You can learn a lot just by walking around a village, thinking about how it evolved and picking up clues from remains on the ground and in buildings. If you looked at both old and new maps before your walk you’ll make even more deductions. Most of our Wiltshire villages date from Saxon times, although some are on earlier settlements; again most have Saxon names and the study of street and field names can also be very rewarding. (see The Place-names of Wiltshire by J.E.B. Gover, 1939; and English Field Names by the appropriately named John Field, 1989)

On 18^th March at 2.15 the History Centre afternoon lecture will be Looking at Villages with Michael Marshman, who will talk about some of the skills that help you to become a landscape detective. Apart from his day job at the History Centre Michael has been writing the Village Life articles for Wiltshire Life for the last eight years! Some tickets are still available (Tel. 01249 705500).


Lacock [F0018] A 15^th century cruck building showing where the roof was later raised to allow the insertion of an upper floor.
 
All our villages are different and can be one of a number of types apart from the nucleated, linear or agglomerated that we may remember from geography lessons. Some villages, such as Shrewton, can be several medieval villages that have grown into one; these are known as polyfocal villages but others, such as Inglesham, may have shrunk and be much smaller than they were in earlier times. In others, like West Ashton, a landowner has cleared the original village from the proximity of his manor house and rebuilt it further away.

 
Steeple Ashton [F0045] The village green contains the market cross of 1679, when an attempt was made to revive the market, and the blind house (lock up) of 1773. Indications of the market site and of the hundred court of Whorwellsdown
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Just recently I have been called to Cricklade, a lovely old Cotswold town north-east of Swindon. This Saxon walled town is situated at the highest navigable point of the Thames where it is crossed by Ermin Street. Its town crest bears the Latin words ‘in loco delicioso’ meaning ‘in a delightful place’.

We came to look at what might be one of the oldest houses in the High Street. From the rendered front, there is no indication at all that the interior hides an ancient blackened cruck timber frame. 

The Cruck Truss

In fact, the façade is much as you would expect an early Victorian shop front to look – old multi-paned bay windows with thick moulded glazing bars. As soon as you open the front door you stare down a dark, narrow passage straight through to the old planked back door hung on heavy pintle hinges. To the left is a step down to the old, originally unheated parlour. In the end wall is a heavy beam – a mid-rail - which divided the framing into upper and lower panels, now replaced in stone. The upper room, traditionally the hall or parlour end, was reached by going back into the passage, going to the back and around the massive stone stack that was inserted c1600.  Once in the hall the massive weight of an over-engineered ceiling is the first thing you notice. When the old open hall was improved with the addition of a proper chimney stack, floors were inserted, using the chimney breast as a support for one end of the ceiling beam – a typical arrangement for this kind of modification. To go upstairs a neat little winder stair was tucked in between the chimney stack and the outside wall, very steep and precipitous! You wonder how they ever got the furniture up there!

Upstairs, the room over the old hall has had its ceiling removed to show off the impressive double-arched braced jointed cruck truss which would originally have been seen from the ground. From inspecting the timber framing closely it is apparent that there was another separate timber framed house next to it, though you would never know this as the building there now is entirely of stone. To find out more please click on 'read more'.

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