Neighbourhood

Nicola here. A week or so ago we Wenches were chatting about history and the way that places change through time. Shops and houses come and go, building change their purpose. It made me think about my own neighbourhood and what has changed in the time that we have lived here. So I thought I would share some stories about the place where I live, a bit about its history and the changes that have occurred through time.

I live in the south of England in a tiny hamlet near a larger village on the Lambourn Downs. The first written record of my village in history comes from a Saxon Charter of AD 840 in which Ethelwulf, King of the West Saxons, granted land for a manor here to one of his followers. In the Domesday Book of AD 1086 the village was recorded as having two water mills and a church, signs of a thriving settlement. The water mills were powered by the springs that flowed down from the chalk hills to the south. These mills probably ground corn for the local population to make bread but they may also have been used for timber cutting (we know that a saw-yard was established in the village in the medieval period) and possibly even to power a forge. At this time it was the English monasteries that were the most technologically advanced places and it was the church that owned the manor here up until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16^th century. There was certainly a blacksmith's forge here from the 15th century as the Roman road that passes through the village was an important thoroughfare. This is the forge today.

These days there are still two mill houses in the village, Upper and Lower Mill. These are buildings on the site of previous mills that date back to Norman times. Their function has changed though. Although Lower Mill House still has its 18^th century wheel, as you can see in the picture at the top of the blog, and Upper Mill was rebuilt in 1792 according to this plaque, both of them are now houses not working buildings. In fact they have been transformed into some of the most desirable properties in the village.

The Manor House itself, dating from the 15^th century and pictured below, has also changed in function. It used to be the monastery guest-house for travellers from Glastonbury Abbey in the south west on their pilgrimage to Oxford and Canterbury in the east. Now it too is a beautiful home. Many of the cottages that were built for workers on the estate have been gentrified with modern interiors beneath their thatched roofs. I set one of my early books, The Larkswood Legacy, in this village, using a local house as inspiration for the Larkswood of the story.

One house standing all on its own on the outskirts of the village is the medieval Pest House. This was built as an isolation hospital for patients suffering from leprosy and other communicable diseases. It originally belonged to the Abbey and was run by the monks. Like many other houses in the village it has been transformed into a beautiful country cottage and in recent times has been rented by a film star seeking some rural peace and quiet!

If we skip forward to the Regency and Georgian period there was plenty going on in the village. A “charity school” was established in the early 18^th century to educate the poor.  The very first Sunday school in the UK was set up here in 1777. The village sent men to fight in the Napoleonic Wars and one villager was a sailor who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. During this period there were watercress beds to the south of the manor where cress was grown commercially and sold at market in the local towns. These markets are still held on Saturdays in the same towns that hosted them in the Middle Ages. Some things don’t change.

Some things do change, though. In the 19^th century the village was a hive of industry with shops and small businesses. These included a haberdasher, a shoemaker, a carpenter, two wheelwrights, a baker and grocer, and even a greyhound trainer! There was a reading room and a library. The local grocer’s shop also served as the Post Office, and this role continued up until a few years ago when both shop and post office were closed because it was no longer economically viable to keep the service going. Nowadays we have a travelling library visiting every two weeks and some different small businesses have grown up. One is a chocolatier so it’s not all bad!

With the plentiful supply of water here, there was also a malt house making beer. Often these breweries were run by the local innkeeper. Which brings me to the local pub. The Rose and Crown, which is now a pub, hotel and restaurant, was once a coaching inn and dates from the 16^th century. It was established during the reign of Henry VIII and the sign featuring the Tudor rose and a crown indicates loyalty to the monarch and to England. You can see in the photograph where the original gateway for coaches has now become a window. Public houses are in decline in Britain now as a result of high taxes on alcohol and changes in the way that people enjoy their leisure time. It’s no longer as popular to spend your evenings in a smoky pub drinking a pint of warm beer and chatting to the neighbours.

Back in the Regency period, tourism became popular in these parts. The Stone Age long barrow of Wayland’s Smithy was excavated by an antiquarian and turned into a beauty spot to take advantage of the popularity of romantic looking ruins with a mysterious history. Trees were planted around the barrow and people would travel by carriage to enjoy picnics there. These days walkers and cyclists along the ancient track, The Ridgeway, do exactly the same thing.

Sometimes things go full circle. The Red Kite, a bird of prey, disappeared from English cities and countryside in the nineteenth century, hunted to extinction. Prior to this it had been a common sight even in the streets of London, swooping down to take carrion. Kites reintroduced from Wales during the 20^th century have spread so successfully that they are now a common sight in the skies here again.

What is your neighbourhood like? What do you like about it and how has it changed in the time you have lived there? 

Comments

[theo]

Oh, to walk that kind of history, I would love it! I wonder how many who live there actually ever think about things like that though.

I live about a mile from the last stand of Chief Tonquish, a Potawatomi Indian who's son was killed in the last significant skirmish in SE Michigan. He was attempting to save his son's life, but they both died.

There's nothing there now but a little marker commemorating the spot and I imagine most people don't even know it.

My property has been in my family though since 1939 and I learned the area's history when I was very young. It's just kind of stuck with me. Then, the area was not much more than fields and farmland and the nature preserve my land backs to. Now, the preserve is still there, but the malls and stores and houses and apartments have all but obscured the real area.

[Nicola Cornick]

I love the idea that there is a small marker still commemorating the place of Chief Tonquish's last stand, Theo, even if many people don't realise it's there. I love that juxtapositioning of the past in the present, amongst the shops and houses. When I went to look for the Nelson Monument in Great Yarmouth I was astonished to find it in the middle of an industrial estate!

[Isobel Carr]

Wow. I love the idea of living somewhere with history like that!

Where I live was a weekend retreat for San Francisco up until WWII when it became a massive ship-building port. My little house dates to 1916 (oldish for here, where the oldest are Victorian) as does most of my neighborhood. My sister just got married in the fancy local cemetery (Goth wedding with the reception on millionaires row among the mausoleums) and we had a great time reading the inscriptions and wandering about the monuments, even if they do only date to the mid¬-1850s.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Nicola--

You've given us all a serious case of History Envy! It's a good reminder of how things are always changing--though many changing faster than they used to.

Where I grew up, in rural Upstate New York, things have changed dramatically since my childhood, but now I live on the outskirts of a major metro area, and there is a lot more change--buildings going up, and some going down. Few if any are as handsome as the stone buildings of your village!

[Margot]

My city is essentially a college town, with a lot of the people either working with or going to the university. I think it was founded sometime in the 1800s, and I'm sure there is something interesting about us, but I can't think of what. It's also particularly liberal among its Midwest neighbors, since the university draws more diverse people.

Most interesting fact I can think of off the top of my head is that Borders was founded here, but alas, Borders is no more.

[theo]

Actually, Margot, your 'college town' was the original seat of Washtenaw county in 1827 or 28 (I think) and was originally founded by a New Yorker and a Virginian. Most of the early immigrants were Germans and Irish fleeing the potato famine.

There's a lovely little area on your college's website about the history of the city from 1820 forward.

I only know this because I live within an hour's drive and have taken classes there :o)

And yes, so sad that Borders is gone now...

[Anne Gracie]

Because I've moved around so much in my life, it's hard to choose a place to compare then and now with, but because I did an interview yesterday that asked me about my childhood, I used google to show me the village I lived in in Scotland when I was a child — Abernethy. It seemed to have grown — I'm sure there are more houses there now than when I lived there. It surprised me, as I thought as a village it might have dwindled.

I'm very keen to revisit it now and see for myself.

[LilMissMolly]

We live in a tight knit little subdivision and everyone knows everyone's business if a house goes up for sale or a policeman stops by...

[Nicola Cornick]

Isobel, the Goth wedding sounds amazing! Mary Jo,I know I am very lucky. But I have reverse history envy right back at everyone. I hear all these stories of early settlers and battle memorials and that is so fascinating to me. That's why I like topics like this because I love to hear about the differences in people's environments and the way they have developed and changed.

[Nicola Cornick]

I've driven through Abernethy, Anne, but never stopped there. How cool that you were there as a child. It's a beautiful location. You've got me wondering about the places I grew up in now. When I went back to Leeds, which is a huge metropolitan area in the north of England now, I barely recognised it at all from the place I lived as a teeenager. All the small towns seemed to have joined up in one huge conurbation.

[Nicola Cornick]

LilMissMolly, that sounds exactly like my village! And if people don't know exactly what is going on they make it up...

[Isobel Carr]

The wedding was great (IMO). I made the dress for her (black silk, 1890s inspired) and she was just adorable. The groom cried through the whole ceremony and then we had a smashing party. Eventually we got tired of explaining it was a wedding reception and started telling startled passersby that yes, it was a funeral, we were all so glad he was gone we decided to have a party. Oh, the looks. *grin*

[Nicola Cornick]

LOL, Isobel! It sounds completely fabulous and a lot of fun!

[Jenny]

I love the sound of your village Nicola.

I live in a small town (pop.800) in Tasmania, and to us it is quite old. The area was first described in 1793 by the explorer Bruny D'Entrecasteaux, and named Port de Cygnes because of all the swans he could see, and there are still lots (black of course!). Settlement finally started in 1834 and was first called Port Cygnet, and now Cygnet. It is interesting because it was settled after the UK Act of Catholic Emancipation of 1829. Up until then (and after as well), all new settlements in Australia were controlled by the UK Government, and all towns had to have a church in the main street which was within walking distance for the population. And the church had to be Anglican. After the act was passed that requirement no longer mattered. Here in Cygnet, the church in the main street is the Catholic one. I always think that is history in action.

[Liz]

Neighborhood Watch: hanging words right now here.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you, Jenny. The history of Cygnet sounds fascinating. Like you I love the way that significant changes, like those with your church, leave a mark on a place and show history in action. I would love to see those black swans!

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you, Liz. I had no idea, being in a different country. Interesting how these things can catch you out.