History of the House of Lords

I have a keen interest in the history of Parliament. I hope in the future to write a number of short posts about the history of that institution - and some of the extraordinary events associated with it.

In the meantime - there is an excellent brief summary of the history of the House of Lords available to download - for free! from -

http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/LLN-2017-0020

Forthcoming Posts

The pace of posts may drop in the coming few weeks. There's an election on - and that means I have less time to research and post - but do subscribe, or return occasionally - I hope to get some time for the research and writing that I enjoy.

Alfred the Great

Most of our Monarchs are known by their number, but only Alfred is popularly known as 'the Great'.  (Sometimes Cnut [Canute] is also described by the title). He was a remarkable, and unusual King. The Victorians stressed his role as a warrior, but he was a learned man - dedicated to promoting education. Whilst King of Wessex, he is remembered as an essentially English King. Yet he had a very European outlook - and had visited Rome and the court of  Charles the Bald, King of the Franks.  He encouraged scholars from across the continent. His step-mother was the daughter of Charles.



Many books have been written about him. The first - and a major source for later writers was written by Bishop Asser, who spent time at Alfred's Court. I very much enjoyed reading David Horspool's book.



The tale of the burning of the cakes, sadly, has no basis in fact. What we do know is that he was born in Wantage in 848 or 849. He was the youngest of five sons and a daughter of Aethelwulf, King of the  West Saxons (reigned 839-858) and the grandson of King Egbert, whose defeat of the Mercians in 825, brought an end to their domination of England - and the establishment of Wessex as the greatest (and ultimately only remaining) kingdom of England. All of Alfred's brothers preceded him as King.

Alfred's reign was dominated by the struggle with the Vikings. Raids by these sea-faring folk from Scandinavia began in 789, but Alfred faced invasion. Most of England succumbed to the invaders, and at a low point in his reign, Alfred fled to Athelney, an island in the 'very great swampy and impassable marshes' of the Somerset Levels. From there he launched the fightback - eventually forcing the invaders out of his kingdom and liberating London. He re-established the city within its original walls.

He was a reformer in many fields. He reorganised the defences of the country, establishing a series of burhs (boroughs) across the south of England. These fortified towns were key to his military success.

A BBC webpage describes his other great contributions - "As an administrator Alfred advocated justice and order and established a code of laws and a reformed coinage. He had a strong belief in the importance of education and learnt Latin in his late thirties. He then arranged, and himself took part in, the translation of books from Latin to Anglo-Saxon."

His main capital was at Winchester, where he died in 899 - and was buried firstly in the old Minister, then ultimately in Hyde Abbey.

Milton Keynes in the Ice Age

I popped into the Central Library in Milton Keynes today (to check that I was on the Electoral Register) - and noticed an advertisement for an exhibition about the Ice Age in the MK area. It is being held in the Exhibition area (downstairs, behind the service desks - where the local studies section of the library used to be).

It was an interesting exhibition - explaining the geological research that led to the identification of the ice ages in Britain (there were a number - and the term can apply to a specific period - or to the general period which saw both warm and cold periods). There were also exhibits of animal remains from the creatures who were resident in this area. Good interpretation boards explained the different human species around.

I liked the way that local finds were highlighted (even if they weren't actually on display themselves.)

Well worth a visit - it's on until 11th May.

Secklow Mound

Just behind the Central Library in Milton Keynes, a low mound stands. It has recently been given a new interpretation board, explaining the history and significance of the site.

'Hundreds' were an important part of the hierarchy within England for over a thousand years. Beneath the 'Kingdom' were 'counties'. These were divided into 'hundreds', which themselves were made up of a number of parishes. In the Milton Keynes area the main 'hundred' was called Secklow. However, not all parishes covered by the modern city were in the Secklow Hundred. I live in Furzton, which was part of Shenley Brook End parish - which was in the Mursley Hundred (which extended to Winslow and Stewkley). Bunsty Hundred covered Haversham and Hanslope across to Olney and Lavenham. Moulsoe Hundred included the Brickhills, Wavendon, Milton Keynes Village, Broughton and up to Clifton Keynes.

A 'Hundred' was supposed to include 100 'hides'. One hide was regarded as the amount of land required to support one family group. In practice the size of hundreds varied significantly. Each Hundred had its own 'folk moot' - a meeting of the people within the Hundred to discuss local issues and to ensure that justice was meted out to law-breakers. Sadly, they weren't as democratic as they sound, often being limited to significant land-holders.

The Secklow mound was the meeting place for the 'folk-moot' of the Secklow (or 'Seckley') Hundred.  The full list of parishes within the Hundred are listed in http://opendomesday.org/hundred/seckley/ (which also gives the information recorded about them in the Doomsday Book). It covered the area from Water Eaton and Shenley Church End to Stony Stratford and westwards towards Newport Pagnell and Simpson.

The Saxons in Milton Keynes

Does history repeat itself?

In 409 AD the British "revolted from the Roman Empire, 'rejected Roman law, reverted to their native customs, and armed themselves to ensure their own safety'" - an early Brexit? The following year (410 AD) "Emperor Honorius sends his Rescript (diplomatic letters) to the Romano-British magistrates, where he explains that the cities in Britain must provide for their own defence against the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons. This effectively ends Roman rule in Great Britain."

410 CE/AD is often described as the last year of Roman Britain, the year we entered the "Anglo-Saxon period".   In fact things didn't change overnight. As with the start of the Roman era, settlement patterns and daily life evolved more slowly.

Croft and Mynard commented in their excellent book 'The Changing Landscape of Milton Keynes' - "It is clear that settlement of the area in the Roman period was extensive, so it is likely that any Saxon people entering the area would have found the remains of a well-managed agrarian landscape...It is likely that rough pasture, scrubland and even woodland had regenerated over some of the former arable lands of the villa estates. The place-name evidence in the Shenley (Bright clearing) and Bletchley (Blaecc's clearing) areas tends to confirm the wooded nature of these areas in the 7th and 8th centuries."

The map of the area did change. Magiovinium, Bancroft and other roman sites were abandoned, whilst other areas saw new development. Even places like Pennyland and the Hartigans gravel pit (near Milton Keynes village), which had seen earlier settlements abandoned in the early Roman period, saw new settlements develop. While Bancroft villa was left to decay, settlement on the hill at Blue Bridge revived.

The Saxons originated mainly in the area we know today as northern Germany and Denmark. At first they were sea-borne raiders - but in the turbulence of the collapse of the Roman Empire they began to settle. Saxon sites have been discovered in Old Wolverton, Westbury (actually in what we now call Shenley Brook End), Pennyland and Newport Pagnell. As noted above, some of our City's place names have Saxon origins. Michael Farley in his 'Illustrated History of Early Buckinghamshire' claims that "by AD 500 it is fairly likely that Buckinghamshire was to all intents and purposes a Saxon county...lacking documentation it is too early to know which principle tribal grouping (e.g. Anglian, West Saxon, etc) was dominant here." We know that they arrived holding pagan beliefs, but Christianity re-established itself during the early Saxon period. The most complete Saxon church in Buckinghamshire is to be found in Wing, between Milton Keynes and Aylesbury.

It is during the Saxon period that the "hundreds" were established. In a forthcoming post I will describe the Secklow Mound, which lies behind the Central Library in Milton Keynes.

Thornborough

The Bletchley to Buckingham road (A421) has long been recognised as a roman road.  Shortly before arriving at the outskirts of Buckingham there is a lay-by which was once the main route. There's a lovely ancient bridge, the only surviving medieval bridge in Buckinghamshire, which dates from the fourteenth century - and in the fields nearby there are two Roman barrows.

It is believed that five roman roads met at Thornborough. The remains of the roman village is now protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 (as amended) as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. The barrows were first excavated by the Duke of Buckingham in 1839. Remains of high status romans and their possessions were found, along with evidence of later burials from the anglo-saxon period. The description by Historic England states...

"The western barrow is roughly circular in plan, measuring c.40m in diameter and 3.5m high, with steep sides leading to a flattened area on the summit some 15m across. Slight traces of the ditch surrounding the mound remain visible around the south western side. 

The second barrow lies about 30m to the east. It is similar in size to the western barrow, although slightly more oval in appearance, and appears marginally higher due to its position on the hillside. 

Traces of the encircling ditch are also visible around the east and west sides of the mound... One (although it is not recorded which) proved to have been previously robbed and little was recovered. The other revealed a floor of rough limestone blocks which had stood beneath a timber structure, some of the oak timbers of which survived intact. Within this area were found three bronze jugs; a bronze lamp and a patera (a shallow, circular dish); a cup, bowl and platter of samian-ware (red pottery imported from Gaul); two ceramic storage jars (or amphorae); a small lozenge-shaped piece of gold, and two glass vessels, the larger of which contained the cremated remains of the deceased. The calcined condition of the limestone pavement indicated that it had been used as the base of the funeral pyre.

Traces of iron objects were noted at the time, but these apparently did not survive the excavation. The remaining finds, with the exception of the gold object, were later purchased by the local antiquarian R C Neville (fourth Lord Braybrooke) and are now held by the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. They date from the first and second centuries AD (some being old when buried, perhaps being retained for generations as family heirlooms) and demonstrate that one of the barrows was constructed in the late second century AD. The other is thought to be of the same date."

One article I read had the worrying title - "ISIS AT THORNBOROUGH" - which today has a meaning very different from the one intended when the article was written. This article - available at http://www.bucksas.org.uk/rob/rob_25_0_139.pdf - describes the rare bronze figurine of the goddess "Isis", an Egyptian goddess - often identified with Fortuna in Greek and Roman contexts.

The Historic England description of the site can be accessed here.

The Roman Roads of Milton Keynes

Watling Street is the name given later for the major Roman road (which may actually follow a more ancient route) which ran from the ports in Kent (Dubris (Dover) and Rutupiae (Richborough)), via Londinium (London), Verulamium (St Albans) onto Viroconium (Wroxeter). It then splits, continuing what may be more ancient routes towards Holyhead and Deva (Chester). The Antonine Itinerary, Route II extends the route beyond Deva to Hadrian's Wall.

In Milton Keynes, it enters the current boundary of the Unitary Authority at the roundabout on the A5 trunk route where it meets A4146. It runs through Fenny Stratford to the 'Roman' roundabouts near the Bletchley Tesco. It runs alongside Bletcham Way and the start of the V4 near the MK Dons Stadium, on Denbigh Road. It then follows the V4, which diverts to avoid the original route of Watling Street through Loughton and Stony Stratford. In Stony Stratford, Watling Street is the London Road and High Street. Watling Street exits Milton Keynes as it crosses the Great Ouse.

On its route it crosses a number of streams and the Great Ouse on bridges, but these were probably fords in Roman times.

There were other Roman roads in the area. The Bletchley to Buckingham road is believed to be of at least Roman foundation.  


"Viatores" is the name used by a number of scholars who published a book in 1964 which sought to identify possible Roman roads in the South East Midlands. Some of these roads are definitely Roman - but others are conjectures based upon known settlements, parish boundaries and previous archaeological finds. I'm not in a position to evaluate how much of work has been proven by later research - but the book is a useful starting point.

MKi Observatory used to have a Heritage Theme which showed the Viatores routes relative to the modern roads and paths. I have not been able to find it recently, but if anyone can provide a link - please share it with me. I do recall that one route crossed the southern end of Milton Keynes Central railway station, crossing Loughton towards Shenley Brook End near to the current route of Child's Way. The picture below shows the Viatores routes in the general area.

Route 175 heads for Irchester via Olney. following the course of the River Ouzel.

A copy of "Viatores" can be consulted in the main Milton Keynes library.

The Bancroft Villa

It's nice to cycle up from our home in Furzton to Bancroft. The Redway follows the Loughton Brook, past some of the balancing lakes created to reduce flooding in that valley. Once past the concrete cows, the stream winds its way through Bancroft, with a footbridge linking to the western side - and the Roman Villa.

Fragments of Roman pottery were found by the stream fifty years ago. Major excavations took place between 1973 and 1978, directed by the Milton Keynes Archaeology Unit. Initially the site was backfilled and allowed to grass over. Then it was proposed in 1981  to create a full-size reconstruction of the villa at its most magnificent with a visitors centre and museum. Sadly these were the austerity 80s, and the ambitious plan was dropped. However further excavations were funded - covering an area of about 12,000 square metres.

The results of that excavation are set out in a two volume Monograph by R J Williams and R J Zeepat.




The earlier posts on Bronze Age and Iron Age Milton Keynes have already mentioned the settlement at Blue Bridge/Bancroft. It seems likely that the farmers there moved down the hill to the visible site of the villa. While the foundations of the main building are visible, the outbuildings lie buried underneath the open space between the roman remains and the pétanque piste to the north.

Where the Bronze and Iron Age settlement lay, a mausoleum was built. It continued in use, probably until the villa itself was abandoned in the fourth century CE (AD).

There are some excellent interpretation boards by the main villa building. The site was developed from the early years of the first century. We believe that the first farm (villa) on this site was constructed in the late first century. This was occupied until a fire destroyed mainly of the buildings in about 170 CE (AD). A large Roman style house was was built in the late third century - but there is no evidence that it was a farm. It was in the fourth century that the villa reached its full extent and glory. Clearly its inhabitants had become very prosperous.

The main residential building was decorated with mosaics. One of these is currently on display in the Milton Keynes shopping area (Centre:mk) - close to the toilets in Deer Walk (Entrance North 9). In front of the villa is a fishpond - and the room layout is explained on the interpretation boards and can be seen on the ground.