Seacourt
51°45′40″N 1°17′56″W / 51.761°N 1.299°W
Seacourt is a deserted medieval village ( DMV ) near the City of Oxford. The site is now mostly beneath the Oxford Western By-pass ( A34 ), about 0.3 miles (0.48 km) south of the Seacourt / Hinksey Stream crossing. [1] [a] [b] [c]
Name[edit]
The earliest known reference to Seacourt is the name " Seofecanwyrthe " in Eadwig's charter of c.957. [d]
- ( Seof..fecan..wyrthe )
The middle element " fekan " was not part of the actual name but was a derogatory reference to the Danish people who had previously lived there. [e]
The actual name at that time ( Seof..wyrthe ) was probably a hybrid of Old Danish ' sef ' : ( " sedge, rush [3] " ) [f] and Old English ' worðig ' : ( ” enclosed homestead, farm ” ). [g]
The name was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Seuaworde ( Seua..worde ). [6]
Toponym[edit]
The toponym for Seacourt might be:
- Enclosure where seaves grow.[j]
Archaeological evidence suggests that the original settlement consisted of ditched enclosures and wooden byre's for keeping livestock. [k] Some types of sedge and rush (" seaves ") prefer the shallow water found in man made ditches,[l] while other types prefer water logged ground.[m]
Examples of place names that might have a similar etymology:
Name history[edit]
From Old Danish ' sef ' : ( " sedge, rush [3] " ) :
- Seof..wyrthe ( c.957 ).
From local dialect ' seave ' : ( " sedge, rush " ) : [n] [o]
- Sea..court ( 20th century )
From Old English ' secg ' : ( " sedge, reed, rush, flag " ) : [q]
- Sevek..worth ( 13th century ).
- Seck worth ( 15th century ). [r]
Legacy[edit]
The name continues to be used in and around Botley, near the City of Oxford :
- Seacourt Stream – Hinksey Stream.
- Seacourt Tower. [s]
- Seacourt Park and Ride. [11]
Manor[edit]
The earliest known record of Seacourt is from 955, when King Eadwig granted 20 hides of land at Hinksey, Seacourt and Wytham to the Benedictine Abingdon Abbey.[12] By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 the abbey had let the lordship of the manor of Seacourt to a lay tenant.[12]
In 1313 one Walter le Poer of Tackley, Oxfordshire granted the manor to Sir William Bereford and his son for the rest of their lives.[12] Subsequently, the reversion of the manor was granted to Isabel de Vesci and her brother Henry de Beaumont.[12] After the deaths of the younger Bereford and Isabel de Vesci, Henry de Beaumont granted Seacourt to his son John Beaumont and daughter-in-law Eleanor Plantaganet.[12] In 1409 their son Henry Beaumont, 3rd Baron Beaumont sold Seacourt to one William Wilcotes of North Leigh, Oxfordshire.[12]
The manor then passed through various hands and was broken up into shares until 1469, when Sir Richard Harcourt started buying them up.[12] By the time he died in 1486, Sir Richard owned the whole of the manors of Seacourt and Wytham.[12] Thereafter the two manors stayed together and by 1546 Seacourt was considered part of the manor of Wytham.[12]
Parish church[edit]
Seacourt had a parish church by 1200, when Robert de Seacourt (or Seckworth), lord of the manor, granted it to the prioress of the Benedictine Studley Priory, Oxfordshire.[12] According to a 13th-century charter Seacourt parish church was dedicated to Saint Mary.[12] In 1439 it was reported that the church building had collapsed.[12] In the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 Studley Priory surrendered its lands to the Crown, which sold them in 1540.[13] Studley Priory and its possessions at Seacourt were sold to one John Croke,[12] an ancestor of the John Croke who was a lawyer, judge, member of Parliament and Speaker of the House of Commons towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth I.
Economic and other history[edit]
Seacourt had two watermills. They were described as corn mills in the 12th century, when William de Seacourt, lord of the manor, granted their tithes to the Benedictine Godstow Abbey.[12] Early in the 13th century his son Robert de Seacourt also granted their tithes to Godstow Abbey, but this time they are described as fulling mills.[12]
All of Seacourt's original houses were timber-framed.[14] Then in the 13th century a new north–south street was laid out and lined with stone-built houses on both sides.[15]
The old road between Eynsham and Oxford passed through Seacourt rather than Botley.[12] In the Middle Ages the treacle (i.e. healing) well at Binsey was a place of pilgrimage. Binsey is just on the other side of Seacourt Stream, so some pilgrims used to stay at Seacourt to visit the well.[12] According to tradition, Seacourt had 24 inns to accommodate them.[12] However, in 1439 the report that Seacourt parish church had collapsed stated also that all but two of the houses in the village were ruined and uninhabited.[12]
In the time of the antiquarian Anthony Wood (1632–95) the ruins of Seacourt were still visible.[12] Today no building survives on the site of the village but there are a few bumps in the fields. The village site was excavated between 1937 and 1939[16] and again in 1958 and 1959.[17]
In 1924 there were two farms to the south of the former village.[12] One was Seacourt Farm, which survived until 1963.[18]
By 1831 Seacourt was an extra-parochial area.[12] In 1858 it became a civil parish, but in 1900 it was absorbed into the neighbouring parish of Wytham.[19]
The name continues in Seacourt Stream, the Seacourt Bridge public house by Seacourt Road, Seacourt Tower and Seacourt Park and Ride car park.
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ The site is designated as Historic Statutory and Scheduled Monument (SHADED POLYGON)
- ^ The map also shows Port Meadow, Oxford to the east of the River Thames, also designated as Historic Statutory and Scheduled Monument (SHADED POLYGON)
- ^ The site of Seacourt DMV was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. See also :
- ^ DOCUMENTARY HISTORY ( Martin Biddle )
" The earliest mention of Seacourt occurs in a charter of Eadwig which grants twenty hides of land to Abingdon Abbey about 957. " PDF page 11, actual page 79 [2]
aet Hengestesige , and aet Seofecanwyrthe , and aet Wihtham
- ^ See Eadwig's Charter to Abingdon Abbey c.957 > Seofecanwyrthe > Name corruption
- ^ Old Norse ' sef ' : " sedge, rush " [4]
- ^ Old English worðig : " enclosed homestead, farm " [5]
- ^ WiKtionary : English dialect < seavy >
- " Overgrown with rushes. "
- ^ WiKtionary : Middle English < court >
- " A courtyard; an enclosed space. "
- " A grand residence, especially that of a ruler or noble. "
- ^ WiKtionary : English dialect < seave >
- " A rush (the plant). "
- ^ See Eadwig's Charter to Abingdon Abbey c.957 > Seofecanwyrthe > Archaeological evidence.
- ^ Schoenoplectus lacustris is a type of sedge that prefers shallow water.
- ^ Juncus effusus is a type of rush that prefers boggy ground.
- ^ WiKtionary : < seave > From Old Norse sef, whence also Danish siv, Icelandic sef and Swedish säv (“club-rush”).
- ^ WiKtionary : < court > A courtyard; an enclosed space.
- ^ The priory of Studley " The next year and again in 1294 the bishop wrote to the prioress that the presence of John of Sevekworth ... " [8]
- ^ Old English secg : " sedge, reed, rush, flag " [9]
- ^ DOCUMENTARY HISTORY ( Martin Biddle ) In 1439 the Vicar reported " the church itself of Seck worth was collapsed " – PDF page 15, actual page 83. [10]
- ^ See Botley, Oxfordshire
Citations[edit]
- ^ "MAGiC MaP : Seacourt DMV – Use Table of Contents for Colour Mapping ". Natural England - Magic in the Cloud.
- ^ Biddle 1962, p. 79.
- ^ a b The common name " rush " can refer to more than one family. See Rush (botanical disambiguation).
- ^ Reaney 1969, p. 175.
- ^ Clark Hall 1916, p. 758.
- ^ *"SEACOURT". Open Domesday. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ Page & Ditchfield 1924, pp. 421–423.
- ^ Page 1907, pp. 77–79.
- ^ Clark Hall 1916, p. 549.
- ^ Biddle 1962, p. 83.
- ^ *"Seacourt park and ride - OX2 0HP". Oxford City Council. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Page & Ditchfield, 1924, pages 421–423
- ^ Page, 1907, pages 77–79
- ^ Rowley, 1978, page 48
- ^ Rowley, 1978, pages 48, 126
- ^ Bruce-Mitford, 1940
- ^ Biddle, 1961–62
- ^ Hanson, 1995, pp.52–55
- ^ Vision of Britain website
Sources[edit]
- Books
- Hanson, John (1995). The Changing Faces of Botley and North Hinksey. Witney: Robert Boyd.
- Reaney, P H (1969). The Origin of English Place Names. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Clark Hall, John R. (1916). A Concise Anglo−Saxon Dictionary, Second Edition. The Macmillan Company.
- Online
- Biddle, Martin (1962). "The Deserted Medieval Village of Seacourt, Berkshire" (PDF). Oxoniensia. XXVI–XXVII. Oxford Architectural and Historical Society: 70–201. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
- Bruce-Mitford, R.L.S. (1940). "The Excavations at Seacourt, Berks., 1939 an interim report" (PDF). Oxoniensia. V. Oxford Architectural and Historical Society.
- Page, W.H., ed. (1907). A History of the County of Oxford, Volume 2. Victoria County History. pp. 77–79.
- Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds. (1924). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4. Victoria County History. pp. 421–423.
- Rowley, Trevor (1978). Villages in the Landscape. Archaeology in the Field Series. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. pp. 48, 126. ISBN 0-460-04166-5.