All the manorial lords, especially the monasteries, were usurers.
Baring-Gould spent the last 43 of his 90 years at Lew Tren-chard, a manorial estate on the western edge of Dartmoor, on which he inherited the position of squire from his father.
Last week, along with 26 other manorial lordships, it was knocked down at auction for a paltry $924.