THE ISLE OF WIGHT IN THE ENGLISH LANDSCAPE: MEDIEVAL AND POST-MEDIEVAL RURAL SETTLEMENT AND LAND USE ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT HELEN VICTORIA BASFORD A study in two volumes Volume 1: Text and References Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Bournemouth University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2013 2 Copyright Statement This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and due acknowledgement must always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this thesis. 3 4 Helen Victoria Basford The Isle of Wight in the English Landscape: Medieval and Post-Medieval Rural Settlement and Land Use Abstract The thesis is a local-scale study which aims to place the Isle of Wight in the English landscape. It examines the much discussed but problematic concept of ‘islandness’, identifying distinctive insular characteristics and determining their significance but also investigating internal landscape diversity. This is the first detailed academic study of Isle of Wight land use and settlement from the early medieval period to the nineteenth century and is fully referenced to national frameworks. The thesis utilises documentary, cartographic and archaeological evidence. It employs the techniques of historic landscape characterisation (HLC), using synoptic maps created by the author and others as tools of graphic analysis. An analysis of the Isle of Wight’s physical character and cultural roots is followed by an investigation of problems and questions associated with models of settlement and land use at various scales. Specifically, national-scale models by Oliver Rackham and by Brian Roberts and Stuart Wrathmell are critically assessed for their value as frameworks within which Isle of Wight data may be examined, as is the local-scale Isle of Wight HLC model. Historic Ordnance Survey maps, royal surveys, manorial surveys and other sources are used to define the Isle of Wight’s territorial units and patterns of land use, enclosure and settlement; to create a new model of 1790s HLC Areas; and to construct a database listing all settlements by size and form. Nucleation and dispersion densities are calculated from this database, compared with Isle of Wight densities mapped by Roberts & Wrathmell and discussed in relation to densities elsewhere in England. Regional-scale patterns of settlement and land-use within central southern England are considered and the relevance of national-scale models of settlement and land use to this region is discussed. The origins and evolution of Isle of Wight settlements are then explored, using evidence from early sources including place-names, Domesday Book, tax lists and surveys. Subsequent analysis defines discrete cultural zones within the Isle of Wight, confirming the diversity and ancient origins of its cultural landscapes. The 5 final chapter provides a synoptic assessment of models, emphasising the value of the local-scale 1790s HLC Areas model and recognising the compatibility of Roberts & Wrathmell’s national-scale settlement model with detailed local data for the Isle of Wight. It is found that Rackham’s model of Ancient Countryside conforms partially with local attributes but that this model may now need some revision. The paradoxical status of the Solent as both a gateway and a cultural boundary is proposed, as is the Island’s affinity with other ‘peripheral’ areas of England. 6 LIST OF CONTENTS: VOLUME 1 List of Figures, Tables and Appendices in Volume 2 8 Acknowledgements 15 Author’s Declaration 18 Abbreviations 20 1 Introduction: Studying an Island Landscape 21 2 The Isle of Wight: Physical Character and Cultural Roots 36 3 National, Regional and Local Models: 66 Problems and Questions 4 Land Use and Enclosure: An Historical Overview 86 5 Isle of Wight Territories and Landscapes 111 6 Settlement Patterns and Cultural Identity: 138 The Isle of Wight in a National and Regional Context 7 Early Sources for Isle of Wight Settlement and Land Use 165 8 The Evolution of Isle of Wight Settlements 198 9 The Character of Isle of Wight Cultural Zones 257 10 Placing the Isle of Wight in the English Landscape 291 References 305 7 LIST OF CONTENTS: VOLUME 2 Figures Figure 1.1 John Speed’s Map of Wight Island 1611 343 Figure 2.1 Isle of Wight in Relation to Britain and Europe 345 Figure 2.2 Isle of Wight Main Settlements and Roads with AONB 347 Figure 2.3 Isle of Wight Solid Geology 349 Figure 2.4 Isle of Wight Drift Geology 351 Figure 2.5 Isle of Wight Relief and Drainage 353 Figure 2.6 Isle of Wight Physiographic Regions 355 Figure 2.7 Solent River, Early-to-Mid-Quaternary 357 Figure 2.8 Solent River at beginning of Holocene 359 Figure 3.1 Ancient Countryside and Planned Countryside 361 Figure 3.2 English Settlement Provinces, Sub-Provinces and Local 363 Regions Figure 3.3 England : Farming Regions 1500-1640 365 Figure 3.4 England: Landscape Types 367 Figure 3.5 Isle of Wight Present HLC: Broad Types and HLC Areas 369 Figure 3.6 Example from Isle of Wight HLC Database Form 371 Figure 3.7 Extract from Isle of Wight HLC Primary Mapping 373 Figure 3.8 Isle of Wight HLC: Field Pattern Morphology 375 Figure 3.9 Isle of Wight HLC: Field Pattern Interpretations 377 Figure 3.10 Isle of Wight HLC: Possible Origins of Present Field 379 Patterns Figure 3.11 Classification of Village Forms (Roberts 1996) 381 Figure 3.12 Isle of Wight HLC: Age of Settlements 383 Figure 3.13 Isle of Wight HLC: Pre-Nineteenth Century Rural 385 Settlements Figure 3.14 Hierarchical Composition of Historic Landscape 387 (Rippon 2004) Figure 3.15 Isle of Wight HLC Areas 389 Figure 3.16 Isle of Wight HLC: Possible Extent of Enclosure from 391 Open-Field Figure 3.17 Landscape Regions of the Isle of Wight (Margham 393 2012b) Figure 4.1 Isle of Wight Tithings, 1790s Settlements and Open 395 Fields Figure 5.1 Isle of Wight Tithings (Russell 1981) 397 8 Figure 5.2 Isle of Wight Ecclesiastical Parishes 399 (Boundaries in 1862-63) Figure 5.3 Possible Isle of Wight ‘Mother Parishes’ 401 Figure 5.4 Northamptonshire Ecclesiastical Parishes 403 Figure 5.5 Isle of Wight Parishes, Tithings and 1790s Settlements 405 Figure 5.6 Possible ‘Mother Parishes’ and Tithings 407 Figure 5.7 The Parish of East Haddon, Northamptonshire in 1598 409 Figure 5.8 Isle of Wight Parishes and Settlements 411 Figure 5.9 1790s HLC Areas 413 Figure 5.10 Attributes of 1790s HLC Areas 415 Figure 5.11 Land Uses within 1790s HLC Areas 417 Figure 5.12 Arreton & Middle Yar Valley 1790s HLC Area 419 Figure 5.13 West-Central Chalk Downland (1790s HLC Area) 421 Figure 5.14 1790s Open Fields at Niton and Whitwell 423 Figure 5.15 Freshwater: 1790s Strip-Enclosures and Surviving Open- 425 field Figure 5.16 Strip -Enclosures near Chillerton Street 427 Figure 5.17 Strip-Enclosures at Newtown, St Helens and Yaverland 429 Figure 5.18 Enclosures based on Strip Fields, SW Wight 1790s HLC 431 Area Figure 5.19 Enclosures based on Strip Fields, Bembridge 433 Figure 5.20 Enclosures based on Strip Fields, Adgestone and Morton 435 Figure 5.21 Possible ‘Barton Fields’ at Bowcombe, Priory and 437 Wroxall Figure 5.22 Possible ‘Barton Fields’ to south of Eades and Westover 439 Figure 5.23 Large Irregular Enclosures from Open-Field and Small- 441 Medium Semi-Regular Enclosures from Open-Field & Common near Thorley and Wellow Figure 5.24 Large Semi-Regular Block Fields to east of Landguard 443 Manor Figure 5.25 Enclosed Common Pasture at Calbourne Heathfield 445 Figure 5.26 Enclosed Open-Field and Common, Thorley Parish 447 Figure 5.27 Medium Irregular Field Patterns from enclosure of 449 Gaulden Common Figure 5.28 Large Block Enclosures north of Heasley Manor 451 Figure 5.29 Large Irregular Enclosures from Waste at Hamstead & 453 Cranmore Figure 5.30 Large Irregular Enclosures from Waste, Apse, Shankin 455 and Luccombe 1790s HLC Area 9 Figure 5.31 Small Irregular Enclosures between Niton Undercliff and 457 Mirables, Undercliff 1790s HLC Area Figure 5.32 Medium & Large Semi-Regular ‘Herringbone’ Enclosure 459 from Common & Waste. Figure 5.33 Enclosure from downland at Gallibury Fields, Newbarn 461 Farm and Gotten Leaze Figure 5.34 Straight-Sided Semi-Regular Fields enclosed from 463 downland Figure 5.35 Fields enclosed at the foot of the Downs north of Afton 465 Farm and east of Wroxall Farm. Figure 5.36 Assarts to the south of Parkhurst Forest and Carisbrooke 467 Open Field Figure 5.37 North-East Wight: Assarts between Firestone Copse and 469 Combley Farm Figure 6.1 England: Rural Settlement in the Mid-Nineteenth Century 471 Figure 6.2 Extract from Ordnance Survey Drawings showing 473 Dwellings in Red and Outbuildings in black Figure 6.3 Isle of Wight 1790s Nucleated and Dispersed 475 Settlements in relation to Physiographic Regions Figure 6.4 Isle of Wight Nucleations 477 Figure 6.5 Figure 6.5: Mid 19th C. Isle of Wight Nucleations. Extract 479 from The Atlas of Rural Settlement in England GIS (Lowerre et al 2011) Figure 6.6 Roberts & Wrathmell’s Method for Conversion of 481 Dispersion Scores and Hamlet Counts to Standard Terms Figure 6.7 Dispersion Densities on the Isle of Wight and adjoining 483 mainland area of East Wessex Sub-Province from The Atlas of Rural Settlement in England GIS Figure 6.8 England: Combined Dispersion Score, Hamlet Count and 485 Proximity to B, C & D Nucleations (Lowerre, 2010, figure 8) Figure 6.9 National Dispersion Densities from The Atlas of Rural 487 Settlement in England GIS (Lowerre et al 2011) Figure 6.10 Nucleation Densities in East Wessex and West Wessex 489 Figure 6.11 England: Physical Regions and Terrains 491 Figure 6.12 Differences between Rackham’s Countryside Zones and 493 Roberts & Wrathmell’s Provinces (Lambourne 2010, figure 8.1) Figure 7.1 Isle of Wight Settlements with Old-English Place-Name 495 Elements Figure 7.2 Isle of Wight Name-elements in -hām, -hamm, -ingas and 497 –inga, as recorded by Mills (1996) and Kökeritz (1940) Figure 7.3 Proposed Multiple Estates/Mother Parishes in relation to 499 Estates recorded in Anglo-Saxon Charters and Medieval Parishes.