Settlements and working life Anglo-Saxons

panorama of reconstructed 7th century village

the third aspect of alfred s society working man. helena hamerow suggest prevailing model of working life , settlement, particularly period, 1 of shifting settlement , building tribal kinship. mid-saxon period saw diversification, development of enclosures, beginning of toft system, closer management of livestock, gradual spread of mould-board plough, informally regular plots , greater permanence, further settlement consolidation thereafter foreshadowing post-conquest villages. later periods saw proliferation of service features including barns, mills , latrines, markedly on high-status sites. throughout anglo-saxon period helena hamerow suggests: local , extended kin groups remained...the essential unit of production . noticeable in period. however, tenth , eleventh centuries, rise of manor , significance in terms of both settlement , management of land, becomes evident in domesday book.

the collection of buildings discovered @ yeavering, formed part of anglo-saxon royal vill or king s tun. these tun consisted of series of buildings designed provide short-term accommodation king , household. thought king have travelled throughout land dispensing justice , authority , collecting rents various estates. such visits periodic , visit each royal villa once or twice year. latin term villa regia bede used of site suggests estate centre functional heart of territory held in king s demesne. territory land surplus production taken centre food-render support king , retinue on periodic visits part of progress around kingdom. territorial model, known multiple estate or shire has been developed in range of studies , colm o brien, in applying yeavering has proposed geographical definition of wider shire of yeavering , geographical definition of principal estate structures hope-taylor excavated. 1 characteristic king s tun shared other groups of places point of public assembly. people came not give king , entourage board , lodging; attended upon king in order have disputes settled, cases appealed, lands granted, gifts given, appointments made, laws promulgated, policy debated, , ambassadors heard , replied to. people assembled other reasons, such hold fairs , trade.

the first creations of towns linked system of specialism @ individual settlements, evidenced in studying place-names. sutterton, shoe-makers tun (in area of danelaw such places sutterby) so-named because local circumstances allowed growth of craft recognised people of surrounding places. sapperton, soap-makers tun. while boultham, meadow burdock plants , may have developed specialism in production of burrs wool-carding, since meadows burdock merely growing in them must have been relatively numerous. places named services or location within single district, category of obvious perhaps eastons , westons, possible move outwards glimpse component settlements within larger economic units. names betray role within system of seasonal pasture, winderton in warwickshire winter tun , various somertons self-explanatory. hardwicks dairy farms , swinhopes valleys pigs pastured.

settlement patterns village plans in england fall 2 great categories: scattered farms , homesteads in upland , woodland britain, nucleated villages across swathe of central england. chronology of nucleated villages debated , not yet clear. yet there strong evidence support view nucleation occurred in tenth century or perhaps ninth, , development parallel growth of towns.