The English Village Explained: Britain’s Living History Read Online Free PDF Page B

gradual process spanning in some cases 500 or 600 years until the final resident departed, in others the remaining population was simply uprooted and replaced by a single farmer or shepherd.
    As in previous periods there was a surprising amount of settlement mobility. Some villages may have drifted away from an area prone to flooding now the climate had deteriorated, or they moved onto better land which had been abandoned. In other cases whole villages were relocated to a nearby site, often due to the actions of the landlord especially when introducing large-scale sheep farming. And, despite the decline in population, villages were still being established – some may have appeared near a new industrial area. Many coastal fishing villages were founded in the period, whilst woodland was still being cleared in areas like Warwickshire and new settlements formed.

    FIG 3.4 WHARRAM PERCY, YORKS: Where there has been no later ploughing of the land upon which a deserted medieval village stood then it can often be identified on the ground. With the general build up of waste and the regular rebuilding of cottages, the platform on which they stood would rise and can still be seen today above the surrounding land. The roads and tracks which ran between them were usually lower as the constant wear, rainfall and the removal of manure from its surface would have left them hollowed out. Wharram Percy in Yorkshire is a notable example, pictured here with the footings of a longhouse exposed. The shell of its church stands in a hollow surrounded by grassed-over platforms and winding roads. Where the land on which these villages stood is now under the plough, then the only trace may be pieces of broken pottery which have been turned up by the farmer. Systematically walking across fields (field-walking) can identify areas of intense debris and hence relocate these lost settlements .
The church and monastery
    With the new opportunities in farming and trade, entrepreneurial individuals like merchants could make themselves a fortune. In previous centuries people in this position would have granted land to monasteries in order to assure themselves of a safe passage to Heaven. Now, however, they were more likely to direct their funds to their parish church, building new towers, chantry chapels and establishing collegiate churches. In areas of the country dominated by sheep, completely new or enlarged churches appeared embellished in the latest Perpendicular architectural fashion. Referred to as ‘wool churches’, they are a notable feature of areas like the Cotswolds, but reached their zenith in East Anglia where stunning edifices often ablaze with stained-glass seem like oversized ego trips which the entire village population would have struggled to fill.
    Monks were just as affected by the catastrophes of the 14th century as other landlords. There was a drop in revenue from their estates due to labour shortages, the change in the fashion of endowment was depriving them of valuable income, and their holy status was no protection against the ravages of the bubonic plague. To make matters worse, there was a general concern among the population about the running of the Church, which grew intodisrespect for some sections of the clergy and manifested itself in the simple act of jeering or even in riots! Some even questioned the monks’ rights to the very land upon which they were so dependent.

    FIG 3.5 LAVENHAM CHURCH, SUFFOLK: One of the great wool churches financed by local clothiers, with a tall tower and rows of large windows distinctive of similar buildings in Somerset and the Cotswolds from this period. Behind the three large windows below the small spire (centre) is a chantry chapel, a popular addition for wealthy families .
    The indifference to monastic life which evolved, mainly among the people of the south of England, made Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries in the late 1530s that much easier, and his defeat of the opposition to