The English Village Explained: Britain’s Living History (21 page)

Very useful for spotting archaeological features and for making sense of what may appear as just a set of lumps and bumps on the ground. Older photographs, which can date back to the 1930s, may also be useful in finding features which have since been ploughed over or removed, as well as recording the village before later development. Patterns which show up as marks in a field of corn or as shadows and parch marks on grass are not straightforward to interpret. The best starting point to find an aerial photograph of your village and parish is the National Monuments Record Centre (RCHME), Kemble Drive, Swindon, Wilts, SN2 2GZ.

Google Earth can also be a useful tool depending on when the images for your area were taken. As with aerial photos, old ridges and ditches will show up best in low winter sunlight and crop marks (the restricted or accelerated growth of crops due to a feature below ground) in summer. It may be worth spending some time scanning your local area for any regular-shaped features in the landscape.

The action of the modern plough across a field can bring to the surface artefacts, building material, charcoal and pottery from previous human activity. Many old settlements, deserted medieval villages, farmsteads, industrial workings and burials have been discovered by groups of enthusiasts and archaeologists simply walking systematically across freshly ploughed fields. You obviously need an expert eye and the permission of the farmer, but you may find that a local group have already covered the area and records of their finds are available. Alternatively you may be able to organise fieldwalking with the help of local archaeological groups or professionals.

Many local histories are mainly composed of the recollections of older members of the community, while there are useful books by groups like the Women’s Institute which have recorded the everyday lives of villagers in the early 20th century. You can interview locals
yourself, especially people who have lived there since childhood or own a particular building you are interested in. Always try and take notes though or ask permission to record the conversations as with all the snippets of information you will pick up, their value may only appear upon a later revelation.

Below are listed websites which may be of interest, some relating to the subjects mentioned above:

www.nottingham.ac.uk/~aezins//index.
php – Institute of Name-Studies at the University of Nottingham, with useful links

www.snsbi.org.uk
– Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland

www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk

www.british-history.ac.uk
– digital library of sources for medieval and modern history, including most counties’ entries for the Victoria County Histories

www.pevsner.co.uk

www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk
– an introduction to architectural history

www.buildinghistory.org.uk
– local collaborative projects

www.cassinimaps.co.uk
– online historical map shop (others can be found at
www.old-maps.co.uk
and
www.oldhistoricalmaps.co.uk
)

www.domesdaybook.co.uk

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
– website of The National Archives, with many downloadable information leaflets and a searchable catalogue.

www.historicaldirectories.org.uk
– searchable trade and county directories

www.english-heritage.org.uk

www.nationaltrust.org.uk

www.bbc.co.uk/history

www.lhi.org.uk
– Local Heritage Initiative

www.archaeology.co.uk
– Current Archaeology magazine

Below are listed a few books which contain extra information that will help to set village history in context (dates listed are of my copies, there may be more recent issues).

The Story of Britain
, Roy Strong (1996)

Local History in England
, W.G.Hoskins (1984)

Village and Farmstead
, Christopher Taylor (1983)

The Shell Book of English Villages
. (ed) John Hadfield (1980)

Interpreting the Landscape: Landscape Archaeology and Local History
, Michael Aston (1985)

The Rural Settlements of Medieval England
, (ed) Michael Aston, David Austin and Christopher Dyer (1989)

Starting out in Local History
, Simon Fowler (2001)

The History Today Companion to British History
, (ed) Juliet Gardener and Neil Wenborn (1995)

Discovering Local History
, David Iredale and John Barrett (1999)

The Shell Guide to Reading the Landscape
, Richard Muir (1981)

The Illustrated History of the Countryside
, Oliver Rackham (1994)

Villages in the Landscape
, Trevor Rowley (1978)

The English Rural Landscape
, (ed) Joan Thirsk (2000)

The meanings listed here relate to their use in this book, they may have alternative meanings as well
.

Anglican:
An adjective to describe the Church of England.

Anglo-Saxon:
The period from the departure of the Roman Legions in AD 410 to the Norman Conquest in 1066. Named after the Angles and Saxons, two of the Germanic groups who settled here.

Apse:
The semi-circular or polygonal extension of a chancel on some Saxon and Norman churches. Also replicated on many Victorian churches.

Assarting:
The clearing out of trees to make fields for crops.

Byre:
The half of a medieval long-house in which the livestock were kept.

Capital:
The decorative top of a column.

Classical:
In this book referring to the style of building popular in the 17th to 19th centuries based upon Ancient Greek and Roman architecture.

Dark Ages:
The term which historians applied to the 5th to 7th centuries AD due to the lack of written sources and archaeological finds.

Daub:
A mix of mud, clay, straw and other ingredients applied to wattle infill in a timber-framed building.

Ecclesiastical:
Of the church.

Edifice:
A large imposing building (in this case a church).

Façade:
Front or face of a building.

Fallow:
Land which has been ploughed but left uncultivated for a period of time to return nutrients to the soil.

Farmstead:
The farm and its associated buildings.

Gothic:
The period of medieval architecture where the pointed arch was used, revived in the late 18th and 19th centuries.

Hamlet:
A small settlement of approximately 3 to 19 households.

Hearth:
The area on a floor or within a fireplace on which the fire is raised.

Heathen:
People not attached to any main religion.

Holloway:
A road or track where constant wear has formed a narrow cutting.

Hunter-gatherers:
Pre-farming people dating from around 10,000 to 4,500 BC.

Husbandry:
The caring and nurturing of animals and the land, used to describe farming mainly from the 15th to 17th centuries.

Linear:
Something set in a line, or narrow and long shape.

Longhouse:
A low, long house, one room deep usually with a central doorway and passage with a living room one side and a byre the other.

Manor:
An estate under the feudal control of a lord. The building from which the estate was managed was the manor house.

Mere:
A lake formed by melted blocks of ice and covered by later deposits.

Neolithic:
The New Stone Age from around 4500 to 2500 BC.

Paling:
A fence made from vertical timbers.

Park Pale:
A fence formed on top of a bank to keep deer within a park.

Polite architecture:
Elegant buildings designed by an architect which could be made using methods and materials from outside of the locality.

Reeve:
An administrator of land used by Saxon and Norman kings to enforce their rule. The Shire Reeve became known as the Sheriff.

Renaissance:
The revival of Classical art and architecture from the 14th century in Europe and 16th century in England.

Rood:
A Saxon word for a crucifix. The rood screen in a church separate the nave and chancel and may have a large cross fixed above it.

Secular:
Buildings and organisations concerned with matters of the State.

Sink holes:
Depressions sometimes filled with water which have been caused by acidic water dissolving the alkaline rock (usually limestone).

Tithing/Township:
An ancient secular administrative area as opposed to the parish which was the ecclesiastical one. These areas were usually known as a tithing in the south and as a township or vill in the north.

Trusses:
A framework based upon triangles which can be used to support roofs and bridges.

Vernacular:
Houses built from local materials using methods passed down by craftsmen.

Village:
A settlement of 20 or more households but without the administrative trappings of a town. The boundaries between a village, a hamlet and a town are however vague and open to debate.

Wattle:
The weave-work of thin branches used to make panels in the wall of a timber-framed house.

To gain a better understanding of a particular period and the buildings which would have stood at the time, below is a list of some open-air museums worth visiting
:

West Stow,
Icklingham Rd, nr Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 6HG. Telephone: 01284 728718. (Site of an early Saxon village with a number of reconstructed houses.)

Weald and Downland Open Air Museum,
Town Lane, Singleton, West Sussex, PO18 0EU. Telephone: 0845 121 0170.
Website:
www.wealddown.co.uk
.
(Impressive collection of timber-framed, brick and stone houses and buildings from medieval to Victorian period – an essential visit!)

Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings,
Stoke Heath, Bromsgrove, Worcs, B60 4JR Telephone: 01527 831363.
Website:
www.avoncroft.org.uk
.
(Wide selection of buildings, including a working windmill.)

Chiltern Open Air Museum,
Newlands Park, Chalfont St Giles, Bucks HP8 4AB. Website:
www.caom.org.uk
. (Collection of buildings, from an Iron Age round hut to a prefabricated bungalow.)

Little Woodham – A 1642 Living History Village,
Little Woodham Lane, nr Gosport, Hants PO13 8AB.

The following sites, although reconstructing town life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, have elements which could be found in industrial villages
:

Black Country Living Museum,
Dudley, West Midlands, DY1 4SQ. Telephone: 0121 557 9643. Website:
www.bclm.co.uk
.

Blists Hill Victorian Town,
Ironbridge Gorge, Coalbrookdale, Telford, Shropshire, TF8 7DQ. Telephone: 01952 884391.

Website:
www.ironbridge.org.uk
.

Beamish Living Museum of the North,
nr Stanley, County Durham, DH9 0RG. Telephone: 0191 370 4000.
Website:
www.beamish.org.uk
.

Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate,
nr Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 4LA. Telephone: 01625 445896. Website:
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
.

Below are villages which are included in this book; some are of note, others are just personal favourites. They are listed by the order of their appearance in the book with the appropriate Figure number. I have also included a postcode for SatNav users, where possible, and an Ordnance Survey grid reference (this can be put into ‘Get a Map’ on
www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk
if you do not have the sheet which covers this area)
.

Avebury,
Wilts (Fig 1.3). SN8 1RF. Grid Ref: SU 100 698. Village within ancient stone circle.

FIG 10.2 LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK:
One of the finest collections of timber-framed buildings in the country, including a guildhall (National Trust)
.

Covehithe,
Suffolk (Fig 1.2). NR34. Grid Ref: TM 522 818. Coastal erosion.

Skara Brae,
Orkney (Fig 1.5) KW16 3LR. Grid Ref: HY 234 187. Neolithic village.

Castleton,
Derbys (Fig 2.2) S33 8WG. Grid Ref: SK 149 828. Medieval planned settlement.

Ashwell,
Herts (Fig 3.2) SG7 5LY. Grid Ref: TL 266 397. Black Death graffiti in church.

Wharram Percy,
nr Wharram le Street, North Yorks (Fig 3.4). Grid Ref: SE 858 643. Medieval deserted village.

Lavenham,
Suffolk (Figs 3.5, 9.15, 10.2). CO10 9RB. Grid Ref: TL 917 492. Village of timber-framed buildings from wool trade.

Binham,
Norfolk (Fig 3.6). NR21 0DW. Grid Ref: TF 983 398. Medieval priory remains.

Kersey,
Suffolk (Fig 3.7). IP7 6EE. Grid Ref: TM 001 440: Picturesque village and ford.

Moreton Corbet,
Shropshire (Fig 4.2) SY4 . Grid Ref: SJ 560 231. Remains of a castle and Tudor house next to a church.

Crowland,
Lincs (Fig 4.3). PE6 0AN. Grid Ref: TF 239 100. Abbey and old three-legged bridge.

Nuneham Courtenay,
Oxon (Fig 4.6). OX44 9NY. Grid Ref: SU 553 991. An 18th-century estate village and park.

Great Badminton,
Glos (Fig 4.7) GL9 1DF. Grid Ref: ST 805 825. Picturesque estate village.

Stoke Bruerne,
Northants (Fig 4.8). NN12 7SE. Grid Ref: SP 744 499. Canalside village and boat museum.

Tattershall,
Lincs (Fig 4.10). LN4 4LR. Grid Ref: TF 210 575. A 15th-century castle, college and almshouses.

Ilam,
Staffs (Fig 5.2). DE6 2AZ. Grid Ref: SK 134 508. A 19th-century estate village.

Cley-next-the-Sea
and
Blakeney,
Norfolk (Figs 5.4, 8.33). NR25 7NA. Grid Ref: TG 044 439. Coastal village with a windmill and old port.

FIG 10.3 CASTLE COMBE, WILTS:
Idyllic village with rustic stone cottages and old market place set in a deep wooden valley. Picture-postcard stuff!

Edensor,
Derbys (Fig 5.5). DE45 1PJ. Grid Ref: SK 250 700. A 19th-century estate village for Chatsworth House.

Saltaire,
West Yorks (Fig 5.6). BD18 3LX. Grid Ref: SE 140 381. Industrial village built by Titus Salt to serve his mill.

Stewartby,
Beds (Fig 5.7). MK43 9NB. Grid Ref: TL 019 424. A 20th-century village built to serve brickworks.

Chelmorton,
Derbys (Fig 6.5). SK17 9SH. Grid Ref: SK 111 698. Medieval upland village.

Fingest,
Bucks (Fig 6.9). RG9 6QD. Grid Ref: SU 777 910. Picturesque Chiltern village with unique Norman church.

Brill,
Oxon (Fig 6.16). HP18 9TG. Grid Ref: SP 653 141. Hilltop village with post mill.

Askham,
Cumbria (Fig 6.18, 8.21). CA10 2PF. Grid Ref: NY 514 237. Village built along a green and nearby Lowther Castle.

Finchingfield,
Essex (Fig 6.18, 10.4). CM7 4NN. Grid Ref: TL 685 328. Picturesque village set around a green and a pond, with a guildhall and windmill. A must to visit!

Ashford in the Water,
Derbys (Fig 7.1). DE45 1QB. Grid Ref: SK 195 697. Picturesque Peak District village with old bridge.

Castle Combe,
Wilts (Figs 7.3, 9.13, 10.3). SN14 7HL. Grid Ref: ST 842 771. A most beautiful stone village set in a wooded valley.

Dorchester,
Oxon (Fig 7.4). OX10 7HH. Grid Ref: SU 578 942. Old Roman town with abbey and tollhouse.

Wycoller,
Lancs (Fig 7.12). BB8 7EH. Grid Ref: SD 932 392. Pennine hamlet with packhorse bridge and ruined manor house.

FIG 10.4 FINCHINGFIELD, ESSEX:
The village pond reflects the colourful buildings set around the ancient green
.

Audlem,
Cheshire (Fig 7.14). CW3 0AP. Grid Ref: SJ 661 436. Canalside village.

Brassington,
Derbys (Fig 8.1). DE4 4HA. Grid Ref: SK 231 543. Dramatic stone village built to serve old quarries.

Kilpeck,
Hereford and Worcs (Fig 8.5). HR2 9DZ. Grid Ref: SO 446 302. Famous Norman church with stunning carvings.

Wrington,
Somerset (Fig 8.10). BS40 5NA. Grid Ref: ST 471 628. Perpendicular church.

Longnor,
Staffs (Fig 8.13, 10.5). SK17 0NS. Grid Ref: SK 088 648. Old upland market town and 18th-century church.

Yelden,
Beds (Fig 8.19). MK44 1AT. Grid Ref: TL 011 670. Motte and bailey remains.

Lower Slaughter,
Glos (Fig 8.23). GL54 2HS. Grid Ref: SP 164 225. Picturesque Cotswold village with watermill.

Laxton,
Northants (Fig 8.26). NN17 3LL. Grid Ref: SP 949 960. Unique village with open fields.

Thaxted,
Essex (Fig 8.29). CM6 2PE. Grid Ref: TL 611 310. Old market with timber-framed guildhall.

Abbots Bromley,
Staffs (Fig 8.29). WS15 3BL. Grid Ref: SK 081 244. Old butter cross.

Aldbury,
Herts (Fig 8.30). HP23 5RW. Grid Ref: SP 964 123. Village green with stocks.

Hambleden,
Bucks (Fig 8.31). RG9 6SE. Grid Ref: SU 785 866. Picturesque Chiltern village.

Wildboarclough,
Cheshire (Fig 8.32). SK11 0BD. Grid Ref: SY 983 689. Hamlet with remains of old mill.

Clovelly,
Devon (Fig 8.34). EX39 5TB. Grid Ref: SS 317 248. A most picturesque coastal village with museum.

Castle Hedingham,
Essex (Fig 9.19). CO9 3BZ. Grid Ref: TL 784 356. Attractive village set below a Norman castle.

Weobley,
Hereford and Worcs (Section III header photo). HR4 8SB. Grid Ref: SO 340 252. The best collection of black and white timber-framed houses.

FIG 10.5 LONGNOR, STAFFS:
Stone houses and buildings reflect its former importance as a market town
.