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Taynton & boundaries map of 1840 - this is a 250Kb file & will take 2-3 minutes to load
Taynton’s
roots can be traced back over 10000 years, Mesolithic and Neolithic
flint tools including arrowheads and a flint axe have been found during
the past few years. A
Bronze Age knife/dagger has also been found – the only one so far
known from the Forest of Dean area. During Roman times iron was made
here, slag from their smelting operations can still be seen in the
ploughsoil. A scattered
hoard of 158 coins mostly of the Emperor Constantine I - AD 309 to AD
317 was unearthed in 1999.
The
village has been called Tatinton, Tetinton,Thetington, Tepingston,
Teinona, Teignton and Taynton, since it was established a thousand years
ago. Whatever the spelling, this was Taeta’s Tun – a number of small
settlements made by his family. Taeta was a Saxon possibly one of the
Hwicca tribe, but we cannot tell exactly when or how he arrived here.
The settlement prospered and by the time of Edward the Confessor the tun had become two manors - Tatinton held by Ulgar and Tetinton held by Alwin, who was sheriff of the new shire of Gloucester, which had been carved out of the Saxon Kingdom of Mercia. The Danish King, Canute, gained control of this on the death of King Edmund.
The Norman conquest disturbed the Saxon land-owners considerably. At the time of Domesday, we find that William I had given presumably for military services rendered at the Conquest - the manor of Tatinton, which had belonged to Ulgar, to William son of Norman, and this became Little Taynton, now known as Kent's Green. The name of this owner from almost a thousand years ago is still perpetuated in Norman's Farm and Norman's Wood. The eight manors which had belonged to Alwin were given to William Goizenboded, but Alwin was allowed to keep one for his life time. This was Great Taynton.
For the ordinary people, life probably changed very little. There was a certain amount of class distinction; no freemen are recorded in Domesday, but there were villeins - tenants
farming about 30 acres and tied to the land. They owed the lord of the manor services. There were bordars who owed him more menial labouring services, and there were bondmen - slaves. The name Bond, signifying descent from one of these slaves, recurs for several centuries in the Parish Registers.
Land was worked for subsistence not for profit, and the work was communal. The new Norman lords tended to keep some land round their houses for their private use - their "demesne". But the rest was worked on the three field system - two "fields" for crops, mainly wheat and barley, and one lying fallow, in rotation. Each man had strips scattered in each of the fields, ensuring that each had some of the best and some of the poorest land. Heavy teams of eight oxen were needed to plough these strips.
Some cattle, sheep and pigs grazed on the common land and in the woods, and poultry picked about the houses. At "Lammas" time the cattle were turned on the harvested fields to manure them.
There were changes, of course. The ordinary folk lived in their squalid wooden houses, while the Normans began to build their houses of stone, still keeping moats around them. Often they built a stone church on their demesne, and the earthworks on the site of Taynton old church strongly suggest this type of Norman settlement. The Saxons looked after the cattle, sheep and pigs, while the Normans, who could afford to eat them, called them beef, mutton and pork.
The parish of Taynton was now delineated. It was a large one stretching from Oakley and Byfords to Kent's Green in Little Taynton, and from Monk's Spout near the Glasshouse Inn to Yartleton Lane.
In succeeding centuries, while it may not have been at the centre of great social and political events, it was touched, and at time, shaken by them.
Ancient artefacts discovered in Taynton and surrounding villages are on display in Newent Market House from May 26th - September 30th. Open between 2.00pm - 4.30pm every day. Admission free.
In 1929 Mr J. Plowman and his 16 year old daughter Elsie of Cold Croft Farm entered a national competition to find the best walnut in Britain. On their farm in a paddock called Springfield was a walnut tree that produced good nuts. Elsie entered these nuts in a competition organised by The East Malling Research Station and The Daily Mail. There were over 700 entries and the winner was the Plowman’s walnut which was chosen for its high oil content and good keeping qualities. The tree was then named by Elsie as the “Excelsior of Taynton”. The prize was a silver cup embossed with a walnut motif.
Over the years interest waned and the tree died as did tragically Mr Plowman in a house fire and the cup was also believed to have been lost. Recently a walnut tree was discovered that had been grafted from the original Taynton Excelsior tree. Three grafts were taken by Nick Donne a nurseryman of Tenbury Wells and he kindly donated one to the village. On March 16th 2002 at a special ceremony the Taynton Excelsior was returned to Coldcroft Farm and planted by Elsie then in her 90th year.
In the 17th and 18th centuries nearly every farm in Taynton had its fruit orchards and cider mill. The fruit that stood out above all the others was the Taynton Squash Perry Pear. The drink produced was sold far and wide and the Taynton Squash Perry was considered to be ‘equal to Champagne’. In a book written at that time the writer says: “I have known Mr Holder of Tainton sell a hogshead of golden pippen cyder for twenty four shilling a dozen, and the high prices which Tainton Squash bring at the mill are too well ascertained to require mentioning”
Whilst some farmers made perry for their own consumption John Holder of Taynton House set up a large commercial enterprise making cider and perry and selling it as far as Bristol. In 1695 he built a “mill house” 200 ft X 20ft with a large vaulted storage cellar beneath - one of the fruit presses can still be seen there.
Taynton soil was found to be very suitable for fruit growing. J. Evelyn in 1670 wrote: “About Taynton, five miles beyond Gloucester, is a mixed sort of land, partly Clay, a Marle and Crash, as they call it there; on all which Sorts of Land there is much fruit growing, both for the Table and for Cider; But it is the Pears it most abounds in, of which the best Sort is that they name the Squash-Pear, which makes the best Perry in those parts. These trees grow to be very large and exceedingly fruitful …..”
The Taynton Squash pear tree became almost extinct but in 1994 a sapling was found and planted on Hownhall Green by the then village’s oldest resident Miss Olive Davis. In 2001 the tree bore it’s first meaningful crop of fruit and this has been made into perry. Later in 2002 the village will hold a special occasion when pure Taynton Squash Perry will be drunk again after nearly 300 years.