A Corner of the Settlement

It is dismal, cold and muddy but nevertheless this North West corner of our village settlement has a history.

On the left is the green lane or back lane for this quadrant of the village. It is the longest stretch of back lane that survives without any development on it. Before Enclosure in 1772 it gave access, from the back of the plots surrounding the village dwellings, to the Open Fields. It is now used for recreational purposes like the walking of dogs and access to horses.

On the right is the ancient lane that delineates the bottom of the settlement, the limit of habitation although this had shrunk back up the village until someone decided to turn the last plot into a park for holiday-stay log cabins.

Our village settlement has a regular, replanned layout according to the experts. The back lanes give it a rectangular appearance from the air. At some time in the past it was replanned and laid out in the regular way that exists today. Divisions between plots are parallel from the top of the village to the bottom and before plots were divided up they probably had a similar length of frontage.

The oldest part of the village is probably that surrounding the church. Before the settlement gathered together or nucleated round the church the township probably consisted of dispersed farmsteads and homesteads. But with the advent of a new farming system, based on cooperation needed on the Open Fields, people came together. Some say it might have been motivated by a religious drive to congregate around the church. Others favour a practical explanation relating to farming were work and equipment was shared.

The village grew up as an agricultural settlement. Even within my memory, spanning more than 30 years, the village contained a number of working farms. Today none remain within the boundaries of the village.

Why write all this to accompany my blip?

Well, I have to admit that I walk around the village with my mind half on its past. The park for log cabins worries me because it has destroyed ridge and furrow remains and the beginning of a very old track that ran up the village. Enclosure made life difficult for those who had enough land on which to subsist. It marked the beginning of the drift to the towns for many who struggled ...

A number of years ago I resolved not to let history upset me. But today it does for some reason!