The date is given as the Sunday next before the feast of St Luke the Evangelist, which was held on 18th October. This was in the forty-eighth regnal year of Edward III [1374].

A10 has the character of a conditional defeasance, which should then make A9 equivalent to a bond, as a promise of forfeiture if another transaction is not completed. A10 identifies the background transaction as the loan from Alice to Sleford (or more likely made by Sleford before his death) to James Smyth, which is to be repaid. How the parties in A9 actually fit into the picture is obscure: the expectation would be for the property to be forfeited if Smyth did not pay on time, but the text is clear that it is forfeited if he does. Later equivalent pairings are more straightforward, making the continued validity of the grant conditional on payment of a specific sum which must be assumed to be the purchase price.