For building of strengths on the borders

Item, it is statute and ordained for the safety of men, their goods and gear upon the borders in time of war and all other troublesome times, that every landed man dwelling in the inland or upon the borders having there a hundred pound land of new extent shall build a sufficient barmkin2 upon his heritage and lands in the most suitable place, of stone and lime, containing three score foot of the square, one ell thick and six ells high, for the protection and defence of him, his tenants and their goods in troublesome times, with a tower in the same for himself if he thinks it expedient, and that all other landed men of smaller rent and revenue build palisades and great strengths as they please for the safety of themselves, men, tenants and goods, and that all the said strengths, barmkins and palisades be built and completed within two years under the pain.

  1. NAS, PA2/8, II, f.19v. Not contained in NAS, PA2/8, III version.
  2. Barmkin: 'A battlement or battlemented wall; a wall of defence' [DSL].