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The Roman period had brought stability, prosperity and expansion - the landscape was essentially full. It is likely that the population density in our area was similar to that at the Domesday survey - 700 years later. Thus it is probably that there were approximately 35 families inhabiting the area which we know as Surrey Heath; perhaps living in about 20 scattered homesteads. However, in the immediate post-Roman era both the economy and population density seemed to have declined markedly; perhaps to only 24 families inhabiting 15 homesteads. The demand for food decreased dramatically now that there was no Roman army, towns or administration to be supplied. The marginal agricultural lands were probably abandoned. Thus incoming Saxons would have found a countryside which was not fully inhabited; the Saxons were relatively few in number and they would have been able to fit in fairly easily. Place name evidence indicates that they did not move into the marginal areas vacated by the Britons: instead they set up in the best areas - right next door to the British settlements.5 In the 673 AD charter granting lands to Chertsey Abbey, the bounds of the Chobham area are described "Sua of Mimfelde to şare greten wich" ("so from Mimfield (near Mimbridge) onto the great wick" ('wic' = Old English for dwelling place, camp, abode, diary farm etc; from Latin 'vicus' - settlement. Perhaps an enclave of Britons retaining some Latin language? Tracing the bounds, this 'wick' appears not to be where Chobham village is currently located but some 800m south on the hill just east of Castle Green. This may have been a remaining Romano-British settlement. Was this a small defended site on the hill? The Saxons did not care much for 'hillforts'; they preferred to settle by rivers. Eventually the Saxons seem to have established a settlement 'Chobham' on a low dry ridge between the two Bournes just 800m north of "Castle Hill". The fact that the British settlement is mentioned in 673 AD perhaps indicates that the Saxons did not kill our drive out the British; but with the two settlements so close together and competing for the same lands it is difficult to imagine them living amicably together. However, I should point out that the other common meaning of 'wic', that is a 'dairy farm' would also fit. The meadows along the Bourne at Chobham are extensive and are the largest meadowland in Godley Hundred apart from those in the far east of the Hundred adjoining the Thames. It is quite likely that the Abbey would establish a dairy farm here to provide cheese for the monks. In our area there is place-name evidence for other Romano-British settlements. There is another 'wic' at Littlewick just over the Woking border. And in the Saxon bounds for Chertsey and Egham we have "Of şan blaken wişig on gerihte to Wealas huşe" and "Of şam şrem treouuen andlange depenbrokes on gerihte to Wealagate". These place names still survive as Welsh Hythe and Welshgate. "Wealas" was Old English for foreigner or slave and appears to be used by the Saxons when referring to the Britons (whose culture survived in Wales). So perhaps these references in the bounds refer to surviving British enclaves along the Thames? Pentecost (the lost medieval manor in Chobham) is a puzzling name and may derive from 'pen-te' - british for 'head of'; and Pennypot may derive from the same origin (peny in Welsh also means 'head of'). 'Ruden' the old name for Chobham Place or its hill appears to derive from the british for 'ferny hill'.9 Ribsdon (wipsedone in the Saxon bounds) may include the british 'dun' meaning hill fort.8 The post Romano-British and the early Saxon migrants seem to have been technically primitive people. Both appeared to have lost the ability to produce good quality pottery and iron or make ploughs as advanced as those in the Iron Age. Hence heavy soils were avoided and lighter soils closer to the heathland were to be preferred - almost a return to Bronze-age farming.8 p124 Settlements were generally small and scattered; often of a temporary nature and inclined to move position. The settlements favoured damp places, so meadow land and springs on the lower heathland would be ideal.8 p127 In the late Saxon period (A.D. 650-1066) inland rural settlements took the form of large farmsteads developing into small villages, mainly in river valleys and on the lower slopes of the chalk downs. We can presume that Chobham village would have followed the pattern. It was built on the dry ground provided by a west-east ridge situated between two rivers (the Bournes). It was likely to have become a nucleated village by the mid 9th century.8 p67 The narrow ribbon of fertile alluvial soil adjoining the flood plain of the Bournes would have been ploughed to produce wheat, barley, rye, oats and beans. Beyond the ploughland there was the uncultivated pasture and the woodland. Further still lay the very extensive unclaimed heathlands, only relics of which remain today. So far, no archaeological evidence of Saxon dwellings has been found locally.
Regarding their welfare we know little, but Phil Stevens writes: "there is little documentation or archaeological evidence to show the condition of the subsistence of peasants and slaves. Human skeletons, properly studied, tell us about people's lives, health and appearance. For example, in a Hampshire cemetery there were lepers, a childbirth casualty, a man born without a left arm and shoulder, and cases of spinal tuberculosis caused by diseased cattle. In general, however, the early Anglo-Saxon diet of meat and milk products ensured a robust physical frame and average stature much like ours. Their hard lives and limited medical skills meant that many died young and few lived past middle age. The resources of the ordinary peasant, particularly in Surrey Heath, rarely carried him above subsistence level. He had few, if any, reserves from which to re-equip himself after a run of bad seasons or plague of cattle or sheep. A band of raiders could at once reduce him to beggary". 6 p30
There are some place names in Chobham which may well have come down to us from the Saxon period. Both appear to derive from 'burh' - Anglo-Saxon for a defended site Albury Bottom (Chobham Common) - probably derives from 'old burh'. Perhaps after the ancient earthwork here on the Common. Burrowhill - unlikely anything to do with barrows because first mentioned as 'Borohill' in 1542. Probably derives from 'burh hill'. So there may have been a Saxon defended site, most likely on what we now call Killy Hill. Burr Hill Lane - the lane leading to Burh Hill (Burrowhill)?
Coin finds can be useful for indicating habitation but the only Saxon coin to have been found in NW Surrey was found at Chertsey. 2 Furthermore, no Saxon coins have been found in Surrey away from the fairly large rivers - such as the Wey. 3
References:- 1 Reading the Earth. G Cole 1989 Pub: Surrey Heath Archaeological & Heritage Trust 2 Coin Register from British Numismatic Journal 65 (1995), no. 79.
3 www-cm.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/Coins/ 4 Hidden Depths, Ed. Roger Hunt, Surrey Archaeological Society, 2002 5 Old English wic and walh: Britons and Saxons in Post-Roman Wiltshire. Simon Draper. Landscape History Vol 24 2002. 6 Surrey Heath in the Dark Ages. P Stevens 1994 7 The Archaeology of Surrey to 1541. Ed J & D Bird. Pub: Surrey Archaeological Society. 8 Shaping Medieval Landscapes. Tom Williamson. Pub:WINDgather Press 2003 | ||||||
Comparatively little of the architecture of the
Saxons has been preserved, since much of it was of wood and thatch. In a
typical village or farmstead two types of building were present:
rectangular timber-framed halls measuring some 10m by 6m that were probably high
status and may also have served a
communal role, and smaller roughly rectangular buildings some 3.5m by 2.5m over a sunken floor dug
0.75m into the ground 7 p207 and with post -holes at either rend to
support the roof structure. These often have indication of specialist use,
particularly for weaving. 4, p31 The current theory is that the
sunken level is an under floor cavity that would have been used for storage.
In the hall house the chief and others probably ate at trestle tables which
could be cleared away to provide a sleeping area among the rushes on the hall
floor. The Saxons enjoyed drinking mead, a drink made from honey, and
feasting on bread, roast meats (usually beef), and vegetables such as leeks,
onions, and beans. 6 p17
