The parish extends from the once wooded slopes of the Lenches in the west to the river Avon and the mill to the south. On the east is an unnamed natural ditch and brook utilised as both a parish and county boundary, while to the west is another natural feature, a brook now called Harvington Brook. With the parish's nicely defined reversed L-shape, it gives the appearance of being a stable and long-standing unit. The area on which Harvington is situated is made up of light soil with a heavy mix of pebbles, easy access to water and wood with parts well above the flood plain. This makes an attractive area for mankind to settle, somebody or some people chose well.

Name of Harvington
Place names and their origins is a fascinating study and can reveal an origin that is not obvious from its modern spelling. Place-name study is specialised and one can easily draw the wrong conclusions.

Mostly taken from Bailey's, History of Harvington (see elsewhere on this site), and Mawer's Place-Names of Worcestershire⁹, here are the following early spellings of Harvington:-

1. Herverton, AD 709 (spurious 13th century)
2. Herefordinne, AD 709
3. Hereford, AD 799
4. Hereforda, AD 814
5. Herefordtun, AD 964
6. Herferthun, AD 1086
7. Herverton, AD 1227
8. Hervorditun, AD 1240
9. Herfertun, AD 1240
10. Herfortun, AD 1249
11. Hervington, AD 1508
12. Herforton, AD 1542

Roads
A settlement of any kind relies upon a road or track to communicate with the outside world. Harvington has three roads which traverse (or did) the settlement, in our case as through roads. Ageing these roads, or indeed any road, is difficult but nevertheless these through roads need to be taken into account as they have an obvious impact upon the village.

The first is Leys Road, part of Village Street and Anchor Lane (now truncated by the bypass) that runs north-south through the centre of the parish. It is apparently an ancient salt way (one of several in the area), leading down Station Bank, a sunken way, to become Anchor Lane and eventually at one time to cross the river to Offenham. There was once a bridge here in circa1016 (see later). The northern part above Leys Road, takes a route around a brow of the hills and on towards Atch Lench and beyond. A slightly shorter and steeper footpath follows the same direction from the village but ignores the contour and ascents directly up and over the hill, more suitable for non-wheeled transport and therefore perhaps older. Anchor Lane is now of course truncated by two bypasses and there is now no passage across the river Avon.

The next road is the south to north Evesham to Alcester. This is possibly another ancient way which may have crossed the river on the south side of Evesham²¹. It now crosses the Harvington Brook in a raised section and runs north east passed The Brickyard and on towards Alcester.

The other is the Norton to Bidford road, which originally crossed Harvington brook at 'Carkford', climbed via the sunken ways of the village to join Anchor Lane, descended Cress Hill and on via Abbots Salford, Salford Priors to Bidford. The Domesday records these places in 1086 and it is an obvious link road or track between them.

Archaeology
Until recently there has been very little archaeological research carried out in the parish. Many years ago, on the Harvington and Salford Priors boundary, "a fine bronze CELT" (a prehistoric cutting or cleaving knife) was found. It was 4½ inches (11.43cm) in length, ringed and socketed", and was dated to around 2000 BC. Its present whereabouts is unknown. (Ref: Bailey's History of Harvington.)

There is a local story that when the Blakenhurst Estate was begun in 1961, a 'small Roman fort' (Castellum) was discovered. The County archaeological Service in Worcester has no record of this find in their Sites and Monuments Record, so it cannot at present be verified. Roman pottery is very distinctive but a fort would suggest something more substantial such as a rectangular earthwork. Before development the land was covered with lengthy gardens stretching back from the houses on Leys. From local knowledge there was nothing unusual about the land, but one notices a distinct rise from Leys road then a flattish area, perhaps something was spotted when the builders moved in. At first glance this seems an unlikely place for a Roman fort, however if the salt way is taken into account, then early on in the Roman occupation there may have been a need for a temporary military fort, as one approached the forest on the Lenches and beyond. Or maybe this was already a British site.

In a recent survey carried out prior to development on two areas adjacent to the Blakenhurst Estate, the County Archaeological Service found parts of a Romano-British settlement. One area was on the south west side of Leys Road, later to become Grove Close, while the larger area was under the Community Orchard and Flood Relief Area. The finds were multi-phase ditches and a small amount of low status pottery plus several pieces of tegula, which are red roofing tiles, usually associated the stone buildings of status. My own investigation in the field adjacent to the Community Orchard, suggest that I was on the periphery of a settlement or farmstead and it is clear from the Archaeologists plans that the site extends under the present boundary into Blakenhurst. The only datable material suggests the latter half of the 1st century AD. On the northern side of Blakenhurst is a fairly deep ditch and spring course separating Blakenhurst and the Romano British site from the rising land to the north, thereby giving both water and drainage to the site. For the report of the Archaeological investigation on the Community Orchard, please use this link, it takes a while to load.

Another story that may be of relevance was the discovery of a stretch of stone walling found during the digging of a pond by the then owner in the late 1960's. The find was in the side garden of number fourteen Brookdale, the adjacent estate to Blakenhurst.

The Almonry Museum in Evesham has a record of Samian Ware sherds, high class Roman pottery, being found in the corner of 'Mr. Coley's field' in 1938. The Coley's owned a number of agricultural plots in the village, in particular the present property 'Oldfields' near to the Golden Cross, built by them in the late 1930's. An area adjacent to Oldfields is being being developed (2022) with no sign of archaeological material. The 'corner of Coley's field' is most likely to have been in the area of the Blackenhurst settlement.

In the 1930s there are also stories that a Roman sword (gladius) was discovered on the south-eastern boundary of the present (2018) allotments near to the school and a Bronze Age axe found near to Green Lane beyond the allotments.

The CAS have also recorded other human activity in Harvington, such as prehistoric crop marks in the area beyond Harvington Lodge, plus a suggestive field name of 'Barrow Piece' near to the Hill Farm ruins. The name barrow usually means there is, or in this case was, a distinctive mound or feature in the area, often indicating the presence of a prehistoric burial mound. See CAS report for details. (Being a PDF, it takes a while to load.) Harvington Lodge stands on a slight hill and commands good views of the surrounding countryside, a favourable position for pre-Roman activity.

Limited spot checking in the old and new churchyard has failed to find any Romano-British pottery. By the ruined mill, a previous notice board commemorating the restoration of the lock, stated that a Roman furnace had been discovered nearby.

Looking further afield there are various sites and find spots in the neighbourhood that give an indication of the density of population in the area. The following have been extracted from 'www.archaeologydataservice.ac.uk'.

• Salford Priors: Roman coins SP075 516.
• Salford Priors: Roman pottery 1992, SP079 518.
• Salford Priors: Roman coins & pottery with dates of AD 337-340 700m east of church SP078 516.
• Salford Priors: Large coin hoard found in 1811 - 600 gold & 5000 silver in two pits, SP0714 4936.
• Salford Priors, Marsh Farm quarry, Iron-age and 5th-century Roman settlement/ditch SP078 520.
• Salford Priors: Prehistoric hut circle/Bronze-age pit/Roman pit & field boundary 1993, SP08100 52800.
• Abbots Salford, quarry: Roman settlement/corn-drying oven, topsoil observation SP07200 49300.
• Dunnington: Iron-age settlement.
• Bevington Waste: Enclosure SP044 539.
• Twyford: Blayneys Lane, Roman settlement 1954, SP04500 45800.
• Fladbury, Ferndale, Chequers Lane: Roman feature SO99560 46060.
• Offenham: 2nd & 4th-century Romano-British pottery, traditional site of Mercian Royal Palace SP0564 4644.
• Offenham: possible site of Roman Villa SP0574 4546.
• Norton, Leylandii House Farm: Roman farmstead hut circle & Romano-British structure, corn drying kiln & ditch. Reburied and preserved 405600 248400.

The nearest proven Romano-British settlement/farmstead outside Harvington is on the other side of the bypass in the parish of Norton near Leylandii House Farm. This was excavated in 2022 but details have have yet been written up. Another perhaps important site listed above but not excavated properly, lies adjacent to Blayneys Lane. There is a Roman site on a hill above Offenham, where a collection of bronze spoons was found a few years back and reported to the museum at Worcester, and of course there is the crossing of Icknield/Buckle Street at Bidford with Roman material being discovered in a nearby field. There was also a lengthy story relating to a major hoard of hundreds of gold and silver coins found in the field between Cleeve Prior and North Littleton. They had been purposefully hidden in two jars under a large stone. Clearly the person who hid them and never returned had considerable wealth at his disposal.³⁶

The Settlement at the Ford
It is believed that the original site of Harvington was down by the river. There are at least two reasons for believing this: one is the name being originally Hereford, with the emphasis on the ford; the other is a raised area near to Mill House where an aerial photograph taken in 1953, indicates a circular enclosure along with crop marks, although there is a possibility that these may be prehistoric. A settlement however was most likely to be in this area as it is adjacent to the mill. It is however away from the river crossing a few hundred yards away between the end of Anchor Lane and the Offenham Road across the river and nearby to the Fish & Anchor.

From the Almonry

The traditional settlement spread among the British or Celtic population was of scattered farmsteads and this was originally probably the case for the English. Towards the latter part of Anglo-Saxon period however there was a trend towards settlement nuclearisation into villages. Della Hooke suggests that when we look at the English word tun/ton we see that originally this would have applied to estates or later parishes and only later was it applied to the village itself. There is also a tendency to find British settlements on the higher ground, with the English preferring more low-lying areas. This may represent the situation in Harvington. The original focus of a settlement other than the area around the ford, is on the higher ground, probably in the vicinity of Harvington Hill where it offered clear views of the surrounding countryside. Crop marks, a barrow and the nearby Romano-British settlement, does this hold a memory of the original British settlement with the English co-existing down at the ford or had the British settlement ceased to exist by the time the English had arrived? Deerhurst near Tewkesbury is an example of co-existence. An early English Christian foundation, by the River Severn and on a hill within one mile is the hamlet of Deerhurst Walton, Walton meaning 'Welsh'. There are fascinating possibilities here in trying to understand the situation as it existed some fourteen hundred years ago.

Historical Background
To give a sense of depth to our history of Harvington a possibly useful exercise is to speculate on our area before the Romans invaded Britain. From the onset there is a good deal of speculation here in attempting to place Harvington within a pre-Roman political context. Harvington's later political place in the area will be discussed in a subsequent section.

Celtic Period
One of the consequences that resulted from Julius Caesar's invasion of Gaul, completed in 51 BC, is that it sent shock waves not only across Gaul but also its effect on Britain. Several Belgic tribes migrated to Britain, one was the Atrebates who were a group based around the modern northern French town of Artois. After the Atrebates were defeated in Gaul Caesar appointed one of their number Commius as king, however this was not successful and he later fled to Britain with followers and established a new Atrebas kingdom in Southern England. The above may or may not be relevant depending on the origins of the Dobunni, who are relevant to us as they probably controlled this area.

Some authorities suggest that the Dobunni were another Belgic group who fled Gaul and may have been aligned with the above Atrebates, while others suggest they were connected to the powerful Catuvellauni to the east. In any case their base at Bagendon near Cirencester and it is from this base that, in the last decades of the first century BC, that the Dobunni expanded rapidly, south and west into Wiltshire and Somerset, east into Oxfordshire and, more importantly for us, northwards into northern Gloucestershire, parts of Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Herefordshire. This Dobunni expansion almost certainly engulfed the Harvington area. It may be significant that at this time one of the hillforts on Bredon Hill was taken by storm.²⁴ The distribution of Dobunnic coins (staters) are helpful and have been found in Evesham, Childswickham, Dunnington, Alcester. Bidford-on-Avon, Bredon Hill, Badsey, Cleeve Prior, Welford-on=Avon, Rous Lench, Wixford and further afield.⁴⁸

Between AD 33 & 43, coinage evidence, indicates the Dobunni were ruled by two kings Anted and Eisa. At their greatest expansion the new empire appears to have been divided with an east-west line based roughly on the Stroud area in mid Gloucestershire. Coinage distribution suggests that their rulers, Catti and later Corio and Comux, held sway to the south from circa AD 43 and 47 while Bodvoc ruled over the northern sector, it is the northern sector that interests us here. These kings or chieftains, possibly Anted & Eisa and certainly Bodvoc, are the first named individuals we have who most likely had influence over this area.

Dobunni coin of Bodvoc

There are a couple more, albeit scanty references to Dobunnians that come down to us: a tombstone at Templborough in South Yorkshire dedicating Dobunnian Rufilla whom Excingus, her husband, had met at Cirencester; the other is a Dobunnian called Trenus who's son Lucco was given a diplona appearing on a stone found in Pannonia, issued to him in AD 105.⁵¹

The General, Aulus Plautius, under the Roman Emperor Claudius, landed on the south coast of Britain in AD 43 and received a number of submissions from British rulers. While Aulus Plautius was in Kent, he appears to have received the submission of Bodvoc, king of the northern Dobunni and at this stage Bodvoc and his realm probably became a semi-independent or client kingdom. We do not know the effect the Roman invasion had on this area but if we are right then it would have been less dramatic and life for while may have continued as before, however we simply do not know.

In AD 47 Aulus Plautius was replaced by Publius Ostorius Scapula as Rome's second Governor of Britain. He immediately set about campaigning against the British and established a forward base at Glevum (Gloucester). The southern Dobunni resisted but it appears that the northern Dobunni did not as their capital at Bagendon when excavated didn't shew any sign of war damage. Bodvoc may have been replaced by a Roman official or more likely continued as the Dobunni's leader under the watchful eye of the governor. Nearby Cirencester was established as the administrative capital of the Dobunni circa AD 50-60 under the name Corinium Dobunnorum. Cirencester eventually became a regional capital of the Roman province of Britannia Prima and one of the largest towns in Roman Britain. Meanwhile Bagendon was abandoned and slowly disappeared from history until it was excavated by Mrs Clifford during 1954-56.²⁴

Roman Period
For the succeeding two hundred years Roman Britain was wealthy and stable and by the time of the Emperor Constantine by AD 314 Roman Britain was divided into four regions, which with its own political administrators and Christian bishops. The province had suffered serious barbarian attacks from the mid-3rd century onwards, which prompted the establishment of a navy (Classis Britannica), setting up of the Saxon Shore forts and the introduction of 'friendly Saxons' (federatii) and their families to help defend the country. This had been a policy on the German border for a considerable time, however in AD 367 Roman Britain suffered a concerted onslaught from all sides with raiders from Ireland and Scotland along with Franks and Saxons from the continent, which devastated the country. The wealth of the province had been concentrated in the undefended rural Roman villas and as they were wealthy they probably bore the brunt. The raiders were driven out by the Roman army under Emperor Theodosius and order was establish, but the province never fully recovered. The local effect is not known but there were estates in the area such as a probable villa at Salford Priors and certainly a number of villas across the river Avon. It was after these raids that many of the wealthier folk probably moved into the towns like Alcester for protection. Many towns were fortified at this time and probably garrisoned, again probably by friendly Franks and Saxons etc. The villa estates and countryside probably continued to be farmed as before under much the same centralized structure albeit without so much grandeur.

Governors came and went until in AD 380 Magnus Maximus was appointed governor, it is probable that it was he who reorganised the western defences, particularly in Wales where he was remembered and much loved in early Welsh literature. Whole peoples were transferred to north and mid wales to stave off attacks from Ireland. Magnus Maximus assumed the title of emperor of the Western Empire in AD 383 and apparently took parts of the Roman army from Britain to support his ambition - he was killed in AD 388. A biography of him has been written by Maxwell Craven who describes the situation in Britain in detail.⁵¹

Antona a possible lost Romano-British town
Returning to the local area we have a mystery - the lost town of Antona. Back in Victorian times there was talk of a lost Roman town across the River Avon in the vicinity of Aldington and Blackminster. Arthur H. Savory wrote about the town in his book Grain and Chaff and had consulted with Harvington's Rector the Revd Winnington Ingram. Both personages believed that the lost town, mentioned in Tacitus' book VII was in the Aldington/Blackminster area. There are articles on the Badsey Societys' website which deal in depth with this subject and expand on the origins of the name Aldington along with the large amount of Roman finds in the area. It is believed there was a Roman villa under Offenham and it was certainly a major estate in the 7th Century.

Romano-British Period
For historians and archaeologists there has been a sharp divide between the Roman period and that of the Anglo-Saxon depending on their expertise, separated by the so called 'Dark Ages', but now more usually 'Post Roman' period. This has now changed as our knowledge grows both in archaeology, studies of ancient charters and place names etc. Clearly some Romano-British towns and hundreds if not thousands of small settlements ceased to exist, but many continued, slowly changing over the centuries and acquiring Anglicised or English names. There have been major swings in the historian's and archaeologist's way of thinking between the English sweeping the poor defenceless British into the sea to hardly any English arriving here at all, just a few war bands. The true picture has to lie somewhere in between depending on the locality. The inexorable decline of Roman Britain in subsequent years is to be found in the last chapter of Keith Branigan's book on Roman Britain.⁴⁹describes the gradual decline coupled with the survival of an independent British state.

After AD 410, a more or less unified Roman Britain continued with its own governors/kings/dictators such as figures like Ambrosius and his son Ambrosius Aurelianus and Vortigern. Much has been written about them, especially Vortigern; Ambrosius Aurelianus is mentioned by Gildas and therefore deemed a more historical figure; while Vortigern is only mentioned in early Welsh historical texts therefore his existence is deemed less reliable. Vortigern is written as local to Kent because of his dealings with Hengist and his people, Gloucester because his father Vitalis is believed to have been from there, or North Wales because that is thought to have been where he died. It is certainly possible and likely that he was an historical figure and was a ruler of Roman Britain as a whole, whether as a usurper or not.⁵¹

Vortigern is given the blame for hastening the disintegration of Roman Britain. This point is strengthened with the story that Vortigern introduced peaceful Jutes into Kent by giving them Thanet as a payment for helping to defend the eastern coast. This apparently backfired when he either refused or could not pay the new settlers, they rebelled and so started a process that eventually became unstoppable. In consequence of infighting and the mass movement of new peoples, the central authority of Roman Britain fractured into many different kingdoms fighting for supremacy over both their British neighbours and the incoming English. All this would have led to death or displacement for the ruling classes and huge disturbances and suffering for the ordinary folk, some of whom would have no doubt profited from the chaos, while others trying to keep a low profile and carry on everyday life as they knew it.⁴⁹ Somewhere in this gloom there is the 'legend' of Arthur.

An interesting point made by Guy Halsall in his book Worlds of Arthur, suggests that long contact between peaceful Saxons establish here to help defend the more Romanised elements of the country may account for the number of Latin loan words in Old English.⁴⁰ The British ruling class may have succumbed to a greater extent, but the ordinary folk probably continued to live out their lives, albeit gradually being absorbed and learning to speak English. Whereas as far as words from British is concerned, although many British geographical place names survive, it is to be noted that there are virtually no British (Welsh) words in English. A telling and rather chilling detail, is that while the British called themselves Cymbri, the English referred to the British as Welsh, meaning foreigner or slave. It is not often realised but Roman Britain was supported by a 'slave economy'. This was a must for the maintenance of the great villa estates and the incoming English would have been only too happy to continue with this practice. Just replace the boss and one has a ready-made income! The slave system was only abolished with the incoming of the Normans, only to be replaced by the feudal system - slavery by another name. Another element is the intermarrying between the British and English in the forging of alliances etc. The early West Saxon rulers had British names which suggests a far more complicated situation than the written history such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles describe.

During the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries many of the British kingdoms were either absorbed, evolved or replaced by English kingdoms - sometimes dramatically, sometimes by a gradual tipping of the balance from British to English. At the same time the English were also warring against each other and vying for supremacy, a dog-eat-dog scramble for dynastic land and power where many and eventually most of the early tribal groupings, war bands or small kingdoms became subordinate and then absorbed into larger kingdoms before finally disappearing, often leaving just a name for us to know they once existed, such as the Shottingas centred around Stratford upon Avon.

As far as the Harvington area is concerned a most interesting element to these rather distant events in space and time is that the area controlled by the Dobunni with their capital at Bagendon, corresponds very nicely with the later Mercian province of Hwicce. Is there a hint here of a Celtic then Roman province surviving into the post Roman British and English world? After the Romans left and any central British authority collapsed, Cirencester may have continued as a much diminished regional capital or independent post-Roman kingdom until it was conquered by the West Saxons in AD 577.

Roman and Post Roman land divisions
In pre-Roman times this area was possibly under the control of the Dobunni, a British tribe with their capital at Bagendon near Cirencester. Virtually no local land divisions such as estates, parishes, hundreds or counties are known from before or during the Roman period. It is likely that, at least initially, major tribes like the Dobunni, kept their smaller land divisions after the Roman conquest¹. It makes more sense for the conquering power to take over an existing economy and the northern Bobunni who may have submitted to the Romans in exchange for a degree of independence and continuation. Birley in his work The Roman Government in Britain writes: "The Commonwealth (Respublica), presumably of the Dobunni, is mentioned on a fragmentary stone from their chief town Cirencester".⁴² Is this a faint suggestion of the existence of divisions of peoples with corresponding areas? In the late Roman period Roman-Britain was divided into four administrative regions which in themselves would have had sub-divisions, probably based on a pre-existing tribal system. We were in the administrative provence called Britannia Prima, possibly governed from Cirencester, a stone found at Cirencester records one of our governors as Lucius Septimus of the 'Remi' area in Gaul.

Administrative divisions in late Roman Britain.⁴⁴

Harvington's first recorded leaseholder is Eanswith in AD 802, the similarity of her name to the rulers of Hwicce is again suggestive of a family connection.

The Tribal Hidage
This is the oldest surviving Old English document to give a hint of the local situation. It is an early English tax document and is believed to be Mercian or mostly concerned with Mercia. The likelihood is that it was created for one of the 7th century kings, probably a Northumbrian, while they were partially in control of Mercia between the years AD 656 to AD 675. The document establishes the taxable value of the various client kingdoms within Mercia's realm of influence. The document is a good indicator that the English already had a system for raising tax or tribute. This implies land ownership, boundaries, knowing who owned what and where. Another point is that this is a tax document not a racial one, some of the groups, such as the Weorgoran or Arosæte, may well be essentually British paying tribute, the population was probably very mixed at this stage.

There are three names on the Tribal Hidage that are especially relevant to us: Mercia proper, (with 30,000 hides), based at Tamworth; the Hwicce, (with 7000 hides) who may have been centred for a while in Winchcombe (but later Worcester); the Arosæte, (with 600 hides) who were based in the Roman town of Alcester (Latin: Alauna).

It is interesting to note that when the document was produced Mercia proper, the Hwicce and the Arosæte were taxed separately. We also do not know where the boundary between Hwicce and the Arosæte was so we cannot say for sure who controlled Harvington.

An interesting factor is not just the folk mentioned but the folk who are not mentioned: the Weorgoran (Worcester), the Stoppingas, Pencersætan, Huckerie, Wixna, Tomsæte (Tamworth), Beormingas (Birmingham), Husmeræ (River Stour). It is likely that at the time of the Tribal Hidage, some would have been taxed within the Mercian realm while others like the Stoppingas were more likely to have been taxed within the sphere of Hwicce, as they had at one time paid food rent (Tribute) to Hwicce²⁷.

Sætan meaning 'a resident inhabitant holding of land'³⁴.

Christianity
In Britain, as in the Empire, there was almost total freedom of religion with a multitude of faiths and creeds provided politics was avoided. The three religions that caused political unrest were Druidism, Judaism and Christianity. Christianity had been present in Britain from at least the 2nd century, probably mostly in Roman towns and cities. The Christianising of Roman Britain took place over a considerable period. Christianity was given a huge boost in the early 4th century under Emperor Constantine the Great (AD 306-337), when he declared Christianity the official state religion. There were powerful forces and individuals abroad and the struggle between Christianity and paganism and the powerful individuals involved tore the Empire apart. Archaeologist have found secret rooms in villas dedicated to both pagan and Christian beliefs suggesting many people were caught out and suffered the consequences as the political and religious pendulum swung back and forth with corresponding hatred and viciousness; St Alban as of St Albans, who was a soldier, tried to protect a Christian priest in Verulamium called Amphibalus and was consequently tried and executed. Hypatia (died 415) of Egypt, a renowned pagan philosopher, astronomer and mathematician was torn to pieces by a mob of enraged monks.

By AD 316 Christianity had become established enough to set up a recognisable church structure with bishops and dioceses centred on cities. This was the case in Gaul and there is no reason to believe that Britain was any different. From these days we still use the Latin words diocese, bishop, rector, priest and vicar.

By the time of the great Council of Arles in 314, there appears to have been the embryo of a Church structure. Three Bishops and two clerics represented Britain at the Council. Sometime in the 4th century Roman Britain was divided into at least four, six or even more dioceses, each lead by one or more bishops. Bishop Restitutus of London, Bishop Adelphius, very likely of Lincoln, Bishop Eborius, presumably of York took part. They were joined by two clerics, a deacon called Arminius and a priest called Sacerdos, which possibly represented one or more bishops of the large south and south-western province (Britannia Prima), which included our area.⁵¹

The Church had won the battle over whether to co-exist with other religions and banned all other pagan faiths and then settled down to arguing over what type of Christianity the Church wanted. There were the Donatists in North Africa over the division between church and state. Relevant to Britain was a major rift over 'original sin'. The main protagonists were Palagius (died AD 418), and Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430). Palagianism was particularly popular in Britain as Palagius, was born and presumably educated in Britain before moving to Rome. Augustine won the day and Palagius was posthumously declared a heretic.

By the AD 440s however the world in Britain was changing dramatically and not only the Church but the country was in trouble, the English were here but not as yet in control, forces were gathering which would almost destroy the Romano-British Church and its world. In the mid-fifth century two British Bishops emigrated to Brittany they were called Mansuetus & Riocatus. Mansuetus attended the council at Tours in AD 461.44. Seventy or so years later we have the writings of Gildas, a monastic Christian who wrote on the state of Britain and the corrupt grim British rulers governing it, he didn't think much of the English either!⁴⁶ He too eventually emigrated to Brittany. From the above there is clearly a strong presence and structure of Christianity in Britain. The main reason for writing the above is to get an idea of the administrative structure of Christianity in Britain and ultimately in this area and to a great extent I have failed - we know so little.

Local Christianity
Christianity is believed to have survived within the Kingdom of Hwicce from Roman times, thereby suggesting a degree of continuity. There are signs of the British with an early Church at Gloucester. The Venerable Bede in his book The Ecclesiastical History of the English People in AD 731, fails to mention any conversion of the Hwicce. He also states that Eabe, daughter of Eanfrith, was baptised circa AD 660 "in her own country" (Hwicce) and Eanhere's son Osric was interred at Worcester in AD 685. After the English takeover, the area probably became an assortment of Christian and pagan enclaves, Gloucester, Alcester, Worcester and indeed our area was probably nominally Christian, whereas the areas to the north east in Warwickshire shew signs of paganism, certainly Penda and the Tomsæte were pagan. England is recorded as having a relatively peaceful conversion while the Continental pagan Saxons had the ultimatum of becoming Christian or dying. At this time the Church as a structure was growing fast amongst the English. The Diocese of Worcester was established in AD 679/80, whose early bishops bore the title Epicopus Hwicciorum. The original boundaries of the diocese would no doubt have corresponded with that of the then Hwicce kingdom, covering Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and half of Warwickshire. The Christian religion was taken on by the Pagan English with tremendous evangelical fervour, with a great desire to build religious establishments and to lead a truly Christian life, a number of the English elite, both men and women, gave up their power and wealth to take up the ascetic life in a monastery or nunnery, some going on pilgrimage to Rome.

Fladbury
The earliest proven religious establishment in this area is at Fladbury in the seventh century. The name Fladbury is possibly derived from Alhflæd, wife of Peada, King of the Mercians and an older sister of Osthryth (she later married Æthelred, king of Mercia), the wife of Ænhere, King of the Hwicce³⁹. In a charter dated to the AD 690s Æthelred, King of the Mercians, whose late wife was Osthryth the supposed sister of Alhflæd, gifted Fladbury to Oftfor, Bishop of Worcester with a proviso to 're-establish' the monastery. The gift was however successfully contested by the family of Alhflæd and the estate was exchanged for that of a monastery at Stratford upon Avon. Was Fladbury in fact a nunnery or a twin monastic establishment, a common occurrence at the time, and Alhflæd had retired from lay life to become a founding abbess, her husband Peada having died in AD 656. The establishment was still in existence in AD 777-781 when Ealdred, a later ruler of the Hwicce, leased it for life to Æthelburh, his kinswoman.

Alhflæd brings to mind the number of place names in the area derived from females, which suggests property ownership or leaseholds by women. We have the above named Alhflæd of Fladbury; Osgith, the supposed mother of Offa, King of Essex; Æthelburh, kinswoman to Ealdred of The Hwicce AD 777-781; Eanswith of Harvington in AD 814 & its lost manor called Wiburgestoke in AD 852, named after a lady called Wiburh, was she possibly the same as Wilburgh, mother of Osgith?; and also Siflæd's stone in Twyford. English men and women were on a much more equal footing than on the continent. The status of women was reduced dramatically after the Norman Conquest.

The monastery at Fladbury gradually faded, probably as a result of the nearby Evesham Abbey and was not there in 1066. A similar situation developed with the ancient monastery at Deerhurst after the nearby Tewkesbury Abbey was founded. Fladbury and its considerable land did however continual as one of the principal holdings of Worcester into the later middle ages.

Evesham Abbey
The abbey was founded in or shortly before AD 709, by Ecgwin, Bishop of Worcester, who died in AD 717. The lands of Evesham and Fladbury were granted to St Ecgwin and the abbey by Æthelred, King of Mercia and Offa, King of Essex, although Ecgwin subsequently exchanged it for another monastery at Stratford with Æthelward King of the Hwiccans. Æthelred had received these estates by dowry from his wife Osthryth, the daughter of Oswiu, King of Northumbria. It is not clear why she had possession of the estates but it may be via her mother Eanflæd of Bernicia (part of Northumbria), whose family tradition of alliteration is similar to the rulers of Hwicce, implying a family connection. This naming process was a common practise in Anglo-Saxon culture.

Tradition has it that Ecgwin founded the monastery because of the story about Eof, the swineherd or shepherd who saw a vision of the Virgin Mary. The impression behind this story is that the area was nominally Christian, which would imply that places of worship were nearby.

During the seventh century the language and customs were changing with new landowners and peoples coming in to the area. We know so little and yet we know a lot more than we realise. Many personal names, thousands across the country, of folk such as Ealda in Aldington, Bædadda in Badsey, Beofa? in Bevington, Beonna in Bengeworth, Bica in Bickmarsh, Byda in Bidford, Byni in Binton, Cædwallan in Chadbury, Dunna in Dunnington, Flæda, in Fladbury, Luda in Luddington, Offa in Offenham, Wiburgh in Wiburghestoke, and of course Eof in Evesham, names that have become immortalised in the names of the settlements. We know of Eof and Offa but who were the others and what roles did they play and at what time? Apart from the odd British names such as Bretforton and Chadbury the names appear to be overwhelmingly English but that can be deceptive as in the situation after the coming in the Normans when the English dropped most of their forenames in favour of more fashionable Norman ones. Pick up a book on place names and you will be amazed how many English names relate to individuals who have left us nothing but their personal name whereas British place names tend to be descriptive of location. Margaret Gelling (1924-2009), was an English toponymist who made huge advancements on the understanding of English place names and their origins.

Field, Forest and Hill
and its effects on settlement. We have already briefly discussed Harvington's geographical situation but there is a wider picture to be noted when dealing with peoples movements and where they settled. Every area in the country has to be studied through the prism of its environment, its ancient roads and waterways etc. The Cotswolds have light soils particularly suitable for husbandry such as sheep and the Roman Empire realised their economic value. A different value would have been placed on the rich fertile and productive soils of the Vale of Evesham, particularly south and east of the River Avon. North of Harvington one runs into heavy clays and forest. The forested Lench Hills on our doorstep, beyond which is the Forest of Feckenham. To the north east beyond Stratford and well into Warwickshire is the great Forest of Arden, much less peopled, much less Romanised. The picture to the south is of long-term settlement, to the north it is less 'settled', wilder with isolated groups - disparate and smaller bands of settlers filtering through from the then Middle Anglia and the Trent basin. The Rivers Avon and Severn could have been a hindrance but could also have been used as a transport system and a defensible barrier as in marking out a territory.

A must to read for this section is Oliver Rackham's History of the Countryside in giving us a clarity to this complicated subject.

Counties of Mercia
The name Mercia stems from 'Mierce' or Myrce', an old English word meaning borderlands and referred to a loose confederacy of Middle Anglican tribes¹⁷. Some of these tribal areas/stroke kingdoms, were large such as the Wreocenætan (around The Wreken), and some were much smaller such as the Middle Angles around Peterborough.

A county or shire: (In the case of Mercia, 'province' is perhaps a better term), refers to an area separated from the central authority and administered by an ealdorman. These ealdormen were probably originally kings or sub-kings as in the case of Hwicce. The ealdorman was responsible for governing, raising taxes and, when necessary, the fyrd (army raised for a military campaign). Unfortunately for Mercia the Vikings, especially in AD 877, when they settled at Gloucester for the winter, to a large extent destroyed its administrative organisation. Harvington would have felt their presence. Mercia was also completely reorganised, in the early 11th century, so we know very little of its provincial system. It probably adhered to the old sub-kingdoms that it had absorbed, such as Hwicce, Magonsæte or Pencersæte etc. For later Mercia we can get some idea through the distribution of its Bishoprics. There are five: Lichfield, founded AD 655; Lindsay, founded circa AD 678; Leicester (Peterborough), founded AD 655; Worcester, founded in AD 680; Hereford. founded AD 676. It may be coincidental that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states under AD 827: 'Ludecan', king of the Mercian's, was slain along with his five ealdormen.⁷

Edric Streona
Edric Streona, a powerful and disruptive figure of the late 10th and early 11th century. He was Ealdorman of Mercia until his execution in 1017. It is very likely that it was he who was responsible for creating the present county system of the Midlands. The old sub-divisions or provinces, (although not the hundreds) were swept away and were substituted by the present system such as Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Lincolnshire etc., note the regularity of their size. Their boundaries remained almost unchanged until 1974. It has been suggested that the extremely ragged nature of the boundaries between Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire are the result of his or somebodies personal property in this area, if true then corruption was one of his lesser evils.

Harvington's county
Harvington and its parish, has been tucked into the south-east corner of Worcestershire since the county came into existence in the early 11th century. Before this time Harvington was under the jurisdiction of the province of The Hwicce.

The Parish and county boundary near to the Salford Road looking north.

Hundreds
Hundreds are an ancient Germanic land division, smaller than a county, which are thought to have originally evolved to cover one hundred families with a smaller division called Tithing, an area covering ten families. They also had a military aspect in raising men for a campaign¹⁰.

The hundred used a central place to meet (a moot) such as a distinctive or prominent landmark, hill or mound, where the elders of the hundred would meet. The hundred often carried the same name as the meeting place. It will be noticed that many hundreds have a suffix of 'low' at the end of their name. Another meaning of 'low' is a tumulus or barrow. Most hundreds in this area predate the counties in which they are now set.

Harvington's hundred
From the 10th century to the present day, whether under the jurisdiction of The Hwicce or Worcestershire, Harvington has been in the hundred of Oswaldslow, named after Oswald, Bishop of Worcester who died in AD 992. The hundred was set up in a charter by King Edgar and Bishop Oswald at a Christmas meeting in AD 964¹⁰. The name Oswaldslow, called Oslafeslow before AD 977, and its centre is identified with Low Hill in White Ladies, Aston⁹, it was not a solid unit of land but a patchwork of Church property and was itself an amalgamation of three hundreds. They were named: Winburgetrowe, of parishes belonging to the bishop of Worcester; Wulfereslaw an ancient Episcopal hundred; and Cuthburgelow, parishes belonging to the monks of the cathedral priory. Previously Harvington was in Cuthburgelow and was subject to 'Royal exactions' (dues, fines paid to the king). This however changed when the new hundred of Oswaldslow was set up and Harvington became exempt, apart from the repair of bridges etc.¹⁰

One must realise that in the case of Oswaldslow, Winburgetrowe, Wulfereslaw and Cuthburgelow, they were all ecclesiastical hundreds and did not behave in quite the same way as the old lay hundreds. They were not compact units but were created to take into account parishes owned by the Church.

Areas in pale pink refer to Oswaldslow, note Harvington within circle.
Map from Mawer's Place-names of Worcestershire.

Cuthburgelow initially only contained the manor of Cropthorne, but Harvington and others, being Church property, were taken from elsewhere and added to make up the numbers for the transference into Oswaldslow⁴. There appears to be politics here between Church and vested lay interests. (For further reading, see: Whybra's the Lost English County of Winchcombeshire). It is fairly safe to say that the creation of Cuthburgelow, or at least the inclusion of Harvington, took place in or slightly before AD 964. The next question is from which, hundred was Harvington taken?

Harvington and Þennecumbe Hundred
We are now back to AD 964 or thereabouts and there is need to explain the next step and the above heading. We are now in a time long before the counties of Worcestershire and Warwickshire had been created and looking for a county, division, province or sub-kingdom of The Hwicce. The proposition is that Harvington was in a hundred called Þennecumbe prior to it being transferred to the hundred of Cuthburgelow.

Þennecumbe is headed by the old English character Þ (thorn) meaning 'Th'. By 1086 the name Þennecumbe had changed to Fernecumbe and is the forerunner of the present Warwickshire hundred of Barlichway.

The hundred of Barlichway was created in AD 1175 out of the large hundred called Fernecumbe according to the 'Victoria County History for Warwickshire', Barlichway was identical to and a replacement for the 'old' hundred of Fernecumbe, except for the addition of Patelau. There are now four hundreds in Warwickshire and that of Barlichway covers a large block of land in the south western quarter of the county. There are two meeting places in Barlichway, one at Barlichway Greve near Temple Grafton and the other at Bredon Cross near Ipsley.

The name Þennecumbe is a compound of fen and combe. The first part deriving from fen, meaning low lying, swampy, subject to flooding, water meadow and is probably southern English or Saxon in origin. The second part is from combe and again is probably South Saxon in origin. The word means a type of valley, and was used in a variety of ways depending upon the shape of the particular combe.

By 1086 Þennecumbe contained 52 parishes, including Alcester, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bidford-on-Avon, Wixford and our neighbouring parish Salford Priors. Its origin and meeting place is not known but it appears that we are looking for a low-lying combe, subject to flooding. If the above calculations are correct then the hundred of Þennecumbe was already in existence by AD 964 and Harvington was possibly within its jurisdiction.

As stressed before, hundreds are an ancient land division and not subject to frequent change. Þennecumbe was certainly a political land division in Hwicce, and there is a possibility that it was at least an entity if not a hundred as far back as the early 8th century. Who set up Þennecumbe as a hundred? Was it the Hwicce or is there a memory here of an even older entity? Was Þennecumbe originally part of a seventh century sub-kingdom controlled by the Arosæte from Alcester? This is where, at present, the trail goes cold and we are entering the realm of theory.

Harvington in Charters
Charters are amongst the oldest written records to survive and we are most fortunate to have several early charters that mention Harvington. The use of charters, as we know them, appear to have begun in the mid-7th Century, a mixture of Latin formula and English/Germanic law. There are often two sections: transfer of ownership, lease or affirmation of land between two or more parties and a boundary clause which defines the area involved. There are precious few survivors due to the passing of time, war, fire etc. Their value is without question in giving not only names of people, but places, some long gone, some changed almost beyond recognition. In this remote time they suggest ownership, property boundaries, a world of order and structure where folk knew who owned what. Upon studying the documents below you will get a sense that there was a place called Harvington, it was owned, tenanted, had boundaries with neighbours and presumably the resulting passing trade from road and river. The landscape surrounding Harvington appears to be settled, whether by English or British. One has to be careful however as monastic establishments were not as honest as one might think. Many are copies of long lost documents then there are those that attempt to replace lost or destroyed documents, other times they are complete fabrications. Much time has been spent in attempting to sort out the meagre examples that we have left.

There are two prime sources for published early charters and grants, some in Latin, some in old English: Cartularium Saxonicum by Walter de Gray Birch and Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici by John Mitchell Kemble. Some of the charters have since been translated by subsequent historians.

There are three Old English characters that need explanation: Ƿ/ƿ - wynn: W & w; Þ & ð - thorn & eth = the two pronunciations of 'th' as in thorn & the.

Here follows a list of the Charters relating to Harvington and its boundaries, especially its western boundary which touches upon the Evesham holdings, coupled with the Editor's comments:-

1. AD 709, This document is to be found in Birch's Cartularium Saxonicum¹⁰, (No.125) and is concerned with the granting of lands on the banks of the river Avon, etc. to the recently founded Eve's homme (Evesham) Abbey, thereby enabling the new abbey to support itself. The document records events dated on or before AD 709 as both Coenred, King of the Mercians AD 704-709 and Offa (see paragraph on Offa), King of the East Saxons AD 694?-709, abdicated, gave up worldly affairs and travelled to Rome as pilgrims. It is a lengthy document written in Latin in which there are many local places mentioned in Old English, including Harvington. A translation and full description of it is to be found in Hooke's Worcestershire Anglo-Saxon Charter Bounds, p.46.

   There are however clumsy errors which suggests that the Latin charter was written much later, possibly as late as the 13th century, although the bounds may be of an earlier date. It also includes Bengeworth, Hampton and Willersley which were only included in the abbey estates in the 10th or 11th centuries. Note that the spelling of Harvington is Herverton and not the older version of Hereford. Another error is the statement that Offa was King of the East Angles whereas he was King of the East Saxons (Essex). Although it was clearly written a long time after the event it purported to confirm lands the abbey owned and who gave them: Evesham, Lenchwick, Norton, Offenham, Littleton, Aldington, Badsey, Bretforton, Church Honeybourne, Willersey, Wickhamford, Bengeworth, Hampton and also the outlier estate of Abbots Morton. The most likely reason for creating this document was as a replacement of a lost document. The document does however leave us with local places names and spellings that reflect the time in which it was written, whenever that was.

   
   A small part of the boundary clause, within which is mentioned Harvington.

   The following is an interpretation of the clause by Della Hooke in her book Worcestershire Anglo-Saxon Charter Bounds:-

   1. 'First the boundary of the place runs from Twyford on the south side as far as Cronochomme (Evesham) according to the course of the river', the bounds begin at Twyford on the River Avon at SP 049458. The name of the river Avon is derived from Old British abona, ‘river'. The ford-name means 'double ford' and is so-called because there is an island here in the river;
   2. 'and thence along with the water as far as the boundary of the land of Fladbury which is called the boundary dyke', the boundary runs down-stream to the point at which the eastern boundary of Fladbury leaves the river at SP Oll470. A deep ditch and bank ran along this stretch of boundary, bounding an area of river-meadow known as 'Great Meadow' in 1765. The surviving dyke appears. however, to be related to water control rather than boundary demarcation, associated with the river-side water meadows;
   3. 'and thus straight on by the slope of the hill through the middle of the old gore to (the) old swine hedge (or enclosure)‘, a gore was often a triangular-shaped piece of land and here referred to land at an angular turn in the parish boundary at the top of Tunnel Hill. This was known as Swine Hill in 1765;
   4. 'from (the) old swine hedge (or enclosure) to boelagesette'; this appears to be Old English (ge)set, ‘a dwelling, a camp, a place for animals, a stable, a told’, with a personal name (the name is discussed not very convincingly by Forsberg who suggests a name compounded from Old English bêo, 'bee', and lagu, 'water, flood';
   5. 'from boelageselte to (the) north summit’, the highest point on Hipton Hill which rises to over 350 feet (110m) to the north of the Church Lench-Twyford road;
   6. ‘from which by way of Lench Hill as far as the boundaries of the lands of Lench and of Harvington in Wennecoomb', the boundary follows the ridge of Hipton Hill north-eastwards to join the boundary of Harvington parish in an incised valley at SP 034498 where the field-names ‘Comb Meadow’ and ‘Far Comb‘ are recorded in the 19th century;
   7. ‘thence by (the) foul brook to (the) hare's spring', located by the field-name Narbrook at SP 046489 (the h having become changed to n, probably in copying the written word);
   8. 'and from (the) hares spring to Carke ford’, probably where the road from Norton to Harvington crossed Harvington Brook at SP 048488. Carke may be Old Welsh carrec, ‘rock’, as in S 78 [a reference to Sawyer] but in both clauses is associated with water and the meaning is uncertain;
   9. 'and thence to (the) golden spring';
   10. 'and thus along the stream as far as the watercourse of the narrow marsh'; after turning to flow southwards towards the River Avon the Harvington Brook must have run through marshland, the boundary following one of the watercourses in the marsh. A field-name 'Broad Moor Meadow' has been noted in the north eastern angle of the parish boundary;
   11. 'and thence to {the) Avon'; the boundary meets the Avon at SP 057473;
   12. 'and thus to Offa's pool'; the boundary follows the river Avon upstream and the pool may have been a pool in the river near a bend in the river in Offenham parish. There were latrer mill pools at SP 066478;
   13. 'from Offa's pool to Pikereshomme (... water-meadow)' Pickersom is a river-meadow which lies on both sides of the boundary separating North Littleton from Cleeve Prior;
   14. 'from Pickereshomme to the banks of the fortification'; this appears to refer to ramparts then visible at some point on the northern boundary of Littleton and a location upon Cleeve Hill seems likely. A deed of 1739 mentions 'six selyons of demesne land at Brookling', which obviously perpetuates the name, and a large ditch has been recorded at Ballards Orchard near by;
   15. 'from the banks to (the) old hill'; the land rises to over 150 feet (55m) at SP 100474 where the eastern boundary of Cleeve Prior meets that of North Littleton and the name survives in that of Hoden Farm in Cleeve Prior, referred to in a deed of 1622 which mentions 'one acre in South Field in Olden shooting south of Littleton field' 'Olden' probably derived from ealdenedun;
   16. 'from (the) old hill to (the) old manure-heap'; near Ullington Mill;
   17. 'from which to Burghild's street'; this was the name of the Ryknield Street which is reached at SP 112467 and the boundary follows the road south-eastwards for ½ kilometre;
       [and so on]

   This is a fascinating document with its mixture of Latin grammar and old English place names. It tells us that there was an agreement between two kings over the new Abbey at Evesham with a corresponding circumambulation of the abbey's lands starting at Twyford and working clockwise. There is a place called Harvington as a point of reference, but it does not include it or tell us what Harvington was or who owned it but it does however define its western and southern boundaries.

   Only part of the document is reproduced here with our interest in Harvington being central. One can get a good idea from modern names that the scribe is only using fixed names where possibly such as Fladbury. As a fill in he uses names that are not necessarily fixed in the common vocabulary of the time but simply a description he has made of his route such as the 'oat field'.

   Our scribe starts at Twiford (Twyford = two fords) and heads down the river Avon to Cronochomme (Evesham = possibly from crane [heron] and ham). He follows the course of the river as it sweeps round the Evesham peninsular and eventually comes to Meredic (a boundary ditch or dyke presumably marking the boundary between Evesham, Norphenol (Norton) and Fladeburg (Fladbury). From here he leaves the river and heads up hill and towards the middle of Aeldegaren to Aeldenedsthinhage (both places as yet unidentified 'Aeld' means old and 'hage' means enclosure or enclosed), and on to Boelgesette (sette may mean place or position). He is now in the Lenches and on the upper reaches of the parish of Norton. He then heads through 'Lencdune', to the north western corner of the parish of Harvington called Wenna's Combe.

   He now turns south east and follows the Fulan Broc (foul Brook = Harvington Brook), past Harenthilles (hare's spring, associated with Norbrook a name given to the brook above the Evesham road), and on to Carkforð (Cark ford, associated with the one-time ford across the Salford road and possibly meaning care, it is now just a bend in the road. The scribe continues to follow the brook to a place called Goldthelle (The golden Spring), as yet undentified. Della Hooke does not elaborate by which she presumably is happy with Golden Spring but may a female name such as in Goldgiefu. As he nears the Avon the brook become sluggish and mere like which he describes as smalemeresuch, note it is in English and not Latin, which suggests he is naming the brook. The word is simply descriptive: smale, is a Teutonic and Old English form of small; mere, can either mean a place of standing water or a boundary; suche, is a complicated word but in this case would have meant 'as such', thereby reinforcing the words smale or mere. He now crosses the river to Offpole (Offenham, the ham of Uffa), near to a field of oats and so on.

   Þennecumbe
   What was Wenne? As one stands at the top of the parish near to the head of the Harvington Brook, one is standing in an isolated gentle-sided combe sloping down towards the south east. The brook dominates it, either side of which is a mixture of orchard and arable. Most villagers today probably don't know of its existence. There are two references in the Oxford English Dictionary that could explain the origin of Wenne: an early from of when or an early version of the word venison as in wenison. neither seem applicable but the present combe is a haunt of deer.

   Offa, King of the East Saxons
   It is noted that the scribe who drew up the above document mistakenly stated that Offa was King of the East Angles whereas he was in fact King of the East Saxons. This strongly suggests that this document was compiled a long time after the event. Finburg in his Early Charters of the West Midlands states that Offa, King of Essex, was a major landowner in this area and gave the Littletons, Aldington, Badsey, Bretforton, Poden, Honeybourne and Wickhamford to the newly founded abbey at Evesham, he also owned Offenham which is named after him. Finberg also states that Offa's property in the area was inherited and suggests that it may have come via his mother Osgyth. She is known to history as a saint and was the daughter of Frithwald, a sub-king of Surrey, by Wilburga, the daughter of, Penda, king of Mercia. We have Offa, a major landowner in this area with no obvious connection other than through his mother Osgyth who was a neice of Wulfhere, King of Mercia and granddaughter of the great Penda himself. Did Penda's daughter Wilburh receive a dowry from her father or did Penda safeguard his granddaughter's future by giving her these lands?

   Here is a pedigree illustrating probable connections:-

                                                 Penda =
                                   Warlord and then    |
                                   King of Mercia      |
                                   killed 655          |
         -------------------------------------------------------------------------
         |              |               |          |               |             |
       Peada        Wulfhere         Ethelred  St Edith       St Edburga       Wilburga
       King of      King of Mercia   King of   of Aylesbury   of Bicester      
       Mercia       died 675         Mercia                                  = Frithwald 
       died 656                      AD 675-704                              | of Chertsey
       = Alhflaed                    = Osthryth     Osgyth was reared        | sub-king of
         older sister                  daughter     by her aunts             | Surrey
         of Osthryth.                  of Oswiu                              | died 675
         Possibly owned                King of               -----------------
         Fladbury                      N'thumbia             |                
                                                         St Osgyth
                                                         born Quarrendon
                                                         near Aylesbury
                                                         killed by pirates
                                                         7 Oct c700    = Sighere
                                                                       | King of Essex
                                                                       | died 690
                                                                       |
                                                       --------------------- ? ---
                                                       |                         |
                                                      Offa                     Oswald
                                                      king of Essex            Gave the
                                                      died 709                 Twyford
                                                                               Estate to
                                                                               Evesham
                                                                               in AD 714
   
   

   In AD 628 the warlord Penda, who was originally based at Tamworth, swept through this area on his rampage south and eventually met the Kings of Wessex at Cirencester and after a battle, came to an agreement. In consequence Penda was ceded the Severn Valley, the territory that was or soon to become Hwicce. It is now almost impossible to see through the gloom as to whom the previous owners were. Were they a mixture of West Saxons from after the Battle of Dyrham in AD 577 or was this area still under British control? The only possible speck of light will be through place names and archaeology. What is certain is that after AD 628, the area, including Harvington, received new landlords as in after the Norman Conquest, where there were rich pickings for family and favourites.

   ---

   AD 709, Kemble's Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici¹¹. There is apparently a reference to 'Herefordinne', but despite a number of searches in the document, it has not been traced.

   ---

   AD 799, " Coenwulf King [of the Mercian's], to the Abbot Balthun, in exchange for 12 "manentes" at Hereford (Harvington). 30 "manentes" belonging to the minster at Kemesei Kempsey, free of all but the three common dues, with liberty to choose his heir. No payment other than compensation to a victim of crime is to go outside the estate"^{4 & 8}.

   
   
   Deneberht's charter to Abbot Balthun from
   Birch's Cartularium Saxonicum.

   Firstly the word 'Manentes' appears to be equivalent to a hide. A hide was traditionally used as a measurement of food rent, either for one family or group, pertaining to a smallholding and more for value of land rather than an area.

   To clarify the above: Coenwulf gave Abbot Balthun of Kempsey Monastery, worth 30 smallholdings in return for the military service and maintenance work at Kempsey, in exchange for 12 'smallholdings' at Harvington.

   If one accepts that a smallholding = one family, which seems likely in this case, then the King received back 12 smallholdings from Baltham. Was Balthun the priest at Harvington, who was moving on to better things? Was this the whole parish or part? The whole village at present seems more likely as 12 hides or smallholdings as the Domesday Book over 250 years later only recorded 3 hides and 17 villagers. This leaves us, or rather King Coelwulf (king AD 796-821) with 12 manentes at Harvington. Was the beneficiary Deneberht (Bishop of Worcester AD 800-822)? Balthun (the Priest) received more land in another charter dated AD 802⁵.

   ---

   AD 814, (AD 802 in Birch) Deneberht, Bishop, and his cathedral clergy, to Eanswith; lease, for her lifetime, with reversion to the Church at Worcester. 2 "cassati" at Hereforda, on condition that she keeps the Church's vestments in repair"⁴. Called 'doubtful' by Della Hooke but there appears no reason to doubt this document.

   
   
   Deneberht's grant to Eanswith from
   Birch's Cartularium Saxonicum.

   Harvington's first known tenant was a lady called Eanswith¹ whose name suggests she was a member of The Hwicce elite. Geoffrey Hindley in his A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons¹⁷ has a little more and fascinating information on this lady and her lease. She was granted by Bishop Deneberht 200 acres of land in return for the maintenance and enlargement of the cathedral's vestments on condition that upon her death that her land passed to the Church. His conclusion drawn was that she was carrying out business in her own right and employing crafts women, or men, to carry out the work. She probably visited Harvington but did she ever live in the village? Probably a coincidence but two hundred acres happens to be the amount of land that was attached to Manor Farm in the mid-20th century, the holding covered the lower section of the parish down to the river.

   From: Magna Britannia Antiqua & Nova, Survey of Great Britain by Thomas Cox, circa 1738.
   "Deneberht, who was consecrated the same year (799?), and was present at the synod of Cloveshoe in AD 803, where he confirmed the agreement made in the year 789, by his Predecessor with Wulfheard. He also, in the same synod, settled a dispute between himself and the Bishop of Hereford about the bounds of their Diocese. He was also present at the synod of Celycuth, in 806. He gave to the Church out of his own patrimony, the Manor of Herforton. He died Anno 822."

   There is no record of Deneberht's parents or family and therefore no indication of who owned Harvington prior to Deneberht.

   ---

   In AD 852, Beorhtwulf, King of the Mercian's, transferred to his thegn Eadgar for 700 shekels of gold, three "casseti" in Wiburgestoce (Wiburgestoke) in Harvington⁴.

   Wiburgestoke
   This charter is intriguing as it raises a number of salient points.

   This 'manor' is designated lost as its position is not known. However it may hold vital clues in the history of Harvington itself. The meaning of the name is a compound of an old English lady's name of ⁵ Wiburgh and the word stoke⁶ an outlying or "dependent farmstead"⁶. It appears that we have a Lady called Wiburgh owning a manor which became known by her name at some stage prior to the year AD 852. Wiburgh is fascinatingly close to the name Wilburh, a daughter of Penda, King of Mercia and grandmother of offa, the owner of Offenham. He is believed to have inherited Offenham from his mother and then gave his name to the estate. Harvington's Wiburgh had passed away by the time when Beorhtwulf, King of Mercia, who reigned from AD 839/40 to his death in AD 852, had the right to sell it to his thegn Edgar. We do not know who Edgar was or what happened to him and there is no mention of Wiburgestoke again until the Domesday Book in 1087 when:-

   The Domesday Book records this farmstead in conjunction with Harvington: "The Church itself holds Herfertun with Wiburgestoke. 3 hides which pay tax. In lordship 2 plough; 12 villagers and 3 smallholders with 6 ploughs. 4 male slaves, 1 female, A mill at 10s; meadow, 24 acres. The value was and is 50s". Wiburgestoke is also mentioned in a survey dated AD 1150, after which the trail goes cold.

   The above link to the shekel does not tell us its value in old English times but compared to modern values 700 shekels appears to be a lot of money. The fact that the king is using an Oriental or Jewish measurement is also interesting.

   In a preceeding section dealing with Offa, King of Essex, his grandmother Wilburga, is mentioned as possibly the inheriter of land in the area, is it possible that Wiburgestoke carries a memory of her name?

   Discussion of where and what Wiburgestoke was will be dealt with following the unattached clause below.

   ---

   AD 964, In Latin and English the document mentions Harvington as being, among other holdings, held by St Mary's Abbey, Worcester as a re-affirmation of lands by King Edgar"^{4 & 8}.

   ---

   1016-1035, a translation of this unattached boundary clause, written in Old English, is to be found in Della Hooke's, Worcestershire Anglo-Saxon Charter Bounds, p. 387. Unattached in this case means that there is no charter, transfer or lease attached. There is no date to it but the fact that it is in Old English with the spelling of Hereforda or herefordtune suggests that it is probably early 11th century. It relates to Harvington specifically rather than mentioning it as a side-line.

   

   Here follows the interpretation of the clause by Della Hooke:-

   1. 'First along (the) Avon so that it comes to Wistane's bridge', begins on the Avon at SP 067484 and the boundary follows southwards and then westwards. If the landmark is correctly brycg, 'bridge', this may have been at the crossing of that river in the far south of the parish at the ford which gave the estate its name, but the next landmark refers to a brook rather than to the river;
   2. 'and thence following the brook so that it comes to (the) bramble-(or hip-) covered hill, the brook forms the western boundary of the parish and the hill is probably the high land at the north-western corner of the parish near Atch Lench, the name derived from Old English hêopa, 'bramble, hip' (?wild rose);
   3. 'from the hill so that it comes near watercress spring', this was the source of the brook at SP 042506 which forms the rest of the northern and eastern boundary of the parish;
   4. 'and following the watercress to (the) tongue of land of the honey water-meadow, the boundary follows the brook to the Avon and the tongue of land may have been that alongside the Avon in the neighbouring parish of Salford Priors, Steot is an error for Old English steort, 'tail, tongue of land', as noted by Tengstrandt, who notes the suggestion 'the tapering or projecting part of Hunighamm (the) water-meadow where honey is gathered from bees' nests?)' or the tongue of land on which Hunighamm is situated'. This name occurs as Hunyhamsterte in a perambulation of Feckingham Forest in 1300 and as 'Onion Stert' in the early years of this century.
   5. 'and there again into the Avon'; the boundary follows the bank to the main river.

   Is the interpretation of this clause correct?
   The question has to be asked, does the above relate to the parish as a whole? Do we here have a clue in the perambulation that may put this article at odds with accepted theories. Up to now it has been seen as a perambulation of the parish but once one realises that the parish includes two manors then another possibility emerges. The clause commences on the Avon, travels down the river and turns up the Harvington Brook (described above as Smalemeresuch) and comes to a bramble covered hill. This has been suggested as Hipton Hill, although the hill now relates to the rise from Lenchwick in Norton. Could not this be where the land rises sharply from the floodplain to the present village, close to Thatchways Cottage? The next clue is where watercress grows. To complete the perambulation this has until now been placed at the top north-east corner of the parish on a sloping hillside - not where watercress normally grows, unless one takes into account of springs. Another explanation is that we are dealing with the bottom of Cress Hill where the flood plain commences on marshy, often waterlogged land now under the old railway line and present old bypass, where, according to local tradition, watercress was grown. This possibility suggests that the above perambulation is only describing half of the parish i.e. the Manor of Harvington, taking into account that the original settlement was near the river thereby excluding the Manor of Wiburgestoke.

Location of Wiburgestoke
Where Wiburgestoke manor was situated has not been proven and is considered to be 'lost'. Modern place names do not (at present) offer a clue. Manors, and there can be more than one in a parish, are usually centred on a Manor house, a property of more substance than the norm. It is now clear that there were two manors or estates in the parish of Harvington. Owing to the origin of its name we have placed the original Harvington down at the ford. By definition therefore Wiburgestoke as an outlying farmstead has to be elsewhere in the parish. A tentative suggestion is that the odd 'L' reversed shape of the parish could indicate the joining of two estates, one (Harvington) on the lower levels and one (Wigurgestoke) on the higher ground. Was Wiburgestoke the English name of the original British settlement based further up in the parish around or near to Harvington Lodge? The above unattached clause also states that Wiburgestoke was owned by the King whereas the Harvington manor was already owned by the Church at Worcester.

Location of St. James the Great
The above leads us on to another postulation concerning the siting of St James the Great although this should really be dealt with in a subsequent section, it is nevertheless relevant here. There is a section in Finberg's book Lucerna²⁸ which deals with the origins of the village of Blockley in the Cotswolds. The theory put forward is that a church was established in between two dwindling Romano-British settlements to serve the population of each. Blockley is an entirely English name serving scattered communities. Was St James the Great placed, probably in the early Norman period, on the boundary of two manors to serve two communities later to serve a new parish?

St Wistane, Atheling of Mercia
The above boundary clause has the only reference so far found that Harvington once had a bridge across the Avon. It almost certainly spanned the river at the bottom of Anchor Lane and the above clause appears to support this. At Bidford, now occupied by a medieval stone bridge, there was almost certainly a wooden or series of wooden bridges subsequent to the ford, and the assumption is that ours was a wooden structure. The name is fascinating and may help to identify the period when it existed and also the approximate date of the document in which it is recorded.

The bridge is named after Wistan (Wigstan), Atheling of Mercia. He was the son of Wigmund, King of Mercia by Æflæd and was murdered by Beorhtfrith, son of Wistan's uncle on 1st June AD 847, see Wikipedia. He was either killed at Wistanstow in Shropshire, Wistow, Leicestershire. or Wistow in Cambridgeshire, and was buried in the crypt of his grandfather King Wiglaf at Repton. He was canonised after a number of miracles were connected to him. Sometime between AD 1016 and AD 1035, at the request of Abbot Ælfweard of Evesham 1014-1044, his relics were transferred to Evesham by the command of Canute, King of England 1016-1035. Dominic, a Prior of Evesham in the 12th century, wrote a hagiography of St Wistan called Vita Sancti Wistani, acquiring saintly relics by monasteries attracted a great deal of qudos and financial reward. The above does not tell us the date of our clause but it does suggest that the name and perhaps also the bridge itself came into existence sometime in the early 11th century after the relics had been transferred to Evesham.

The above boundary clauses give us a number of named or descriptive features which should be explained:-

• Avene (Avon) - the river Avon
• Broce (Brook) - the Harvington Brook
• cærsa Þællan (watercress) - Della Hooke appears to place this feature at the top of the parish, however, in more recent times water cress was grown on the low-lying land below Cress Hill, just outside the village near the Salford Road.
• Carkeforð (Carkeford) - traditionally placed where the Norton Road crosses the Harvington Brook and enters the village. The old ford has long since gone and the road culverted. The corner now has a much more rounded aspect.
• Goldwelle (Golden Spring) - not known but presumably lower down the Harvington brook somewhere past the present sewage works.
• Hare's Spring (Norbrook) - there was a field called Norbrook to the north west of the Evesham Road as it crosses the Harvington Brook.
• Hêopa hylle (Bramble or wild rose Hill) - traditionally placed at the north-western corner of the parish, or perhaps where the land rises from the flood plain.
• Hereforda (Harvington) - a descriptive name placing Harvington at a crossing of the River Avon.
• hommes stroete (honey water meadow) - Della Hooke places this feature at the eastern junction of the parish boundary ditch and the River Avon.
• Smalemoresye (Smallmmeresuch) - a descriptive name for the Harvington Brook as it joins the River Avon.
• Þennecumbe (Wennecombe) - a name for the valley at the upper north-western corner of the parish.
• Wiburgestoce (Wiburgestoke) - an outlying farmstead and Manor lying within Harvington parish once belonging to a lady called Wiburgh.
• Þistanes brycge (Wistane's Bridge) - a bridge that once crossed the River Avon and named after St Wistan.

An informative website on extant old English documents, both in English and Latin is: Kemble, The Anglo-Saxon Charters. Also Dorothy Whitelock's, English Historical Documents, c.500-1042, Publ: 1979.

Twyford and Siflæd's Stone
There is no long-established village or settlement in the area called Twyford and it is now dominated by a shopping complex, bypasses and roundabouts created since the 1980's, plus a long established electric sub-station and a defunct railway line. It is set in a small valley sloping gentle towards the east and river Avon. The ordinance survey of 1828-32 has several buildings including The Lodge at the crossroads on Green Hill. This was a junction between two long-established roads, one from Evesham to Alcester and the other from Pershore/Worcester down to and across the river Avon(the twyford) the river Avon to Offenham and beyond.

Twyford plaque 2021

Twyford is a descriptive name given to the two fords which once straddled an island called Dead Men's Ait in the middle of the river Avon. The fords carried the road from the crossroads down Blayney's Lane to the ford across the Avon and up to the village of Offenham. There was apparently once bridges here that spanned the river. William Tindal in his history of the abbey speaks of a possible wooden bridge and suggests that it may have been destroyed just prior to the Battle of Evesham to prevent supporters of Simon de Montfort from escaping³⁵. In his time (late 18th century) he thought he could make out the remains of wooden supports for the bridge. In volume one of Evesham Notes and Queries 1911, there is an article on 'Twyford and Evesham bridges'³⁶. The article makes known of a Charter of Incorporation dated 1605, which states that 'a certain bridge called Offenham otherwise called Twyford Bridge was in a state of decay', so maybe Mr Tindal noted the remains of this one. It also states that the inhabitants of Offenham were responsible for maintaining the bridge and on several occasions were 'indicted for its non-repair'. It is also assumed in the article that this may have been a narrow stone footbridge with a ford alongside for heavier traffic, but it is far more likely that the bridge was of wooden construction. Miscellaneous Chancery entries in volume three (pages 153/4) records 'a murder of John le Dekne by William de Berton on Twyford Bridge in 1285', so a bridge crossing the Avon at this point was of long standing. It is not at present known when the bridge ceased to exist but it may have been in the Civil War or even later when the river was deepened to carry larger river traffic.

Twyford was an estate of some antiquity now within the parish of Norton. There is a Romano-British settlement or villa off Blayneys Lane (SP047 457) discovered in 1954, where much Roman material was found. The orchard in which it lay was called 'Old House Ground', an area now covered by houses. It is ascerted²⁰ that Twyford may have been the centre of a Roman estate incorporating Twyford, Norton and Lenchwick. There is also a RB site in Norton, near Leylandii House Farm (SP 405600 248400), which was discovered during the construction of the A44 bypass and hastily reburied, neither site was inspected in any detail.

The first written evidence of Twyford is in an early charter dated to either AD 703 or 714 in which it states that the estate of Twyford was given to Ecgwine the Bishop of Worcester and new Abbot of Evesham²⁸. The estate of Twyford, perhaps a ghost of its former Romano-British existence, was donated by Oswald. Twyford is mentioned in Byrchtferth's Life of St Ecgwine, in which it appears that Ecgwin had acquired the estate, amounting to 20 hides, from Osweard, brother of Æthelheard king of the Hwicce³⁴. Frank Stenton in his Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England³⁷, states that 20 hides are 30 manses (apparently equivalent to a hide) and that they were given to St Ecgwin, by Osward in AD 703. Twenty hides is a considerable amount of hides when one learns that at the time of Domesday Harvington only had three, and it does suggest a place of some size and not just a ford to cross the river. Was Twyford originally a Roman estate, which included the neighbouring Norton and Lenchwick as outlying slave or peasant settlements? Osward's origins and charters will be discussed later on in this history. Twyford remained in Evesham's ownership until the dissolution. There is also a suggestion, entirely my own, that an Anglo-Saxon lady called Siflæd my have been a leaseholder of the Twyford estate.

Siflæd's stone
For hundreds of years a local landmark in Twyford, was a six-foot tall standing stone that once stood alongside Blayney's Lane. It was known as Siflæd's Stone, and reputed to of Anglo-Saxon origin²⁹.

The first reference to the stone, and to Siflæd, is in a Latin charter with bounds written in old English attached. The charter is concerned with the confirmation of a large block of land granted to the newly founded Evesham Abbey in AD 709 by Coenred, King of Mercia and Offa, King of 'East Anglia'. This is one of at least two documents (the other is discussed under 'Harvington in Charters' further on in this history), considered 'spurious' or even 'gross forgeries'. They have their own reasons for doubting the authenticity of these charters, mine is of the spelling of Harvington which places the date of one of the charters squarely in the 13th century; and the other is that Offa was king of the East Saxons and not of the East Anglians, not a mistake to have been made in AD 709. Coelred of Mercia and Offa of Essex were friends and both abdicated and travelled together to Rome. My quess is that the charter is a forgery while the bounds are genuine but do they date from AD 709 or later in the Anglo-Saxon period?

Siflæd is an Anglo Saxon name and there was a lady called Siflæd who owned land in Norfolk and her name does have an East Anglican ring to it. This lady left an undated Will written in English in the late tenth or early 11th century and has been transcribed by Dorothy Whitelock³³:-

Here in this document it is made known how Siflæd granted her possessions when she went across the sea. First, to the village church in Marlingford five acres and one homestead and two acres of meadow and two wagonloads of wood; and to my tenants their homesteads as their own possession: and all my men [are to be] free. And I grant to each of my brothers a wagonload of wood. And I grant to Christchurch at Norwich four head of cattle, and two to St Mary's, and one to my.... And I grant to St Edmund's all that may happen to be left of my property, that is house and homestead in Marlingford, with wood and open land, meadow and livestock. And if I come home, then I wish to occupy that estate for my life; and after my death the will is to take effect. And whomsoever alters this, may God turn away his face from him on the Day of Judgement, unless he repent it here.

The next clue as to the stone's existence is a description of the Battle of Evesham. Mention is made of Gilbert de Clare peeling off from the main army towards the bridge/ford at Twyford to cut off any retreat by Simon de Montort's followers and that heavy fighting took place at or near 'Siveldeston' (Siflæd's stone) near the crossing. It appeared in the Evesham Chronicle.³⁸

The next is a detailed description of the stone by William Tindal (p. 327), although for a caveat see the article in Evesham Notes & Queries in a subsequent paragraph:-

'A little higher up [from the crossing] and just on the northern edge of the old road leading down to the river, a stone of about six feet in height, and apparently squared by art, is fixed erect in the ground. No traces of any inscription on it are to be found. But it has been perforated obliquely, and, in the hole thus made, some remains of lead may be discerned.'

Mr Tindal goes on to describe an ancient tree alongside:-

'. . . Within living memory of the older inhabitants of Evesham, the stump of a very ancient hawthorn tree was grubbed up, near the above stone, which had, in all periods since the battle, been dignified with the title of the Council-bush'.

Tindal also spoke of many bones being found on the meadow near the ford and postulated they may have been the bones of defeated soldiers as they tried to cross the river.

1864-5: The Evesham & Redditch Railway Line cut through Twyford very close to where the stone was situated and it is very likely that it was at this time that the stone was removed.

Now we come to the last and vital reference to Siflæd,s stone's probable fate. In Evesham Notes and Queries vol.3 dated 7th January 1911, pages 146-7³⁶.

'Twyford - a vanished stone formerly at. "Tindal notes on pp. 326-327 of his History of Evesham a stone as existing in his time (c.1794) at Twyford, about which he makes several conjectures. The stone disappeared from its position, but Mr. T.E. Doeg suggested that it may possibly be the same stone which still forms a footbridge across a ditch near Offenham Ferry on the Evesham side. However, I have recently seen Tindal's own copy of his History in which he made many additions and corrections for a possible second edition of the work. On p.326 he writes: "This was an old stone brought from the ruins of the Abbey as a gate-post and now destroyed. ..."'

I am now giving a sequel to this story. Close to the area if not across where the stone had once stood the Evesham Bypass was constructed thereby bisecting Blayneys Lane and obliterating everything in its path. In late December 2021 my wife and I decided to go for a walk along the river looking for a ditch crossed by a large stone. Just as we approached the ferry crossing from the north we came to a small fairly new wooden footbridge crossing a clogged ditch. Upon looking over a rail we espied a large stone half submerged in mud, water and vegetation close to the side and below the level of the footbridge (SP 048 457). Upon a subsequent investigation we cleared around the area and exposed a substantial cut and weathered stone. Its structure is of Cotswold lime stone and its dimensions proved to be approximately 15 inches wide, 10 inches deep and 81 inches long, squared at the base and tapered at the top.

Photographs Taken in 2022

top end to left and centre, bottom end to right

Close-up of top

The question now is, whether this is the lost Siflæd's stone or a gate post from the Abbey? One does not, if one can help it, use an expensive large and heavy piece of cut stone, in an area where stone is not readily available, to cross a ditch unless there is such a stone conveniently nearby so it is my impression that at some time in the 19th Century a local farmer had removed the long-forgotten and redundant standing stone from its original position and hauled it down the lane a short way to the ditch.

Viking impact
During the 8th century Harvington may have enjoyed a fairly peaceful existance under two Mercian kings with unusually long and relitively stable reigns, Æthelbald from AD716-757, and Offa AD757-796. However, what with internal strife and the Viking onslaught during the eighth and ninth century, starting with minor groups of raiders to full-scale armies, had a profound effect on the country and its people, whether English or British. It did catistrophic damage to the infrostructure, the church, the political stability, tax raising, and of course the people. The records that we have, catalogue the various major manouvers of the Viking armies and know where they over-wintered, such as at Gloucester, but we do not know of the countless raids that most have taken place, if nothing else but to feed themselves.

In AD 872 the the Vikings were in Worcester and the Bishop of Worcester had to raise a substantial sum of money to pay them off. This must have reflected upon the diocese including the folk in Harvington even if it was only in taxes.

Having said all of the above, we have no indication whatsoever of how Harvington fared. We can say any effect was probably not long lasting as it was well away from the Danelaw and thoroughly within the English, or British orbit with place-names etc., perhaps we were lucky.

Agriculture and trade
The charter of AD 814 suggests that Eanswith, the first known tenant of Harvington, was involved in the "maintenance and enlargement of the cathedral's [Worcester] vestments", which again suggests that she was employing experienced people for needlecraft, something for which the English were renowned. Was she carrying on this business here, we shall never know. What is certain is that there was the river and river trade, and produce from the land. Agriculture was the dominant industry for most of the country and there is no reason to doubt that Harvington was part of that trade.

There are prehistoric crop marks around Harvington Lodge, and ridge and furrow on fields down Anchor Lane on what is now a golf course. It is fairly widely spaced which suggests the use of oxen therefore probably pre 1500. A useful study of ridge and furrow is in a history of Frocester, Gloucestershire, where both in an area surrounding and over the site of a Roman villa, are two sets of ridge and furrow; one stops short of the villa as if the ruins are still there, while the other, dated to the 13th century, ploughs straight over it. The implication being that the site of the villa with its valuable stone was grubbed out and a new ridge and furrow system set down.²⁵ The above, although not relating to Harvington, illustrates that ridge and furrow can be of considerable age.

The Romano-British, favoured a large estate system. During the Anglo-Saxon period, these great estates were split up into smaller units - probably becoming the foundation for manors. With the advent of the Feudal system in the 11th century, open field systems were favoured, which survived until the enclosure acts. Trying to understand this complex system of changes over long periods of time is a challenge when it comes down to individual manors and parishes.

For an understanding of the English landscape Oliver Rackham's book The History of the Countryside is a classic and a must to read. He was q prolific writer and although only one of his books are quoted here, it is not meant to diminish his other invaluable works.²⁶

Conclusion
This article has been an interesting study of the origins of Harvington up to the time of the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The study has proved useful in giving a much clearer view of early Harvington and its surrounding. We are most fortunate that Harvington belonged to the Church at Worcester for so many centuries with the survival of so many Old English documents relating to the parish. They suggest that the parish possessed a stable unit of land hemmed in by river brook and ditch going back to least at the ninth century. We now know that Harvington was divided into two manors with the original Harvington down on the flood plain and the lost Wiburgestoke on the rising ground, probably in the Harvington Hill area. There was a prehistoric, British and Roman presence in Harvington. The area probably stayed under British control until between AD 577 when Gloucester fell to the West Saxons, and AD 628 when Penda, the pagan English warlord swept through the area and set up an English governing hierarchy, which became a stable long-lasting province of the new Kingdom of Mercia.

At sometime post AD 814 the Manor of Harvington, a family possession of Deneberht, Bishop of Worcester, was passed to the Church at Worcester, under whose ownership it stayed for over a thousand years. In AD 852 the Manor of Wiburgestoke, property of the King of Mercia, was sold to Eadgar, the king's thegn and at some time, probably in the twelfth century, passed into the possession of the Church at Worcester, the parish becomes one property and the name of Wiburgestoke appears to go out of use.

Known inhabitants and owners connected to Harvington and Wiburgestoke before 1066 are:-

• Balthun, an abbot living AD 799, possessing 12 manutes of land in Harvington Manor.
• Deneberht, Bishop of Worcester, who in AD 814, leased his family property of Harvington Manor to the Eanswith.
  
• Eanswith, a Lady in AD 814 who leased 2 casseti of land in Harvington.
  
• Wiburg, who lived sometime before AD 852 and gave her name to Wiburgestoke.
  
• Eadgar, Thegn of Mercia, living AD 852, purchasing the manor of Wiburgestoke.