Bronze Fish Head Spout
circa 100BC
Anglo Saxon Spear Head
6C to 8C AD |
Visitor
Information
Felmersham History Part 1
Felmersham
History: Part 2 | Part 3
| Then &
Now |
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Local History Book
Felmersham -
The History of a Riverside Parish
Full Details |
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Early Felmersham
A bronze bowl, a fish-head spout and other bronze
fragments were found during gravel extraction in January
1942 in what is now known as Felmersham Nature Reserve.
These significant Celtic grave goods were possibly placed
in the grave of an important Celtic chief who lived over
some 2000 years ago.
More on the Celtic
Grave Goods Celtic Bronze
Bowl in Bedford Museum. >>> |
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The name Felmersham is of
Saxon origin, denoting that the place was the riverside dwelling
of Feolmar and his people. There is, surprisingly, very
little evidence of Anglo-Saxon occupation (circa AD 400 to
1000). During archaeological excavations of the Plough site in
1993 two Anglo-Saxon inhumations and a spearhead were found and
they are believed to date from the 6C to 8C AD. Excavations in
the early 20th century, 150m west of the church, identified the
remains of occupation from Anglo-Saxon times to the 12th
century.
It is likely,
therefore that there has been a continuous settlement at
Felmersham from at least 100BC and it is possible that the site of
the church and the river crossing had important ritual and
communication functions in the later prehistoric and Roman
periods.
Felmersham is recorded in the
Domesday Book (1086) as Flameresham and was divided into
two manors both held by Gislebertus fitz Solomon. One manor
belonged to King William and the other to his niece the Countess
Judith. The book describes the size (1320 acres) and number of
tenant farmers (6) and smallholders (10). There would also be
other smaller farmers not mentioned.
Early
Radwell
Evidence of an Iron Age settlement has been found at Radwell
together with evidence of a Roman-British farmstead, so it is likely that there has been
continuous occupation of Radwell from the Iron Age to the
present time. There is a full account of the archaeological dig
at Radwell in the recently published book:
Felmersham - The
History of a Riverside Parish,
click for details.
The Building
of St Mary's Church
After Domesday the next most significant event in the history of
the village was the building of St Mary's church between 1220
and 1240 by the monks of Lenton Priory in Nottinghamshire. Just
why they should choose to build a church in Felmersham is not
known, but a likely explanation is that they were going to build
a satellite monastery in the village and ran out of resources.
Whatever the explanation, they built, what is regarded today as
one of the finest Early English Gothic buildings in the region.
Unlike most other churches the ground plan is original, however
the nave roof was later raised and flattened to accommodate the
8 clerestory windows, the tower was also raised and most of the
windows replaced, but essentially much of the main structure is
as originally built by those 13C monks from Lenton
Priory.
More on St Mary's
church.
The
Advowson
The advowson of the church (the right to appoint clergy to the
living) was originally with Lenton Priory, however it passed to
the crown in 1283 and by the time the Tithe barn was built in
1428 it was with Kings Hall, Cambridge (later to be part of
Trinity College).
The living was generated by bequests and a 10%
tax levied on all parishioners and generally paid in kind. It
was the corn, hay and straw etc. received as tithe payments that
were stored in the Tithe barn.
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