A medieval woodland manor : Hanley Castle, Worcestershire
A woodland manor in the west of Worcestershire, Hanley was held by the Crown from 1075, and then by wealthy magnates from 1217. The Anglo-Saxon landscape, in spite of considerable woodland, gave scope for the farming communities described in the region in Domesday Book. 1-lanley not only supported a robust agricultural economy in its priJne, supplemented by woodland industries such as pottery manufacture, but it was also, with its castle built by king John, the headquarters of the royal forest and chase of Malvem. The forest covered about one hundred square miles of the Malvem plain from Worcester to Gloucester, although Corse was detached in theory in the early thirteenth century. 1-lanley's agriculture was based on open fields, along with smaller irregular fields, and crofts held in severalty. Demesne and tenant land was expanded by assarting in the twelfth century, followed by some retrenchment and a gradual decline from the early fourteenth. The assarting led to a new demesne and the growth of settlement in the west of the manor, reinforcing and adding to the pattern of dispersed hamlets, but there was an old nucleus and focal settlement in the east, near the Severn. Here lay the early demesne, the open
Toomey, James Patrick
DA Great Britain
A medieval woodland manor : Hanley Castle, Worcestershire. A woodland manor in the west of Worcestershire, Hanley was held by the Crown from 1075, and then by wealthy magnates from 1217. The Anglo-Saxon landscape, in spite of considerable woodland, gave scope for the farming communities described in the region in Domesday Book. 1-lanley not only supported a robust agricultural economy in its priJne, supplemented by woodland industries such as pottery manufacture, but it was also, with its castle built by king John, the headquarters of the royal forest and chase of Malvem. The forest covered about one hundred square miles of the Malvem plain from Worcester to Gloucester, although Corse was detached in theory in the early thirteenth century. 1-lanley's agriculture was based on open fields, along with smaller irregular fields, and crofts held in severalty. Demesne and tenant land was expanded by assarting in the twelfth century, followed by some retrenchment and a gradual decline from the early fourteenth. The assarting led to a new demesne and the growth of settlement in the west of the manor, reinforcing and adding to the pattern of dispersed hamlets, but there was an old nucleus and focal settlement in the east, near the Severn. Here lay the early demesne, the open
medieval woodland manor castle woodland manor west hold crown wealthy magnate anglo_saxon landscape spite considerable woodland give scope farming_community describe region domesday_book support robust agricultural_economy supplement woodland industry pottery_manufacture also castle built king_john royal forest forest cover hundred square plain worcester although detach theory agriculture base open_field along small irregular field hold demesne tenant land expand follow retrenchment gradual decline lead new demesne growth settlement west manor reinforce add pattern disperse hamlet old nucleus focal settlement east near severn lay early demesne open