Fish weirs
Particularly in medieval times, obtaining a balanced diet was not easy. Even if the grain harvest held up, particularly in winter it was difficult to get enough protein. Most people get this from meat, but it was not easy to keep meat for any length of time. Consequently there was often a surplus of meat in early autumn, when excess animals were slaughtered, but then very little at other times of the year. One solution to this was to eat freshly caught fish, available all the year round. There is ample evidence from archaeology that fish formed an important part of the medieval diet. Sometimes fish were kept in ponds but they were also caught from rivers and streams. This was done with nets rather than the hook and line used by modern anglers. Whilst net fishing could be done from boats, the main method was by means of fish weirs.
The fish weir consisted of a series of wickerwork fences driven into the bed of the river. These were arranged to form a series of V-shapes across the width of the river channel. At the point of each V, there would a wooden frame from which a net would be hung. The fences would channel the water through these nets, so catching any fish that happened to be swimming along. There would be some kind of walkway built over the top of the fences, so a man could walk from the bank to haul the nets in and collect the fish. As might be imagined, this was a highly effective means of harvesting fish. There was however a problem. The best place to build a weir was across the Severn, but the Severn was also the main transport route linking Wales and central England with the sea. It was busy with boats and barges which would not be able to cross the wickerwork fences. The solution to this was to construct a by-pass channel to the one side of the weir, for use by boats. This was called a bylet. It was often a channel cut through the bank, leaving a small island in the river. The weir would then run from this island to the other bank. This compromise satisfied both fishermen and boatmen, at least for a while.
There are records of fish weirs across the Severn from Anglo Saxon times. A weir at Bewdley is mentioned in the Domesday book. Locally there were further weirs at Dowles, Trimpley, Arley, Alveley, Chelmarsh, Quatford and Bridgnorth. These were all built at some point in the Middle Ages. Many were constructed by monasteries and leased out to various proprietors. The weirs would be looked after by a man who often lived in a cottage next to the weir. They would catch eels, salmon and coarse fish. The relation between the weir owners and other river users was often strained and various orders were made to maintain the bylet channels or even to demolish unauthorised weirs. As the river became busier in Tudor and Stuart times, so the pressure on the weir owners increased. A very bad flood in 1635 is said to have damaged every weir on the river and it has been suggested that many were not rebuilt. By 1700, of the local weirs, only the weir at Alveley is still mentioned in documents and I am not convinced it was really still working at that time.
Several of the weirs have left visible remains. In some places, the island and bylet channel survive; the easiest local example to see is the Bylet at Bridgnorth. However, at both Arley and Trimpley islands and bylets are still to be found, often connected to the bank by dry land in the summer. Another sign is rows of stakes sticking up in the river or the bank; the remains of the wicker fences. At Alveley there are traces not only of the stakes but also the infill of woven hazel rods. At both Arley and Alveley it is possible to make out more substantial timbers in the river bank that were parts of the weirs. Whilst these have not been dated, they may be 500 or more years old.
Rabbit warrens
The rabbit is the most common British mammal (after ourselves!), with no less than 40 million munching their way through lettuce patches up and down the country. Regardless of whether this makes for a healthy and balanced eco-system, there is no doubt that they are extremely successful. It may surprise some to learn that it was not always thus. For much of its history, the rabbit was regarded as a poor and helpless, albeit tasty and nutritious creature that needed to be carefully nursed from the cradle to the stew-pot.
Rabbits were present in England by the 12th century. The medieval rabbit had a lot of trouble adapting to English conditions and could only thrive if kept in special conditions. Consequently, artificial warrens had to be made. These were mounds of soft earth in some cases with pre-formed burrows. The warrens were usually enclosed to keep predators such as foxes or peasants at bay and were the responsibility of a special official called a warrener.
Needless to say, they were the preserve of the rich for only they could afford the warrens. Typically the sort of person who could afford to raise rabbits also had a private deer park; effectively an enclosed deer farm and so part of this was often used for the warren. Thus closeted the rabbits thrived until at some point, often in the 17th or 18th century, they jumped the bounds of their warrens and discovered the delights of life on the other side of the fence. By now they had adapted to their adopted country and so they thrived.
In Highley, the landowners were the Mortimer family, one of the most important families in medieval England. They created a deer park at Earnwood, that included parts of Kinlet and Highley. In addition to deer, they raised rabbits. Even in medieval times, rabbits were not without annoying habits. The Mortimer’s steward at Earnwood in 1378/9 was forced to buy tar to paint on the shoots of young apple trees in his orchard to stop the rabbits from eating them. The exact location of the Earnwood warrens is not known. The park went out of existence in about 1600 and probably the warrens were destroyed when the land was turned over to normal agriculture. However, there is a chance that there might be some remains in a corner of woodland.
Elsewhere there are more clues as to the presence of the rabbits. A warren appears to have survived as a functioning unit in Farlow until the late 18th century. At this time the “Rabbit House” was part of a farm of 47 acres, held by a Sam Jones. The Rabbit House, which still survives, would have been the home of the warrener. However, Jones was not keeping rabbits at this date, for he had swapped the warren itself for another patch of land on the slopes of the hill and commercial rabbit keeping had probably ceased. It lasted longest on the Brown Clee.
In the 17th century there was a warren on the west slopes of the hill in Clee St Margaret. However, in Cleobury North, in land called the Parks (a sign of an old medieval deer park), there is a field called the Warren. This is now the start of the nature trail through the Boyne estate woodlands on the hill. I do not know exactly where the warrens were. There is a large circular bank on the upper reaches of the hill; it is a mysterious structure but it may at least have been adapted as a warren even if it originally had another function. The warrens may alternatively have been nearer the road. Wherever they were, a writer on agriculture in Shropshire in 1813 noted that the only surviving warren in the county was on the Brown Clee.
Cleobury Castle
(In this map of the Childe estates, the motte of Cleobury Castle is clearly visible
as the circle in the centre of the picture. Below it, in the blank space, is the
churchyard.)
Although classed as a small town, Cleobury is smaller than many villages. It is however proud of its urban status and this has its origins in Anglo Saxon times when it was an important manor, belonging to the Crown. It had a “minster” church, which acted as a base for the local clergy who would then go to surrounding villages where there were no churches to take services. It was similar in status to Stottesdon. The reason why Cleobury is still a town and Stottesdon is now a village is down to the years immediately after the Norman conquest. Stottesdon became just a small part of a large estate run from elsewhere and lost its importance. By contrast, shortly after the conquest, Cleobury was given to one Ralf de Mortimer who made it into the headquarters of his estates in Shropshire and the Welsh borders. Consequently, Cleobury gained in importance, particularly as the Mortimer family rose to pre-eminence, first in the Welsh borders and then in the whole country.
In the 11th and 12th centuries, the first thing any lord needed to do was to build himself a stronghold where he could live in safety: a castle. These could be built quickly; a steep earth mound would be thrown up (the motte), on top of which would be built a wooden wall or tower. These allowed the Normans to dominate the country. There can be little doubt that this is what Ralf did at Cleobury. The exact site of his castle is not clear. Just outside Cleobury is Castle Toot; a steep-sided hill. The name, the location and tradition all suggest that this was once a fortified site. However, the Normans usually integrated their castles in their towns. The towns provided the barons with part of their wealth; the castle in turn offered protection to the town. Whatever may have been at Castle Toot, it is clear that the main castle of Cleobury was located in the town, next to the church. The outline of this castle can still be seen in alleys and earthworks. Immediately behind the church is a steep mound. This would have been the motte. To the east of it, on the grounds formerly occupied by the Lacon Childe school would have been a large courtyard; the bailey. It is probable that the whole structure would have first been built of timber; it was probably rebuilt in stone later in the 12th century.
We know very little about the history of the castle. In 1155, Hugh de Mortimer rebelled against King Henry II. Henry marched against him and took his castles at Cleobury and Bridgnorth. Cleobury was demolished. However, Mortimer was pardoned and allowed to rebuild his castle in about 1179. The Mortimers eventually made Wigmore their main seat but Cleobury remained an important administrative centre. In 1246, Roger de Mortimer created a virtually independent state in Shropshire and the borders based on Cleobury and the town would have remained an important administrative centre until the end of the Middle Ages. It is likely that Cleobury Castle would have been the equivalent of the Council offices, where the Mortimer’s stewards and civil servants were based. However, it is also fair to assume that with the pacification of Wales at the end of the 13th century, it would have ceased to have any military significance and its fortifications would have been allowed to decay at the same time as the office space increased.
The Mortimer family became extinct at the end of the Middle Ages. Cleobury lost importance; the castle was allowed to fall down. By the mid 16th century it appears to have been in ruins. A house was built on the motte. In the 18th century the Lacon Childe school was built in the Courtyard. The house on the motte burnt down and was replaced by a bowling green and then, in the early 19th century, by cottages. However, recent archaeological work has discovered a stone bridge that once led from the motte to the courtyard, an oven and other traces of foundations. Pottery from the 12th to 14th century has been recovered. Most intriguing of all is the presence of Roman pottery, suggesting that the site has a much longer history than anyone previously imagined!
Labour service
Today we purchase property and goods with money. However, in early medieval times society was organised on the feudal system, in which ultimately all land belonged to the King. He granted large estates to his chief nobles and barons; they let smaller estates to lesser lords and knights and so on. At each level, the landlord usually let out the land in return for some service that was of use to him, rather than a monetary rent. These services give an important insight into life during the centuries immediately after the Norman conquest.
Perhaps the commonest service was the “Knight’s fee”. This was the going-rate for anyone who held a manor and was the obligation to provide a knight with his retinue for 40 days service in time of war. It should be noted that this went beyond finding a man in armour; a knight would need a horse, various servants and provisions. It was a sizeable undertaking but allowed either the king or his senior nobles to produce an army in time of war. A variant of this service was recorded for Overton in Stottesdon where two lightly armed horsemen (hobbelars) were substituted for a knight; the use of these light cavalrymen was popular in the 13th century. In practice it was impossible for the holder of a small manor to afford this service and as manors were subdivided by inheritance, individuals could find themselves responsible for a fraction of a Knight’s Fee. Thus in the 13th century Robert de Woderton and Roger de Burwardsley jointly held Highley from its Mortimer overlords for a full Knight’s Fee; by contrast William de Ford and Thomas de Bardley were only responsible for half a Knight’s Fee for Catsley in Kinlet. The difficulty in finding a use for half a knight lead to the service being replaced by payment of money, used to pay a professional soldier.
The Middle Ages were violent times and there were other forms of military service payable for small estates. John Fiz Aer held Harcourt in Stottesdon in 1255 by service of finding an archer with three arrows for war in Wales. In 1349 this service was described as an archer with two arrows, one to be shot at the advance guard of the Welsh army. This was an anachronism; Wales had been under English rule for 70 years and English and Welsh archers were using the French for target practice on the fields of Crecy and Poitiers.
There were also non-military services. These often originated in personal services to the first Norman lords; by the time they are recorded, many must have been replaced by money payments. In the time of Henry I, the Beysin family held Wrickton and Walkerslow in Stottesdon in return for holding a hawk for the king, presumably for hunting. In 1243 the service is described in more detail; Adam de Beysin had to carry the hawk at court between Michaelmas and the feast of the Purification (late September to the start of February) during which period he was allowed two robes and 5½d a day. In 1308 Richard de Bardley held Bardley in Stottesdon by service of carrying the King’s treasure from Shrewsbury to Wales once a year.
It was not just holders of manors and large farms who owed service; the small farmers on a manor were also expected to work on the Lord’s land for specific jobs such as ploughing or harvesting. In 1373/4 the tenants of Philippa de Mortimer at Earnwood in Kinlet paid 8d to avoid having to each do a day’s ploughing in the winter and spring but they were still expected to reap Phillippa’s corn and gather in her hay once it had been cut by paid labourers.
