his monarch as a knight in armour, a soldier, perhaps also as a provider of serving men. Probably was granted right to use the title as a result of the service that he provided.
Letters Patent	Published written order issued by a monarch or similar granting a right to an institution such as the Church.
Lord of the Manor	Person who owned or controlled the manor. May also be the patron of the church.
Manor	Area of land controlled by a lord. Usually (but not always) there are several manors within a parish.
Mark (money)	Never an English coin but referred to 2/3rds of £1, i.e., 160 pence where the pound was 240 pence (pre-decimalisation).
Master	‘Magistri’ in Latin. A person who had studied at a high level for at least seven years (and presumably passed his or her exams!)
Nordhull(e)	Old English spelling of North Hill (both with and without an ‘e’).
North Hall	An ancient, moated manor house just north of Widecombe church, no longer visible above ground. Also, the manor of the same name that it is believed was formed by taking the northern portions of Dunstone and Blackslade manors.
North Hill	The parish of North Hill in Cornwall. It lies south-west of Launceston and east of Bodmin Moor. 28 miles (45 km) from Widecombe-in-the-Moor.
Parish (ecclesiastical)	The local area within the religious jurisdiction of the parish church.
Parish (civil)	A local unit of civil jurisdiction. Usually (but not always) coincides with the ecclesiastical parish.
Patron	Person with the advowson of the church. Prior to appropriation this would normally be the lord of the manor, after appropriation it would be the Dean and Chapter.
Perch	Imperial unit of land measurement (now obsolete in the UK). There were forty perches to one rood.
Quitclaim	Legal agreement to give up a claim to something.
Rector	The person who is the incumbent of a parish church and has the rights to the tithes of that parish. If a church has been appropriated, then the diocese has those rights and becomes the rector appointing a vicar to run the parish church.
Rectory	House occupied by the rector of a parish.
Register	Official record of something. Here primarily refers to a bishop’s register of decisions, orders and other enactments. Also see Tithe Apportionment Register.
Rood	Imperial unit of land measurement (now obsolete in the UK), equivalent to 0.1012 hectares. There were four roods to one acre.
Sanctuary	A sacred place (such as Widecombe church), probably also incorporating the immediate surroundings of the church such as the churchyard.
Sentry	Believed to be a Devon dialect term for ‘sanctuary’.
Spitchwick Manor	Lies in the south of Widecombe parish. Mentioned in Domesday.
Statute of Mortmain	Legal statute first instituted by King Edward the First in 1279 to make the transfer of property illegal to an entity such as the Church other than with his express permission. ‘Mortmain’ literally means ‘dead hand’ and refers to the transfer to an entity that effectively cannot die, thus potentially reducing the king’s revenues, as taxes are often levied on death, e.g. through inheritance.
Tithe Apportionment Register	The register that was compiled in 1843/4 and used in conjunction with the Tithe Map. It specified the size of individual fields, their cultivation, owner and occupier and the rent charge to be applied. Also specified buildings, gardens and other non-agricultural features.
Tithe Map	Accurate map of the parish of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, completed in 1844 as the definitive basis for calculating the amount of money due in tithes by the landowners and occupiers. Primarily specified fields but buildings were also highlighted together with roads, water courses, etc.
Tithes	Traditionally one tenth of the yield of land in a parish. Divided into great tithes and small tithes. Great tithes are paid to the rector and are calculated on corn, hay, wood and similar produce. Small tithes are payable to the vicar and comprise all other tithes such as animal offspring, milk, etc. Tithes were often sold or leased to third parties in return for lump sum payments.
Vicar	The person who is the incumbent of the parish church where that church has been appropriated. The vicar will have been appointed by the diocesan authorities.
Vicarage	House occupied by the vicar of a parish.
Wodehaye	Old English name of area of land within which one acre was sold together with the advowson of Widecombe church.