Four Swans a-swimming in Sherborne
Some brief comments
A very brief note fundamentally to flag up that as of this morning there were four adult swans on the lakes in Sherborne. That’s unusual!
Three other comments as a “heads up”
I continue to examine the ancient Anglo-Saxon field names around Sherborne. In the main these Anglo-Saxon names have faded from memory and were replaced by my modern field names before the 19th C, mostly in suspect when the enclosures occurred in the two centuries before. But the records from Winchcombe abbey provide the Anglo-Saxon references. By piecing them together and using the fact that the anglo- Saxon names are often “descriptive” I’m beginning to see chinks of light. Some of the old names remain:
Wadlands , the field beyond the Clapton bridge - derived from Anglo-Saxon “Wadlinglunde”, maybe meaning the land of those who wade across the brook.
Howcombe. A place up by Broadmoor farm , describing a “hoh”, a heel of land, and “Combe” a valley.
There is a reference to “Wyforde” which could be the earlier name for the ford over the brook that was in the place of Waterloo Bridge on the road to Bourton.
Blakmulddenelande, Black earth valley land might be that peculiar valley to the left as you drive towards Cat’s Abbey.
It’s a pretty fascinating activity matching modern maps to obscure Anglo Saxon descriptions. Map reading is an under-appreciated delight, when resolving documents that are 800 years old.
I’m working on a very detailed paper examining the evidence, some of it new, regarding the involvement of Inigo Jones in both Lodge Park and the broader Sherborne estate. If I’m right I think it changes the fundamental importance of key aspects of the local heritage and has major implications. I hope to have it done by Christmas. Watch this space.
I’m now in direct dialogue with the county archaeologist about some of the suspect Long Barrows and the re-interpretation of the Bourton Anglo-Saxon charter which I think coincides with the northern parish boundary of Sherborne, just south of Clapton. Watch this space too!
Andrew Danson from the NT has kindly given me sight of a fascinating geophysical survey of a likely Roman site. I’m waiting for clarity on what I’m permitted to share. Some marvellous history!
