By Tim Lambert Early Somerton In 658 The Saxons defeated the older Roman-Celtic people and captured eastern Somerset. The Saxons gave Somerton its name. It was the summer tun. The Saxon word tun meant hamlet or farmstead. It is not clear why it was the summer hamlet. Perhaps people grazed cattle on the Levels during… Continue reading A History of Somerton
A History of Southampton
By Tim Lambert Roman Southampton About 70 AD the Romans built a town on a bend in the River Itchen, where Bitterne now stands. The Roman town near Southampton was called Clausentum. The streets were laid out in a grid pattern and they were graveled. All the buildings in the Roman town were, at first,… Continue reading A History of Southampton
A History of Southport
By Tim Lambert Early Southport Southport is a seaside resort in Merseyside. Southport grew up from the end of the 18th century. At that time staying by the sea and bathing in seawater became fashionable among the rich and famous and several seaside towns were founded. Southport was founded in 1792 when an innkeeper named… Continue reading A History of Southport
A History of Southwick, Hampshire
By Tim Lambert Early Southwick The village of Southwick was founded by the Saxons. Southwick means a south dairy farm. At some point, the farm grew into a small village. However, Southwick is not mentioned in the Domesday Book. Perhaps it was too small to merit a mention. The village was first mentioned in the… Continue reading A History of Southwick, Hampshire
A History of St Albans
By Tim Lambert Roman St Albans The history of St Albans began about 20 BC when the local Celtic tribe built their capital there. It would have been a ‘town’ of wooden huts with thatched roofs surrounded by a ditch and an earth rampart with a wooden palisade. In 43 AD the Romans invaded Britain.… Continue reading A History of St Albans
A History of St Austell
By Tim Lambert Early Austell St Austell takes its name from the Cornish Saint Austol. It is not mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086). It first appeared in writing in the mid-12th century. In the Middle Ages, St Austell was a very small market town. It probably had a population of only a few hundred.… Continue reading A History of St Austell
A History of St Helens
By Tim Lambert Early St Helens St Helens takes its name from a chapel, which was first mentioned in 1552. It was built where the road from Ormskirk to Warrington crossed the road from Prescot to Ashton. At that time the area that is now St Helens was divided into 4 townships. They were Eccleston,… Continue reading A History of St Helens
A History of Stafford
By Tim Lambert Saxon and Medieval Stafford In 913 the king’s sister, Ethelfleda, created a fortified settlement at Stafford called a burh. It was probably protected by a ditch and an earth rampart with a wooden stockade on top. (Later it was replaced by stone walls). In the event of a Danish attack, all the… Continue reading A History of Stafford
A History of Stamford
By Tim Lambert Early Stamford In the 9th century, the Danes captured eastern England. They built a fortified settlement or burh north of the River Welland. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (a sort of national diary) says that in 918 the Saxon King Edward built a burh south of the river and the people loyal to the… Continue reading A History of Stamford
A History of Stevenage
By Tim Lambert Early Stevenage Stevenage began as a Saxon village in 7th Century Hertfordshire. It was called Stith ac, which means strong oak. In those days trees were used as meeting places and perhaps one large oak used in that way gave Stevenage its name. At any rate by the time of the Domesday… Continue reading A History of Stevenage