Local Interest
Thurcaston and Cropston Local History Society Our meeting on Tuesday 16th September began with information regarding the current Castle Hill Archaeology Project (further details at email: robinandbren@ntlworld.com) and an exhibition entitled “Letters from the Trenches” which included a variety of memorabilia to mark the anniversary of the start of WW1. Also, Society Archivist, Brenda Hooper, promoted the publication of her latest contribution to the Thurcaston & Cropston Local History Society Village History Series, No. 6, entitled “The Home Front – The Parish of Thurcaston & Cropston, 1914-1918 and 1939-1945”. Copies of Brenda’s book are available to purchase at the price of £3 each. Our speaker for the evening was Peter Liddle, former Community Archaeologist for Leicestershire, whose detailed and interesting presentation explored “The Archaeology of Mediaeval Villages in Leicestershire”. Peter began by stating that modern villages are sited on top of their mediaeval predecessors, making it difficult to excavate and explore to gain historic artefacts which would help to reveal how our ancestors lived. Not many people take kindly to being asked to have their gardens dug up, but there have been one or two projects where this has been possible and valuable results obtained – one such occasion was when there was a joint dig between Leicestershire archaeologists and the television “Time Team” in the grounds of Groby Old Hall (see photo). Developers at building sites, such as when the current Co-op supermarket was under construction in Anstey, have an obligation to allow archaeological access – there is a plaque on the store’s outer wall stating what was found beneath the site before it was covered up again. During this summer, there has been another archaeological dig in Anstey. Gaining permission from landowners and farmers to be able to carry out field walking is also an important contribution to the archaeologists’ work. In south Leicestershire, the village of Medbourne and its surrounding area, is an important site and source of AngloSaxon hand-made pottery, dating from when there were no actual villages, only scattered farmsteads – this situation could have continued through to the 8thC. When villages were established, they needed ploughland, meadow, grazing and woodland and everyone was very interdependent, with a style of collective living and farming. This way of rural life continued until the 19thC Enclosure Acts, which changed the landscape forever. Medbourne was very late being enclosed (1843), so maps still remain showing the open field system of farming with strips spread around the length of the village. A map of the village of South Croxton shows evidence of garden/orchard lay-out and cobbled roadways. Buildings such as manor houses and churches are great sources of information, with regard to their construction and architecture, when researching in which century they were built. Carbon dating of archaeological finds and tree ringdating are other means of determining the age of buildings. Two examples are Donington le Heath Manor House dating from c1290 and Rothley Parish Church, with its prominent Anglo-Saxon cross, could date from the 7thC and may have been an early Minster Church and would have had a much larger church yard than it has today. As the mediaeval period progressed the population expanded and encroached into the farmland and forests, so there was less land to go round. In the 14thC there was a catastrophic failure of crops and people were starving, a situation that was compounded by the “black death” when, between 1348-9, a third of the population died from bubonic plague. This led directly to some villages shrinking in size, and others, such as Hamilton and Ingarsby, disappearing altogether. This loss of numbers of people meant there was less demand for arable land and enabled more sheep farming, because the wool trade was becoming a lucrative business. There is still so much more to be learned from what lies hidden beneath the ground and Peter concluded his talk with a very lively question and answer session.
- Jennifer Kennington Our last meeting in 2014 will be on Tuesday 18th November. We will begin with a short AGM, followed by our guest speaker, Gareth King, who will take a light-hearted look at the Anglo-Saxons as he explores “Life, Death & Fashion in AngloSaxon England”. Time: 7.30pm. Venue: Harrison Room, All Saints’ Church, Thurcaston. Visitors welcome: £3 per person.
Remembrance Day Parade at Victoria Park The parade, made up of serving personnel, contingents and veterans, will arrive at the War Memorial before the Service of Remembrance which will be led by the Lord Bishop of Leicester, the Right Reverend Tim Stevens. 10:55am | Victoria Park, London Road, Leicester LE1 7RY | Free entry | parks@leicester.gov.uk | Telephone: (0116) 229 3639 or (0116) 252 7003.
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