Quit Rents

At about the time of William Rufus, (1056-1100) son of William the Conqueror, the obligation to perform military service by the Portlanders (and others) was replaced by a monetary payment known as “Quit Rent”, and meaning the tenants were “quit” of the obligation. The rent was fixed at three pence an acre with varying fractions for a house or garden and was payable to the Lord of the Manor until abolished in the 1920s.