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Most of the villages in our countryside today have their origins in the distant past.ÌýIt is also true to say that most of them will have greatly changed from their earliest days. However, some villages have remained very close to their early beginnings.ÌýOne of these is the village of Appleton-le-Moors, located about five miles NW of Pickering in North Yorkshire.Ìý

As I've shown in my book 'History of Appleton-le-Moors, A 12th Century Planned Village' (2003), the village of Appleton-le-Moors still survives today as one of the best examples in the country of a medieval planned village.

The air photo and maps clearly show the striking regularity of the plan.ÌýThe village was a single street with back gardens or garths of the same length extending to the two back lanes.ÌýThe queries about this very regular layout have always been: Was it planned? Why? When was it done? By whom? And how?

They tell us that in the 12th and 13th centuries, very regular garths of about 330 feet were being laid out and they stretched from the village street to the back lane.ÌýThey were being laid out in the case of Appleton-le-Moors, over ploughland that belonged to the local lords of the manor, the Savarys.ÌýThe process probably began during the time when Abbot Savary (1147-61) was the Abbot of St. Mary’s Abbey and established his kin in Appleton-le-Moors.

The St. Mary’s Charters also give a very detailed picture of the fields in the village.ÌýAt the same time as the planning was taking place the lost Domesday vill* of Baschebi was amalgamated with Appleton.ÌýPrior to the amalgamation Appleton had two open fields, an East field and a West field.ÌýWith the amalgamation of Baschebi, Appleton acquired a North field and so developed a three-field system.Ìý

The charters give the names of the furlongs throughout the fields.ÌýWith the help of the 19th century Tithe Award these ancient names can be traced and located.ÌýThey are names that in origin are Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian and are the legacy of the different people who settled the village in much earlier times.

Margaret Allison

(Copyright January 2007)

* According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a vill is "A territorial unit or division under the feudal system, consisting of a number of houses or buildings with their adjacent lands, more or less contiguous and having a common organization; corresponding to the Anglo-Saxon tithing and to the modern township or civil parish."