The History of the Parish of Welford
in West Berkshire

The Saxons
circa 383 - 1066

As we have learned, the Romans left this country in a great hurry, leaving behind them an unprotected population of 'Romanised' Britons. They were very vulnerable and it wasn't long before three German tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from mainland Europe at the invitation of the Britons who had asked them to come to help drive out some enemy tribes that were pushing down from the north. For the next two hundred years they create mayhem and chaos throughout the whole country and this became a blank period in the history of this nation - a period we call the 'dark ages'.

It is said to be the time of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. His story has been immortalised in fable but many believe that there is a substantial amount of truth in his existence and bold struggle against the Saxon invaders.

Slowly the country emerged from this dark period due mainly to the growth of Christianity. We begin to learn about life in those times from the vulnerable scribes of the creed.

The first mention we have of Welford is that it was granted to the Monastery of Abingdon by Ceadwalla, a monkish king of Wessex, (the West Saxons), who died in 688.

The Monastery of Abingdon had been founded in 675 by Cyssa or his nephew Hearne, it is not sure which. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and housed twelve Benedictine monks.. Hearne was its first Abbot. The Abbey was destroyed in 871 by the Danes during the reign of Alfred the Great. Alfred later compounded the ruin of the poor monks by taking all their estates away from them because they had not made what he deemed to be a sufficient requital for vanquishing their enemies, the Danes. We do not know how this affected the people of Welford. Peace was returned when Alfred's grandson, Eadred - King of Wessex (946-955), and later his successors restored and rebuilt the Abbey. It was endowed with many large estates, not only Welford, but a number of other parishes, which were given to the Abbey, presumably to obtain for the donor spiritual benefits in the next world in exchange for these temoral gifts.

The philosophy of life in those days was clearly defined. There were generally just three types of people:

• those who fought - the king and his warriors;
• those who worked - the peasants;
• those who prayed - the church.

Three very distinct stratas of society which did not overlap. It is to the latter group, the church, that we owe the greatest debt for our knowledge of the age. Without them little would be known of this period of our history. The reason for this is simple, they were the only ones that could read or write and had the opportunity to do so. There were exceptions to this of course. Alfred the Great was very literate.

As Christianity grew the Saxons began to build churches. First in timber and later in stone. Using any available material left behind by the Romans following their exodus from this country. A fine example is the church tower at Wickham, built in early Saxon times as a refuge and watch tower. Remember, Wickham is situated on a ridge that overlooks the surrounding countryside.

The Saxons built the church later, butting it against the tower. The entrance door to the tower is some 8 to 10 feet above ground level reached only by a ladder which could be hauled in if danger threatened. The masonry of the tower windows is Roman and in all probability much of the material that went into the building of the tower came from the same source. The church at Welford is also Saxon in origin although there is no evidence to be seen of this today as it was the fate of this church and also the one in Wickham, to be taken down in the nineteenth century and rebuilt. It is recorder, however, that during the demolition of the old church at Welford a coin of Edward the Confessor was found in the Saxon foundations.

The Saxon tower at Wickham was not touched except for an extension to its' height. Both churches were mentioned in the Domesday book, a record of Saxon society compiled by the later Normans who were the last foreign invaders to conquer these shores.

Let's learn about the Normans

Excerpt from the historical chronicles of Alan Garvey, © 1996

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