Chapter
6:
Medieval Years back to the Viking conquests
Just prior to this period, as we work our way backwards through the
years, if we had truly travelled back in time to Skillington of old, I think we
would have been surprised at just how well we would have related to those
forebears of nearly 400 years ago. The
written language was still readable (with some effort) and, I suspect, the
spoken tongue would have seemed little different from travelling to a part of
the country today where a strong local dialect prevails. The hardier ones among us would have adapted
quickly to the way of life, I believe.
The format for a person's name was also as it is today, albeit often
spelt as it sounded to the ear of the recorder.
The period we are now entering, though, is to see us leave behind nearly
all familiar things. Except to a
scholar, the spoken word may well, as we travel on, become almost incomprehensible. People's names often reflected their place of
origin, their trade or, even, some characteristic of their person. Only the spires of the churches would have
reached up to the heavens, comfortingly, on the high ground of each village as
they do now and, even these would have disappeared from our sight as we
travel on into the past beyond the 13th century (the churches were
there but without the later spires). In
the previous chapters, life may have seemed hard but now it becomes, perhaps,
fearsome.
One later benefit would have been the protective cloak of the lord of the
manor, and assuming, that is, one had a reasonable man as lord of the
manor. However, in medieval times the
lords themselves and the barons above them were still jockeying, scheming
and fighting, for the possession of land.
These were, surely, unsettling times for the peasants who worked the
land as they emerged from being slaves into being free men. What truly gritty characters they must have
been!
Let us consider here what sort of landscape we have travelled back to and
look briefly at the communities which were sparsely dotted about that
landscape. The population of
Some of the monarchs of this long era would become sufficiently famous to
remain household names even in present times
..
Elizabeth I (1558 1603) gave her name to an age. She stood firm against Spanish aggression
with her most famous sea captain and former pirate, Drake, seeing off the
Armada . In the latter context, one of
her speeches ranks as on a par with those of Winston Churchill in the
2ndWW. For Winston's admirers, I remind
you of part of her speech
starting with "Let tyrants fear
" and
going on to say, "I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman: but I
have the heart and stomach of a king and a king of England too and think it
foul scorn that Parma or Spain or any Prince of Europe should dare invade the
borders of my realm
". In her dealings
with home affairs, she skilfully balanced the now-established Parliament's
wishes against those of the Crown (this had collapsed under the later monarchy
of the previous chapter); and she got her bishops and parish priests, as well
as her justices of the peace, to administer local law and order. Even more importantly, she encouraged a
religious tolerance. All may have not
been perfect but it worked. And,
together with the cultural stirrings exemplified by the contribution of
Shakespeare and others, her reign became a Golden Age. In this Golden Age, the staple diet was
beef, bread and beer. People ate with
their fingers, filling wooden trenchers from centrally placed bowls. There were spoons and knives (for the
wealthy) but no forks.
Her father, the formidable Henry VIII, is the next sovereign to tower in
the history books. He reigned from 1547
to 1558. It is ironic that he worried
so much about getting a male heir when it was his daughter Elizabeth who
achieved so much! Most people know, of
course, that it was this Henry who took on the Church and dissolved the
monasteries. It is less well known that
it was he who gave the instructions to his Chancellor, Thomas Cromwell, which
started the keeping of registers for baptisms, weddings and burials. This practice commenced in 1538. A photocopy of the earliest record for
Skillington, that for the year 1542, is shown on page 125. Before Henry and his marital problems, came
Henry VII, who had triumphed in neighbouring Leicestershire, at
In 1215, John capitulated to his barons at
People: I have said earlier in this chapter that the
people of this country must have been "gritty characters" to survive
the hardships thrown at them during this period. These included invasion (a successful one,
too!), political and religious turmoil they had to tread pretty warily to
survive the stake during 'Bloody Mary's' reign and pestilence and other
natural calamities. Here, taken from the
Parish Records, are the names of those Skillington villagers who were still
around from 1637 to the late 1500s.
Many names in the records have been omitted because the records
themselves were unreadable or because I could not decipher the ancient script
used during this time. Some of the
names below will already be familiar to us
.
Abbott, Allan
(Allen), Amson (?), Bagworth, Bau(x?)field (Boyfield), Baxter (?), Baker(?),
Bennet, Birdson(?), Bridge(?), Browne, Bullymor, Chamberline (Chamberlain),
Cook, Cooper, Christian, Dawson, Denton, Foxon, Gibbons, Goodroofe, Greene,
Hill, Holit, Hollingworth, Ingleton, Irkinson(?), Jamesby(?), Kempe(?),
Kilsman(?), Loveridge(?), Loveroad, Lyill, Marriott(?), Mason, Midlsbrooke,
Moroo(?), Newton, Owscroft, Parker, Paxton, Paxteran(?), Pillfoote(or
Peilfoote), Rayson(?), Reynolds, Robynson, Rudd, Samill, Snow, Stalor(?),
Sutton, Tallamer(?), Templeman,
Thornton, Turston(?), Underwater, Wallpoole, Woodrough, Wright, Wrigg, Wyldman.
The photocopy of the very first page of Skillington's Parish Record I
found extremely hard to decipher, but my attempt is adjacent to the photocopy
of that page in the illustrations following this chapter.
It was in 1066 that the event having the most impact on the lives of the
people of
These were the "terms of reference" for
this great undertaking
.
"Here follows the inquest of lands, as the king's barons made it, to
wit: by the oath of the sheriff of the shire and all the barons and their
Frenchmen and of the whole hundred, of the priest, the reeve, six villagers of
each village. In order, what is the
manor called? Who held it in the time
of King Edward? Who now holds it? How many hides?( A hide or hyde was an
Anglo-Saxon measure of arable land varying from 40 to 120 acres. One hide was regarded as sufficient to
support one peasant and his family: the area that could be ploughed in a season
by one plough and a team of oxen). How
many ploughs on the demesne? How many
of the men? How many villagers? How many cottars? How many slaves? How many free men? How many sokemen? How much wood? How much meadow? How much pasture? How many mills? How many fish ponds? How much has been added or taken away? How much, taken together, it was worth and
how much now? How much each free man or
sokeman had or has? All this at three
dates, to wit in the time of King Edward and when King William gave it and as
it is now. And if it is possible for
more to be had than is had."
The following details of the Domesday Book, applicable to Skillington,
take in several of our headings (i.e. People, Dwellings and Farming). This record will not tell us the names of peasants but it gives some
indication of how many there were. It
does give us the names of those holding land at that time, however. Before we look at Skillington in 1086 let us
understand the ancient terms used although all are not used in the extracts
below
. A Villein was a peasant who gave dues and services to his lord in exchange for
land (he might hold somewhere between 10 to 30 acres). These were free men and they were the most
numerous element in society at the time of the Domesday Book. Their status slowly declined to serfdom in
the early 14th Century but when the Black Death caused severe labour
shortages on the land, this status improved.
By the 1400s they were replaced by the system of free tenure. Below the villeins were Cottars and Bordars. These were cottagers who had,
perhaps, between 1 and 5 acres of land.
A Serf was, of course, a
slave. A Sokeman was part of the
upper stratum of peasant society, being holder of land by free tenure. (This was an Anglo-Saxon term). A large
holding of land by a villein (say 30 acres) was called a Virgate or Yardland. A Carucate was an area of arable land which could be
ploughed in a season. Meadow or
woodland was measured by the Warnode. (Approx. 40 to 60 acres). As
well as the workers of the soil, there were the craftsmen
. the blacksmith (it
is hard to imagine his name not being Selby in Skillington!), carpenter; stone
mason; thatcher; etc. Due to the
smaller size of villages then, many would have been itinerant, plying their
crafts in a cluster of villages.
Skillington references taken from Domesday Book 31
"In Skillington (Schillintune)
Colbert had 1 carucate of land taxable. Land for 12 oxen Guy has
12 villagers with 1 plough; and meadow,
20 acres in Algar's warnode;
underwood, 20 acres in the Archbishop's warnode. Value before 1066 and now,
20s."
"In Skillington Karli had 1 carucate of land taxable. Land for 1 plough. He also still has it in alms; he has there
4
villagers with 1 plough; and meadow, 20 acres.
Value before 1066 and now, 20s."
"In Skillington Earl
Morcar had 3 carucates of land taxable
and Frithgestr and Beorhtmaer 1 carucate of land taxable. Land for 5 ½ ploughs. A
free jurisdiction of Skillington. Walchelin, the Archbishop's man (has) 2 ploughs
13 villagers and 5 Freemen who
have 4 ploughs. Meadow, 121 ½ acres; woodland pasture in Bishop Remegius's
warnode, 60 acres. Value before 1066 £4;
now the same. Exactions 20s.
There also (and) in
"In Colsterworth, Earl
Morcar had 3 carucates of land
taxable. A jurisdiction of
Skillington. 4 Freemen and 4 villagers
have 2 ploughs. Woodland, pasture in
places, 120 acres."
"In Skillington, a jurisdiction of Grantham, 3 carucates of land
taxable. Land for 3 ploughs. 14 villagers, 2 smallholders and 1 Freeman
have 3 ploughs and meadow, 10 acres and underwood, 140 acres. Its assessment is in Grantham."
"They state that the warnode of 4d from 60 acres of woodland which
lies in Skillington belongs in Bytham."
Although no scholar of the Domesday Book, I would
sum this up as follows
.
There were 16 carucates of taxable arable land. The major arable landowner was Earl Morcar,
who was one of the grandsons of Leofric and Lady Godiva. The other two were Siward and whoever held
the Skillington land at Grantham
. possibly Queen Edith? The smaller owners 1 carucate each were
Colbert, Karli, Frithgestr and Beorhtmaer.
Farming this within the parish were, possibly, these last four plus
Walchelin and Osbern, the "Archbishop's men" (did these two share the
duties of village priest as well as farm on behalf of the Church?) and the
following small local landowners and workers 6 Freemen, 12 Smallholders and
59 villagers. To tackle the arable
fields were 23 ½ ploughs, which
includes a total of 188 oxen!
The none-arable land was 181 ½ acres of meadow, 420 acres of pasture among woodland, 160 acres of
underwood (bushes and scrubland?) and 60 acres (at least) of woodland. The owners of this were the Archbishop and
Bishop Remegius (or are these one and the same?),Guy and Algar.
In addition are mentioned a mill and half
a church (which perhaps agrees with the shared clerical duties?). No fish ponds are mentioned but I would be
surprised if these did not exist.
But, travelling on to days even earlier than William's Domesday Book, we
find the earliest record of the names of men of Skillington village! [Erratum: The
following text is in error as the first Lay Subsidy Roll did not appear until
post-Conquest 1290 in fact. The record below is therefore of a later date or,
if indeed from Canutes reign, it is some other tax listing] In 1018, King Canute levied a large subsidy
across the nation. It is called the Lay Subsidy Roll. Skillington's comprises the following names
and the tax levied upon each one.
|
William
Danet |
|
11s 21/4d |
|
Alexander de
Wywell' |
|
1s 8d |
|
Richard de
Herington' |
|
9s 01/4d |
|
Stephen de
Langtoft |
|
1s 10d |
|
John Bully |
|
2s |
|
Nicholas filius
Thome |
|
9s 11/2d |
|
Richard de Ses |
|
1s 21/4d |
|
Thomas de
Somerderby |
|
8s 1d |
|
Richard de
Cumbtorp' |
|
2s 21/4d |
|
Thomas Berdeyn |
|
2s 61/4d |
|
Nicholas in
venella |
|
1s 4d |
|
Simon filius Thome |
|
8d |
[note: filius means "son of". The above Lay Subsidy information was taken from the internet and was compiled by Dr D
A Postles of the
Buildings: If
the manor house, later known as The Abbey, was really connected with such an
establishment, this is the period in which we should find some reference to
that origin. Henry VIII, for well-known
reasons, had a survey of religious houses carried out in his reign. Although there are two references to
Skillington's church in the Valor
Ecclesiasticus there is apparently no mention of an abbey! One must conclude that this house name was
given on a whim or for some other tenuous reason at a much later time.
Religion: The people of the land, from king and barons
to the lowliest peasants and slaves were devoutly Christian in their beliefs
throughout the Medieval period. Where
early church buildings stood and Skillington's has parts dating to
pre-Conquest times* the new masters improved or renovated them. There is one clear and one faint example of,
what I have been informed, is a "scratch dial" in the stonework, see
earlier photograph on page 114. I have
also been informed that there is one at Colsterworth church and that they may
be associated with Sir Isaac Newton who had more than a passing interest in
sundials. However, another book on
churches, which I have read, states that the stonemasons usually left their
mark on the stones and their apprentices practised
their skills with compasses on the stonework. Because of the small size of these scratch
dials, I believe the latter explanation of their presence is the most likely.
Whatever state St James was in; whatever existed, it was built upon from
the early 13th century (the chancel arch, according to the booklet
in the church). But, this booklet tells
us, most of the present structure was built in the later 13th and
the 14th centuries this is when the spire may have been
added. This is an incredible period of
time for a building to have stood. Its
patchwork of stones from different ages and the signs of repairs that its
ravaged faces show emphasise its antiquity.
I believe it is a proud monument to the successive communities which
have laboured within its vicinity and worshipped within its walls for so long
well over a thousand years! Imagine how
many generations this represents. Also,
when one thinks what sort of buildings even the wealthy occupied at that time,
at what expense and to what ultimate magnificence were the churches built!
[* - Anglo-Saxon stonework is visible in two places long and short
quoining (quoin is dressed stone at
the angle of a building) is found at the north-east corner of the nave and
south-east quoins in the south chapel. These early churches of the Saxons were
usually built of wood originally].
And what of the patron saint of Skillington's fine church, Saint
James? The millennium kneeler project
book, dealt with earlier, has considerable detail about this man and his holy
shrine, which lies in north-west
The religious houses (monasterial orders) in early medieval times
included "The House of Austin Canons of the Arrouasian Reform". I believe it was this order which founded
the Abbey of Bourne in 1138
. And, the original endowment consisted of several
churches including that at Skillington.
This is as far back as I can get with the buildings of Skillington.
The priests who worked and worshipped so diligently within this House of
God are only traceable back to 1250.
The first shadowy figure to emerge at that time bore the name Savaricus
(which sounds almost Roman). His successor
in 1275 was Peter de Butmiswell (the "de" a legacy from the Norman
conquest); then came Nicholas of Ingham (1287); Thomas of Whissenden (1337)
[here I must confess to some satisfaction that, even in those long-distant
times, my own place of origin prior to my coming to this village, Whissendine,
was linked with Skillington in some way!]; William Thrappe of Belver (1366);
Richard Preston (1389); John Cotes of Tewelby(?) (1420); Robert Large of
Sproxton (1421); Thomas Wryght (1435); Thomas Hanley (1452); William Payreweder
(1454); Simon Waynflete (1456); Robert Poliamb (1461); Hugh Clyston (1492);
Geoffery Willughby (1517); Leonard Calvard (1548); Thomas Simpsome (1550); John
Porter (1554); Richard Allen (1569); Thomas Bevre (1582); John Parker (1587)
and Thomas Bearne (1633).
Many of these names obviously reflect the villages where they
originate. And two have later connections with the stalwarts of the
village we have already met
. Allen and Parker.
What can we say about these ethereal holy men of Skillington who guided
their flocks through so many years of change?
They did have a personal interest in the successful farming of the land,
for they, as well as the Lords of the Manor, stood to gain considerably from
successful harvests in the way of the tithes they received. They were personally much more involved in
farming than present-day vicars and, although they may not, individually, have
been liked any more than a modern incumbent, they were certainly held in much
higher esteem due to their status in society then. Assuming no breaks in the sequence (taken
from the list inside the church), the early priests held their living in
Skillington for long periods (Nicholas of Ingham for 50 years!). There was a run of short-lived (perhaps literally?)
vicars approaching the mid-1400s ( 2, 2, and 5 years in succession) but then
longer periods are restored with another 50-year period by John Parker from
1587. This would make Nicholas and John
extremely old men for those times
perhaps that was due to their high standard
of living?
A reference to Skillington in this period was found in page 123 of the Lincolnshire Notes and Queries in
Grantham Library. It stated, "In
Schillintun De hospit. dim. car. De tra
ecclie dim. car." The translation* is
"In Skillington, from the hospital
(or house of hospitality) half a carucate:
from church land, half a carucate". The "hospit." is,
perhaps, our first positive sign that there may have been some type of abbey in
the village. The spelling of Skillington
dates this to c11th century. [*translation through the kind auspices of new
vicar, Father David Carney]
Other events: I
have mentioned, in the introduction to this period, peasants becoming free
men. This began to occur from the
middle of the 13th century.
The villeins started to be given their independence around this time
and, as proof of their right to the land they were given, each one received a
copy of the manor court's written testimony to this. Thus, they became "copyholders", a
term which was to last until c1926.
However, when they left it, the land reverted back to the Lord of the
Manor.
Just a brief look here at the court system which held sway in each
manor. There were two courts, first the
Court Baron. This court decided on custom
and usage within the manor and was particularly concerned with the title or
ownership of property. The second was the Court Leet. This dealt with misdemeanours committed
within the manor.
A place where the villagers could all meet to talk over their grievances,
or perhaps to hold court (there was no pub then or other meeting house) was
around a central point. This took the
form of a moot cross moot meaning
"to debate a point or proposal".
Someone of wealth, perhaps the priest or lord, decided in the period
1200 to 1299 (archaeological dating of the cross from refs by Sites and
Monuments Record) to erect for the inhabitants of Skillington just such a focal
monument. Alas, the cross itself, which
was its crowning glory, did not survive until this day
and yet it may be
lying, buried
somewhere near to The Square. I
posed the question earlier as to why the stump was moved. One has to wonder why it was erected in The
Square in the first place! My own theory
on this is that the area now called The Square was probably the nearest large
open space to the medieval village area see my sketch below, of a possible
Skillington at around this time.
|
click on the photo to enlarge |
|
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|
Author's
sketch of a possible medieval Skillington. |
|
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|
An
example of illuminated writing from the learned holy men of medieval |
|
click on the photo to enlarge |
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|
|
|
Christenings |
|
Richard Thomson was baptized
. |
|
Jane(?) Musson
..19th of April |
|
Thomas Newton
.September |
|
Ann (?)
of October A
Dm 1543 |
|
Margrett Wright was baptized
.. |
|
Elizabeth Manson [possibly Manton]
.April |
|
Margrett Manson
.October(?) |
|
A Dm 1544 |
|
Thomas Manson
..of August |
|
John Newton
of December 1545 |
|
Alice(?) ??? ??? ???
.April 1546 |
|
[I could not decypher
any for this year] 1547 |
|
William (?) was baptized
.. |
|
John Lange(?)
.. |
|
Isobell Dove(?)
|
|
Jean Taylor
.. 1548 |
|
E(?)ryn (Marriott?)
[I was very unsure about this line] |
|
James (?)
. 1549 |
|
(?) Wayne(?)
|
|
William Wrigsby |