Anglo-Saxon multiple estate explained

An Anglo-Saxon multiple estate was a large landholding controlled from a central location with surrounding subsidiary settlements. These estates were present in the early Anglo-Saxon period, but fragmented into smaller units in the late Anglo-Saxon period. Despite some academic criticism, the concept has been widely used and a large number of possible examples have been proposed.

Definition

The concept of an Anglo-Saxon multiple estate was developed by Professor Glanville Jones of Leeds University. The idea originally appeared in a paper published in 1961[1] and was fleshed out in a 1976 book on medieval settlement.[2] The term "great estate" is sometimes used as an alternative to multiple estate.[3] These estates typically contained various features:[4]

The specialised settlements, dependent on the caput, often took their name from the crop they produced – Cheswick (cheese wick), Berwick (barley farm), etc.[5] The caput has been variously described as a villa regalis, aula, mansio, or maerdref.[4] Specialisation may have been encouraged by "renders" – taxation in kind – paid to the king.[6]

These estates may have been based around a royal vill and may have been coterminous with the parochia of an early minster church.[3]

Chronology

The origin of some of these estates has been traced back to Roman times or earlier[7] – for example, H. P. R. Finberg proposed a Roman origin for Withington, Gloucestershire,[8] while Glanville Jones himself suggested a pre-Roman origin for some estates[9] These multiple estates were a common feature in the English landscape before the 10th century and were usually owned by the king or an important monastery.[10] In the late Anglo-Saxon period, many of these large estates fragmented into smaller units which eventually became independent parishes.[11] The resultant parishes frequently share the same name differentiated by a suffix or prefix.[12] The fragmentation of these estates resulted in the diminishing importance of their minster churches[13] which (under the "minster hypothesis") had been the basis of early Christian church organisation.

Academic status

The concept has been criticised – for example, because the evidence used is often much later than the date of the proposed estate.[14] Nonetheless, the concept is widely used and a large number of possible examples have been proposed.

Notes and References

  1. Settlement Patterns in Anglo-Saxon England. Glanville. Jones. Antiquity. XXXV. 1961.
  2. Book: Jones, Glanville. PH. Sawyer. English Medieval Settlements. Multiple Estates and Early Settlement. Edward Arnold. 1979.
  3. Book: Rippon, Stephen. 14. Beyond the medieval village. Oxford University Press. 2008.
  4. Book: Aston, Mick. Mick Aston

    . Interpreting the Landscape. 34–35. Routledge. 1985. Mick Aston. 0-7134-3649-2.

  5. Book: Hooke, Della. The Landscape of Anglo-Saxon England. 52. Leicester University Press. 1998. 0-7185-0161-6.
  6. Book: Oosthuizen, Susan. Landscapes Decoded. 9. University of Hertfordshire Press. 2006. 1-902806-58-1.
  7. Book: Muir, Richard. Landscape Detective. 2001. 24. Windgather Press. 0-7509-4333-5.
  8. Book: Finberg, H.P.R. . Local history#United Kingdom

    . Local history#United Kingdom . Roman and Saxon Withington: a study in continuity . 1955 . Leicester . University College, Leicester.

  9. Book: Aston, Mick. Mick Aston

    . Interpreting the Landscape. 32. Routledge. 1985. Mick Aston. 0-7134-3649-2.

  10. Book: Reynolds, Andrew. Later Anglo-Saxon England. Tempus. 1999. 81. 0-7524-2513-7.
  11. Book: Gelling, Margaret. Margaret Gelling

    . Signposts to the Past. Phillimore. 206. 1997. third. Margaret Gelling. 0-460-04264-5.

  12. Book: Hunter, John. The Essex Landscape. Essex Record Office. 68. 1999.
  13. Book: Blair, John. Parish Churches in the Eleventh Century. The Story of Domesday Book. RWH. Erskine. Williams. Ann. Phillimore. 2003. 98.
  14. Book: Muir, Richard. The NEW Reading the Landscape. 123. University of Exeter Press. 2002. 0-7181-1971-1.