The iconic meadow-side scene of ‘dreaming spires’ and ancient stone university buildings is widely famous. It could be regarded as Oxford’s oldest monument, it has been the city landmark for more than a thousand years. Recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 it was then known as Portmaneit (burgess island) and since 1285 it has been referred to as Port Meadow. The meadow, of 300acres, is conjoined with Wolvercote Common, Wolvercote Green and Binsey Green and amounts to around 500…
F.E.W. is an association of guilds, similar bodies and individuals of towns and cities throughout England and Wales. The object is to advance public knowledge in the traditions of historic towns and to protect their freedom as a legal institution. The Association represents a collective of various members that have inherited or been honoured with freedom and those belonging to organisations that refer them as freemen. Examples traditionally recognised by Custom and Statute are as follows: Freemen of provincial boroughs…
The Judiciary of English Law English law has been a combination of local and royal government. The Curia Regis was initially presided over by the monarch. Local justice over criminal guilt could be determined by the court leet or baron and at times may include trial by ordeal. This was the case until almost the end of the 12th century. Trials could include the applications of red hot iron, boiling water or the dunking in deep water. Finally they were…
Labor omnia vincit Born in the suburbs of Harrow, Middlesex at the beginning of the Second world War, travel was limited, and my father was in the Royal Navy seconded to the Fleet Air-Arm. As a young child, with an elder brother and younger sister, I enjoyed imaginatively playing with toy farm animals. By the time I was at boarding school in Petersfield, surrounded by Hampshire’s countryside I was hooked on a farming career. During my summer holidays I would…
Highleadon Green is an area of 15.3 acres of registered common land (CL35) plus an additional acre of unregistered land. It is located within the village of Highleadon, approximately 4.5 miles northwest of Gloucester in the Forest of Dean. Several villagers with properties adjacent the Green have grazing rights over the common land. It is not a conventional and singular ‘green’ but it is made up of six pieces of common land dispersed by roads and track-ways. Registered as common…
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire is a beautiful rural county, rich in history and traditions. It is steeped with many interesting ‘old world’ buildings, estates and iconic landscapes. Major attractions are the limestone Cotswolds, the ancient Forest of Dean, the Stroud Valleys and the dominant river Vales that include the Thames, Severn and the Wye rivers. It has been a popular ‘centre’ for the Romans and for the Anglo-Saxon Witan. There were many settlers through the ages. The two major hubs have been…
The Norman Conquest confiscated the ancient ‘South-burgh’ manor of Suffolk. Sudbury passed through the royal family to Robert of Gloucester, the illegitimate son of Henry 1. The manor then passed down through his son William (along with the Gloucester estates) to William’s daughter Amicia. She married Richard de Tonebruge (de Clare) 4th Earl of Hertford to become Countess of Gloucester and of Clare. In the late twelfth century Amicia, Countess of Clare gave rights of pasture (in common) and the…
A ‘common right’ is a traditional right, privilege or immunity held by an individual, or with others, for beneficial purposes. It would be the right of a ‘commoner’ to take resources from a piece of common land and is therefore ‘a right of common’ (a right of folkland). Most common lands (more than 7,000 in England) were originally waste of a ‘manorial’ estate held by a lord during the feudal period. Appurtenant rights of land use were granted to certain…