Written and pictorial evidence about medieval villages (Elton)

1. How do we know what medieval
villages looked like?
Part II
You are now going to see how written and pictorial evidence
can help us find out about medieval villages

2. The village of Elton in Cambridgeshire
Much of the evidence you will use in this section is about the village of
Elton. Unlike Wharram Percy, Elton is still a thriving village today.
All the medieval buildings were destroyed long ago and archaeologists
have not been able to excavate the ruins.
Yet we can still work out what life was in Elton was like, even if we can’t
find out everything we would like to know.

3. For a start there is
the Domesday
Book. Every
village in England
was described
there, so sure
enough there is
an entry for Elton.

4. Source 5
From the Domesday Book, the survey William
ordered to find out what everybody owned
In Elton the Abbot of Ramsey had 10 hides of land. There are now 4
ploughs on the demesne. There are 28 villeins having 20 ploughs. There
is a church and a priest, and 2 mills with an income of 40s a year. There
are 170 acres (69 hectares) of meadow.
Note on money:
Before decimal coins were introduced in 1971, there were pennies,
shillings and pounds:
12d (old pennies) made a shilling
20s (shillings) made a pound.

5. Source 6
From another royal survey 100 years after the
Domesday Book
2 water mills and a fulling mill also belonged to the Abbot; also fishing
rights on the river

6. The manor of Elton belonged to the Abbot of Ramsey Abbey, who also
held 23 other manors.
He did not live in Elton and rarely visited it.
His officials ran the manor for him. They had to keep records such as
Sources 7 and 13 of all the money spent and received.

7. Source 7
Examples from the thirteenth-century records of
money spent by the lord
1286
1297
6d paid for branches for the barn and the sheepfold
12d paid for the hiring of one ship for carrying 1200 bundles of
rushes from Wytlesmere to Elton
12d paid to a carpenter for work on the chapel 12 working days
2s paid to a man thatching the barns during 32 days with board
6d to a carpenter for making gates before the hall and barn
during 6 days
2d to a mason for repairing the walls before the the great barn
5s 2d for 4 men slating the chapel for 3 weeks

8. These records tell us a lot about the buildings in Elton. Most of the
evidence is about the buildings around the manor house, which
belonged to the lord.
Pictures from other villages can help us discover what these buildings
in Elton might have looked like.
As well as these buildings there would have been dozens of peasant
cottages. These would probably have been similar to the cottages in
Source 4 (previous lesson)

9. Source 8

10. Source 9

11. Source 10. This picture comes from the Luttrell Psalter –
an illustrated prayer book

12. Discuss
Which of the buildings shown in Sources 8-10 are
mentioned in the written sources?

13. Source 11
a barn

14. Source 12
A manor house

15. Source 14
Baking bread in an oven

16. Source 15
A blacksmith’s
smithy

17. Source 16 – Examples taken from the fourteenth-
century records of money spent by the lord of Elton
1307
1311
1313
1324
1345
1350
15d for a thatcher hired for 20 days to thatch the stable, the dovecote and
the sheepfold
4d for a mason to mend the wall between the manor house and the granary
9d paid to a mason for mending the dairy
2d paid to a carpenter for mending the common privy
20d paid to two carpenters for mending the dovecote next to the chapel
16d paid to one slater for mending the roof of the manor house, kitchen and
bakehouse during 16 days with food
3s 11d for stones and slates for making a new oven and furnace in the
manor
12d for a mason for repairing the walls of the manor house after the flood

18. Activity
Use Sources 5-16 to complete a copy of this table
about the buildings in Elton. First find each
different type of building and write it in the first
column, then fill in the other columns. An example
has been done for you
Type of
building
What was it
made of?
What was it
used for?
Where was it?
Sheepfold Branches and
thatch
Keeping the
sheep in
Near the manor
house
...