SEVEN
PILLERTON, WARWICKSHIRE 1214 AD
He expected to find himself back in the twenty-first century sitting in his armchair; instead, his panic-stricken eyes made out the airy walkway of a monastic cloister. Gingerly, Jake opened a large wooden door and walked into a chapter room, just in time to see a monk arrive with a message for his prior.
Successful lawyer Sir Philip de Beaumont had acquired land in Warwickshire among which, the village of Pillerton and surrounding terrain. One of his duties as proprietor was to ensure the scouring of the Red Horse which lay on the side of the escarpment near the village. The affairs of Sir Philip were of little interest to the local community except insofar as they affected their livelihood. The lawyer’s light-handed approach to their feudal obliga
