Posts by Pat Serle

In Memory

In Memory

DEATH OF SIR HARRY VERNEY. Sir Harry Verney, the venerable Baronet, who completed his 92nd year in December, died on...

A Steeple Claydons’ History

A Steeple Claydons’ History

THE BEGINNINGS Claydon is really claegiga11 dune, which is Anglo-Saxon for the village the clayey hill. And a better name...

A Steeple Claydons’ History

A Steeple Claydons’ History

THE  MIDDLE AGES The earliest surviving document to mention Claydon by name is Domesday Book (1086). Free translation of the...

A Steeple Claydons’ History

A Steeple Claydons’ History

THE  MIDDLE AGES We hear of a watermill in possession of the Doilys,  and  a windmill  (which must have been ...

A Steeple Claydons’ History

A Steeple Claydons’ History

THE OPEN FIELDS In addition to transfers of property and feudal dues the manorial court also concerned itself with the...

A Steeple Claydons’ History

A Steeple Claydons’ History

THE CHALONERS On the death of Katherine of Arragon the principal manor  reverted  to  the  Crown,  and  in  August  1557 ...

A Steeple Claydons’ History

A Steeple Claydons’ History

THE MANORIAL COURTS  An Oseney charter of 1281 makes it clear that by that date both Steeple Claydon manors were...

A Steeple Claydons’ History

A Steeple Claydons’ History

THE ENCLOSURE Claydon’s soil has always been better suited for dairy-farming than for sheep or corn .It was natural therefore...

A Steeple Claydons’ History

A Steeple Claydons’ History

THE AFTERMATH OF ENCLOSURE The immediate effect of the enclosure, according to an estimate made in 1812, was an increase...

A Steeple Claydons’ History

A Steeple Claydons’ History

TRADES AND OCCUPATIONS Until the opening of· the Calvert brick works in 1900 Clayton’s basic industry was always agriculture,   and  ...