English Villages

P. H. (Peter Hampson) Ditchfield

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• Publié par: erzya
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 32
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

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English Villages, by P. H. Ditchfield
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Title: English Villages
Author: P. H. Ditchfield
Release Date: August 13, 2004 [EBook #9197]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH VILLAGES ***
Produced by Brendan Lane, Beth Trapaga and Distributed Proofreaders.
Illustrated HTML version by David Widger ENGLISH VILLAGES
BY
P.H. DITCHFIELD M.A., F.S.A.
TO MY WIFE
PREFACE
Eleven years ago my little book on the antiquities of English villages was
published. Its object was to interest our rustic neighbours in their surroundings,
to record the social life of the people at various times—their feasts and fairs,
sports and pastimes, faiths and superstitions—and to describe the scenes
which once took place in the fields and lanes they know so well. A friendly
reviewer remarked that the wonder was that a book of that kind had never been
written before, and that that was the first attempt to give a popular and readable
sketch of the history and associations of our villages. In the present work I have
attempted to fill in the sketch with greater detail, and to write not only for the
villagers themselves, but for all those who by education are able to take a more
intelligent interest in the study of the past.
During the last decade many village histories have been written, and if this
book should be of service to anyone who is compiling the chronicles of some
rural world, or if it should induce some who have the necessary leisure and
ability to undertake such works, it will not have been written in vain.
One of the most distressing features of modern village life is the continualdecrease of the population. The rural exodus is an alarming and very real
danger to the welfare of social England. The country is considered dull and life
therein dreary both by squire and peasant alike. Hence the attractions of towns
or the delights of travel empty our villages. The manor-house is closed and
labourers are scarce. To increase the attractions of our villages, to arouse an
interest in their past history and social life, is worth attempting; and perhaps this
Story may be of some use in fostering local patriotism, and in reconciling those
who spend their lives far from the busy hives of men to their lot, when they find
how much interest lies immediately around them.
The study of archaeology has been pursued with much vigour during recent
years, and increased knowledge has overthrown the many wild theories and
conjectures which were gravely pronounced to be ascertained facts by the
antiquaries of fifty years ago. Gildas, Geoffrey of Monmouth, or Richard of
Cirencester are no longer accepted as safe and infallible guides. We know that
there were such people as the Druids, but we no longer attribute to them the
great stone circles nor imagine them sacrificing on “Druid’s altars,” as our
forefathers called the dolmens. The history of Britain no longer begins with the
advent of Julius Caesar, nor is his account of the Celtic tribes and their
manners accepted as a full and complete statement of all that is known about
them. The study of flint implements, of barrows and earthworks, has
considerably thrown back our historical horizon and enabled us to understand
the conditions of life in our island in the early days of a remote past before the
dawn of history. The systematic excavation of Silchester, so ably conducted by
the Society of Antiquaries, and of other Roman sites of towns and villas,
enables us to realise more clearly the history of Britain under the rule of the
Empire; and the study of the etymology of place-names has overthrown many of
the absurd derivations which found a place in the old county histories, and are
often repeated by the writers of modern guide books. Moreover patient labour
amid old records, rolls, and charters, has vastly increased our knowledge of the
history of manors; and the ancient parish registers and churchwardens’ account
books have been made to yield their store of information for the benefit of
industrious students and scholars. There has been much destruction and much
construction; and this good work will doubtless continue, until at length English
archaeology may be dignified with the title of an exact science. Destruction of
another kind is much to be deplored, which has left its mark on many an
English village. The so-called “restoration” of ancient parish churches,
frequently conducted by men ignorant of the best traditions of English
architecture, the obliteration of the old architectural features, the entire
destruction of many interesting buildings, have wrought deplorable ruin in our
villages, and severed the links with the past which now can never be repaired.
The progress of antiquarian knowledge will I trust arrest the destroyer’s hand
and prevent any further spoliation of our diminished inheritance. If this book
should be found useful in stimulating an intelligent interest in architectural
studies, and in protecting our ancient buildings from such acts of vandalism, its
purpose will have been abundantly achieved.
I am indebted to many friends and acquaintances for much information which
has been useful to me in writing this book; to Sir John Evans whose works are
invaluable to all students of ancient stone and bronze implements; to Dr. Cox
whose little book on How to Write the History of a Parish is a sure and certain
guide to local historians; to Mr. St. John Hope and Mr. Fallow for much
information contained in their valuable monograph on Old Church Plate; to the
late Dr. Stevens, of Reading; to Mr. Shrubsole of the same town; to Mr. Gibbins,
the author of The Industrial History of England, for the use of an illustration from
his book; to Mr. Melville, Mr. P.J. Colson, and the Rev. W. Marshall for their
photographic aid; and to many other authors who are only known to me by their
valuable works. To all of these gentlemen I desire to express my thanks, and
also to Mr. Mackintosh for his artistic sketch of a typical English village, which
forms the frontispiece of my book.
P.H.D.
BARKHAM RECTORY
May, 1901
CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
II. PREHISTORIC REMAINS
III. TUMULI OR BARROWS
IV. PIT AND PILE DWELLINGS
V. CROMLECHS, CAMPS, AND EARTHWORKS
VI. ROMAN RELICS
VII. ANGLO-SAXON VILLAGES
VIII. SAXON RELICSIX. ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE
X. NORMAN VILLAGES AND THE “DOMESDAY BOOK”
XI. NORMAN CASTLES
XII. MONASTERIES
XIII. THE MANOR-HOUSE
XIV. PARISH CHURCHES
XV. CHURCH PLATE
XVI. MONUMENTAL EFFIGIES AND BRASSES
XVII. THE PARISH CHEST
XVIII. STAINED GLASS, TILES, AND MURAL PAINTINGS
XIX. CHURCH BELLS
XX. THE MEDIAEVAL VILLAGE
XXI. VILLAGE SPORTS AND PASTIMES
XXII. THE VILLAGE INN
XXIII. VILLAGE SUPERSTITIONS AND FOLKLORE
APPENDIX—BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS
RELATING TO PAROCHIAL HISTORY
INDEX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FULL-PAGE (photographs)
[Click on photographs to enlarge]
An English Village street
Palaeolithic implements
Neolithic and bronze implements
Old market cross
Broughton Castle
Netley Abbey, south transept
Southcote Manor, showing moat and pigeon-house
Old Manor-house—Upton Court
Stone Tithe Barn, Bradford-on-Avon
Village church in the Vale
An ancient village
Anne Hathaway’s cottage
Old stocks and whipping-post
Village inn, with old Tithe Barn of Reading Abbey
Old cottages
IN THE TEXT (drawings)
Barbed and leaf-shaped arrow-heads
Plan of a tumulus
Plan of tumulus called Wayland Smith’s Cave, Berkshire
Celtic cinerary urn
Articles found in pit dwellings
Iron spear-head found at Hedsor
Menhir
Rollright stones (from Camden’s Britannia, 1607)
Dolmen
Plan and section of Chun Castle
The White Horse at Uffington
Plan of Silchester
Capital of column
Roman force-pump
Tesselated pavement
Beating acorns for swine (from the Cotton MS., Nero, c. 4)
House of Saxon thane
Wheel plough (from the Bayeux tapestry)
Smithy (from the Cotton MS., B 4)
Saxon relics
Consecration of a Saxon church
Tower of Barnack Church, Northamptonshire
Doorway, Earl’s Barton Church
Tower window, Monkwearmouth Church
Sculptured head of doorway, Fordington Church, Dorset
Norman capitals
Norman ornamental mouldingsCroyland Abbey Church, Lincolnshire
Semi-Norman arch, Church of St. Cross
Early English piers and capitals
Dog-tooth ornament
Brownsover Chapel, Warwickshire
Ball-flower mouldings, Tewkesbury Abbey
Ogee arch
Decorated capitals, Hanwell and Chacombe
Decorated windows, Merton College Chapel; Sandiacre, Derbyshire
Decorated mouldings, Elton, Huntingdonshire; Austrey, Warwickshire
Perpendicular window, Merton College Chapel, Oxford
Tudor arch, vestry door, Adderbury Church, Oxon
Perpendicular parapet, St. Erasmus’ C