Henley Archaeological & History Group

LANDSCAPE historian Deborah Hayter spoke to the Henley Archaeological & Historical Group at its May meeting on “The lost villages of Oxfordshire”.

There are an estimated 150 of these lost villages in the county, mostly located in agricultural areas outside the Chilterns, hence there are few in the Henley area.

Clues to their former existence lie in documentary records, such as the Domesday Book, or in the landscape, either through “humps and bumps” or the presence of a church in a now-isolated location, as in Widford, near Burford.

It is sometimes possible to identify house platforms and streets as in Astwick by the Northamptonshire border.

There is a range of reasons for their desertion. Cooling of the climate after the Mediaeval Warm Period made later settlements on poor soil unattractive for farming.

Small villages lacking in amenities, such as a mill, and those without a local lord to manage affairs were particularly vulnerable.

Economic trends, especially the switch from arable to husbandry agriculture, were another driver.

In addition, there were the well-known events of plague and eviction by landlords, sometimes to more appealing accommodation, as in Nuneham Courtenay.

The group’s next meeting will be held at the King’s Arms Barn on Tuesday, June 6 at 7.30pm when Jill Eyers will talk to us about “The archaeology of the Chilterns”.

Following a summer break, the group’s lectures will resume on Tuesday, October 3.

Tony Lynch