One of them is a charter, dated 973, which purports to confirm the acquisition of various estates by Bishop Æthelwold for the refoundation of Thorney Abbey. Although the charter is spurious in its present form, it is nevertheless thought to preserve an authentic core. The text reports that Ælfric, called "miles", sold Water Newton, Huntingdonshire, to Æthelwold for 20 "librae" of silver. Although he initially contested the alleged outcome of the transaction, he consented on accepting from the bishop a further amount of silver (13 "librae") as well as some land at "Ræsen" (possibly Market Rasen, Lincolnshire) and Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire. Æthelwold also acquired part of Yaxley from Ælfric. Another religious house re-established by Æthelwold was Peterborough Abbey. A list of sureties dating from Ælfric's time as ealdorman (983 x 985) suggests that it, too, acquired some of Ælfric's lands. Ælfric is also found in the company of Bishop Æthelwold on other occasions. The "Liber Eliensis" specifies that the meeting of King Edgar at which Bishop Æthelwold bought land at Gransden, was attended by Ælfhere, Æthelwine and Ælfric Cild. According to the same source, Ælfric was joining Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester, the young ætheling Æthelred, "then an earl ["comes"]", and his mother Queen Ælfthryth when they were doing business at Ely Abbey sometime in the reign of King Edward the Martyr (975-978). The text remembers these years as a time "when the government of the kingdom was in disorder and the legal tenure of the land disrupted". Ælfric's presence may indicate that he belonged to a faction which supported Æthelred's claims to the throne, one which included Bishop Æthelwold. Ælfric is associated with Ælfhere in a number of local transactions. Sometime between 971 and 980, Ælfric witnessed a charter, issued in the absence of the king, which records that Ælfhere sold land to Ordgar, abbot of Abingdon. The "Liber Eliensis" names Ælfhere, Æthelwine and Ælfric "Cild" as those present at a local council which was held at Slaughter, Gloucestershire sometime after King Edgar's death.