One of the ways of transferring land ownership from the 11th to the 17th century is referred to as feet of fines.

In essence this required both parties to appear before a court and enter into an legal action that was concluded by a legally binding agreement.

The agreement was drawn up three times on a sheet of paper with the top two entries taken by the parties involved and the bottom entry at the foot of the page  held by the court. This procedure gave the agreement the name Feet of Fines.

This method was especially popular with couples as it made legal challenges to a surviving wife's rights to inherit much more difficult that a normal legal agreement. The fact that a wife and husband appeared before a court to agree the transaction gave it much higher credance.

A further advantage was that a  record of the transaction was held by the court which also made forgery much less likely.

The Feet of Fines records provide an indication of local landowners.

Sometimes the people listed would actually live on land in the village although often they lived elsewhere whilst taking profit from activity on their land.

The importance to family historians is that they provide details of landowners at a time when records are comparatively scarce and are a useful source to help trace ancestors in a very distant period.