The landscape is mostly of high limestone plateau that has been bisected by the north – south aligned valley of the River Coln. The river rises from springs to the north of Brockhampton and is fed by more springs along the way.[a] The springs and streams that feed the River Coln in its early stages provide an ideal habitat for sedges and rushes to grow. During the medieval period sedges and rushes were known as "seeves", hence the origin of the name Seven..hampton.[b]
The parish is now known by the village name of Sevenhampton, but during the 16th century it was variously known as Senhampton and Sennington.
[d] A house near Brockhampton was known as Sennington,[e] and an old village now deserted was known as Old Sennington.[f]
Village name
The springs and streams that feed the River Coln in its early stages provide an ideal habitat for sedges and rushes to grow. During the medieval period sedges and rushes were known as "seaves".[g]
The name element seve (13th–14th century) is from English dialect seave ( " sedge or rush " ).[h][i]
The name element Seven arose from a common mistake whereby Anglo-Saxons confused Old Norsesef ( " sedge, rush " ) for Old Englishseofon ( " seven " ).[j][k]
All of the above places provide a wet habitat suitable for sedges and rushes to grow. The name element Seven arose from a common mistake whereby Anglo-Saxons confused Old Norsesef ( " sedge, rush " ) for Old Englishseofon ( " seven " ).[p][q]
Other resources: Meadow 20 acres. Woodland 1 * 0.5 leagues.[w]
A rabbit warren was established in the woods in the 13th century;[x][y] however the warren was later destroyed in the 17th century.[aa]
During the Middle Ages the woods were of economic importance for the supply of timber and firewood;[ab] also for sheep grazing in the wood-pasture's.[ac]
Parts of the woods were available to local people as common land for the grazing of horses and cattle. [ad]
There are fragmented areas designated as ' Woodpasture and Parkland – BAP Priority Habitat ' in and around Brockhampton Park.[14][ae]
History
Danish Vikings
The Danish Viking warlord Guthrum based his army at Cirencester for about a year following his defeat at the Battle of Edington.[af] It would be expected that a large army would have needed to spread out across a large area of the surrounding countryside in order to sustain themselves for a long period of time.
Sevenhampton village is about 12.2 miles (19.6 km) north of Cirencester. The Salt Way (Salt road) provided an easy walk from Cirencester to Sevenhampton and beyond.
At that time Sevenhampton was in south-west Mercia and ruled by Ceolwulf II of Mercia. It has been suggested that there might have been battles between the Viking's and the Mercian's that worked out to Alfred's advantage – Ceolwulf disappeared about that time.[ag]
There are a number of hillfort's along the Salt Way, place name evidence suggests that the Danes either built or reused existing camps, most notably Beckbury near Hailes Abbey and Grims Hill near Roel Gate.
[ah] Some of those hillfort's might be compared with the D-shaped earthwork discovered at Repton in Derbyshire.[ai]
In 879 Guthrum moved his large army from Cirencester to East Anglia, as had been agreed in the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum.[aj] It is possible that not all of Guthrum's army recruits regrouped from the surrounding countryside and followed Guthrum to East Anglia. Place name evidence suggests that a population of Danes settled in the local area and integrated with the local population.[ak]
In 892 another Viking army arrived in Wessex where they engaged in battles with Alfred for about four years.[al] In 896 the remaining Danes separated and travelled independently to Danish controlled areas such as East Anglia.[am] It is possible that some Danes remained in the local area and integrated with the local population.
In the North of England place name elements such as dale, beck and side[ar] are ubiquitous in those areas most heavily influenced
by the Old Norse language, especially the English Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.[as]
Many Old Norse words became absorbed into the English language as northern dialect,[at] but are rarely seen in the South of England.
Beckbury hillfort is located high on the Cotswold escarpment above Hailes Abbey.[24] The hillfort is a Scheduled Monument.[25] The name is probably a reference to the stream that flows past Hailes Abbey,[bd] and especially to the valley that cuts into the Cotswold escarpment. The name element beck is from Old Norse bekkr – "stream".
[be] The Old Norse bekkr became absorbed into the English language,[bf] but was mostly used in those areas associated with the Danelaw, especially the North of England and East Anglia.[bg] The name element bury is from Old English burg (" fortress ").[bh]
Grim's Hill
Grim's Hill is the 10th century name for the earthwork known as Roel Camp near the summit of Bespidge hill.[3]
It is a short distance west of Roel Gate on the Salt Way.[27] The hillfort is a Scheduled Monument.[28] The name " Grim " was a common Old Danish personal-name during the Viking Age.[29][bi] The name may have been used by the Anglo-Saxon's as a metaphor and to identify a place that was associated with people of DanishViking origin.[bj]
References
Notes
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^ British History Online. . . " The river Coln, rising at springs in Sevenhampton and Charlton Abbots, to the north. . . "[3]
^ British History Online. . . " The parish name, first recorded in 1086 and with later variants including Senhampton and Sennington. . . "[3]
^ British History Online. . . " The south-western corner of Brockhampton Park stands on the site of the house begun by Paul Peart in or soon after 1639. . .In the late 18th century and the early 19th, when it was known as Sennington or Sevenhampton Park. . . "[3]
^ See (Contents) > History > Sennington DMV > . . .Old Sennington is a deserted medieval village. . .
^ Sevenhampton. . . " This name, which finds parallels in the neighbouring counties. . .and Ekwall has therefore proposed that these names embody some older p.n. such as seofon wyllas (seven wells). . . "[7]
^ British History Online
. . . " Puckham woods (or wood), which were partly in Prestbury parish, were presumably represented in 1086 by woodland recorded on the bishop of Hereford's Prestbury estate. . . "[3]
^ Woodland 3.0 miles (4.8 km) * 1.5 miles (2.4 km)
^ British History Online. . . " The bishop had established a warren in the woods by the 1270s. . . "[3]
^ British History Online. . . " under an agreement of 1657. . .the warren was destroyed . . .the lady of Prestbury had liberty to dispose of the coneys[z] in that part of the woods belonging to her manor. . . "[3]
^ British History Online. . . " the episcopal estate derived an income from sales of wood and undergrowth in the later Middle Ages. . . "[3]
^ British History Online
. . . " In the later 14th century, when the bishop of Hereford wintered sheep at Puckham. . .Llanthony Priory kept a flock in Sevenhampton for at least part of the year. . .The priory reserved the hay from its meadows and tithes as fodder for its sheep
. . . "[3]
^ British History Online. . . " Puckham woods, which were partly in Prestbury. . .had been used as a common in the 1270s. . .and the tenants of Sevenhampton manor had a customary right to
graze horses and cattle but not sheep throughout the year in them in 1503. . . "[3]
^ The Watlington Viking Hoard. . . " following Alfred's defeat of Guthrum's army at Edington in 878, Guthrum's army moved north to Cirencester in Southern Mercia where they based themselves for about a year. . . "[18]
^ The Watlington Viking Hoard. . . " Guthrum's army moved north to Cirencester in Southern Mercia where they based themselves for about a year. . .Their prolonged presence in south-west Mercia. . .must have been devasting for Ceolwulf's position. . .there might have been battles between the Viking's and the Mercian's. . .Alfred was the eventual beneficiary of whatever happened there . . . "[18]
^ See (Contents) > Local place names > Danish place names.
^ The Watlington Viking Hoard. . . " Guthrum's army moved in 879 from Cirencester to East Anglia
. . . "[18]
^ See (Contents) > Local place names > Danish place names.
^ Vikings c.825–900 (Martin J. Ryan). . . " In the year following Edington a new Viking army
. . .it would eventually return to Wessex in 892. . .For the next four years this army would play a cat-and-mouse game with Alfred. . .by the summer of 896 it was largely a spent force. . . "[19]
^ British History Online. . . " East of the road 12th- and 13th-century pottery has been recovered at the site of a deserted settlement high above the Coln valley in a place, near the head of a dry side valley. . .known by the mid 16th century as Old Sennington. . . "[3]
^ Sennington (University of Hull). . . " The earthwork remains of a settlement known as Old Sennington can still be seen from the air. These include at least two north-south hollow ways, and a number of indistinct croft boundaries. . .A report of coins having been discovered was published in 1889 which also suggested that the original chapel of Sevenhampton may have been located at the settlement (Hall 1889-90)
. . .Unpublished excavations at the site in 1936 revealed stone walls as well as twelfth and thirteenth-century pottery (Baldwyn and O’Neil 1958, Dunning 1949). . . "[20]
^Chapter Seven THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT (P H Reaney). . . " Old Norse sætr "a mountain pasture, a shieling". . .is common in the mountainous districts of Cumberland and Westmorland. . .Examples in Cumberland:
^ British History Online. . . " Near the summit of Bespidge hill, known as Grim's hill in the 10th century. . .Roel Camp is a prehistoric earthwork, probably an Iron-Agehillfort. . . "[3]