WRETHAM, (Norfolk) or WROTHAM-EAST or GREAT, to the S. W. of Shropham, anciently bel. to the abbey of Bec in Normandy; by
the register whereof, it appears that the tenants were obliged to pay scot and lot, by way of aid to the abbots, when they
came into England, or to their proctors; that they could not sell a horse, colt, nor ox of their own breeding up without
their Ld's. leave; nor marry their daughters, nor go to live out of the manor, nor remove their chattels out of it without
such licence; that they paid at every death the best beast for a heriot, or 32 l. instead of it; and if any one died
intestate, all their chattels were at their Lds. disposal. After harvest was ended by the tenants, they were to have half
an acre of barley, and a ram let loose in the midst of them, which, if they caught it, was their own, to make merry with;
but if it escaped from them, it was the Ld's. This is supposed to have given rise to the custom, continued to this day at
Eaton-college (on which this manor was afterwards settled by Hen. VI.) where a ram is let loose, on a certain day every
year, among the scholars, to be hunted by them. By grant of the said K. this manor hath a coroner, whose jurisdiction also
extends over the West-Wretham. Here are about 150 inh. who are assessed at 340 l. to the land-tax.