Tyne and Wear HER(11556): Walbottle, village green - Details
11556
Newcastle
Walbottle, village green
Walbottle
NZ16NE
Gardens Parks and Urban Spaces
Village Green
Village Green
MEDIEVAL
Medieval 1066 to 1540
Structure
Wild (2004) suggests that the characteristic green villages of Northumberland date back to the reconstruction of settlement in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest and the 'harrying of the north'. The greens originally had a defensive function to protect livestock against Scottish raiders. The wide open space in the centre of the village could also be used for fairs, markets, for grazing animals and a meeting space (Rowley and Wood, 2000, 41). Dwellings were often built around the green, with a common forge, bakehouse, pinfold, smithy, alehouse, stocks, spring or pond (HER 11561) on the green itself (Roberts 1977, 146). In the 19th century Walbottle green had a pond, stone pant and a horse trough.
416990
566290
NZ416990566290
T. Wild, 2004, Village England - a social history of the countryside, p 13; T. Rowley and J. Wood, 2000, Deserted Villages (third edition), p. 41; B.K. Roberts, 1977, Rural Settlement in Britain, p. 146; B.K. Roberts, 1987, The making of the English village - a study in historical geography, p. 151; G. Walton and A. Watson, 1992, Bygone Walbottle