Measham/Donisthope Enclave

• Introduction
• Hypothesis
• Settlements
• Boundaries
• Documentary Evidence
• Leicestershire Survey
• Place-name Survey
• Other Significant Features
• The Measham/Donisthorpe Enclave Hypothesis - Is It Valid ?

Introduction

Hypothesis

...that this collection of settlements between Measham and Donisthope represent a much earlier land estate - possibly pre-English in origin....

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Settlements

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Boundaries

The eastern boundary of the enclave is formed by the main road from Ashby de la Zouch towards Measham.  At the top of a small hill known locally as ‘5 lanes end…’[1]  it continues along a local lane known as Gallows Lane.  At the top of another small hill - probably known as ‘..Thring Hill..’[2] the boundary turns towards the Gilwhiskaw.  The boundary then follows the Gilwhiskaw until it’s conference with the River Mease.   The boundary then follows the River Mease until it meets the parish boundary of Stretton en le Field.  The boundary then follows the parish boundary towards Appleby Magna.   It cross the main Tamworth road at a point near to Little Wigston.  Between here and were it meets the Salt Street near to No Man’s Heath it is unclear as to what is the boundary[3].  The current parish boundary uses the Tamworth Road, however, earlier maps have shown the boundary offset towards the south east by one field.  Either way at No Man’s Heath the boundary turns north west and follows the Salt Street.  It then turns north along a bridle way and finally meets the River Mease again near to Chilcote. 

The boundary then follows the River Mease northwards until it’s conference with the Hooborough Brook.   It then follows the Hooborough brook until a point north of Donisthorpe.   It then cuts across country until meeting again with the main road from Ashby de la Zouch at Willesley.  This last stretch is not marked by any physical or human boundary mark.   Indeed, the boundary to the north west of Willesley is only a presumed one as the settlement of Willesley has been subsumed into the Ashby Woulds parish.

The interesting thing about the above description is that much of the boundary uses natural features to act as a boundary i.e.

• The hill ridge from Thring hill to the Gilwhiskaw;

• The Gilwhiskaw and River Mease;

• The stream that forms the boundary between Appleby and Stretton runs through a shallow hollow;

• The River Mease and Hooborough Brook between Chilcote and Donisthorpe.

These features perhaps reinforce the hypothesis  and they certainly do not argue against it as many of the surviving charters from the Anglo Saxon era use such features as boundaries[4].

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Documentary Evidence

Pre Domesday Book

There are mentions of individual settlements in the pre Doomsday documentary.  However, there is no mention of the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave as is described in the Doomsday book.

Domesday Book.

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Leicestershire Survey

This somewhat confuses the issue as a number of the settlements in the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave are listed as being part of the Seal Hundred.  These are Stretton en le Field, Donisthorpe, and Oakthorpe[1].

Clearly, the doomsday book gives a rather confused picture of which shire the enclave belongs to.  However, all the major settlements are in the same county folio, Derbyshire,  and so the Doomsday book entries are consistent with hypothesis  of the existence of the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave.  The Leicestershire Survey confuses the matter; this has to be contrasted with the fact that up until the turn of the century the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave was part of Derbyshire.  As thing’s stand it would seem that the documentary evidence does not exist to disprove the hypothesis .

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Place-name Survey

When trying to understand the meaning of place-names it is very important to remember Dr Gelling’s warning about simplistic interpretations[1].   With this in mind I will stick strictly with standard works[2] and not place my own interpretation on to place-names.

Pre Danish Place-names

The following Settlements have names which do not appear to have any Danish Influence.

At least two settlements, Measham and Stretton might suggest a Roman or Roman-British connection[4].

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Possible Danish Place-names

The standard interpretation of a place-name containing thorpe is ‘..In origin the Danelaw thorps were evidently as a rule outlying, dependent farms belonging to a village…’ [1].  However, this is somewhat contested by Dr Gelling, who highlights the fact that place-names with thorpe occur well outside the Danelaw lands and that many instances ‘thorp’ may be a modification of the Old English word ‘throp’[2].  If Donisthorpe and Oakthorpe are Danish names then it is unclear which village they are outlying from.

This leaves a rather confusing picture for the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave as it would have been better for the names to fit neatly into a pre Danish group.  However, there is sufficient doubt about the ‘thorpe’ element in a place-name to suggest that it may not be a serious problem for the hypothesis  and in fact they might all be pre Danish.

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When surrounding place-names are analysed an interesting pattern evolves. It would seem that the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave is surrounded by place-names which have or might have Danish or Scandinavian connections.

By Settlements

This is one of the clearest signs of Danish influence on a place-name[1].  The Measham/Donisthorpe enclave is surrounded by such settlements to the north and south east i.e. Ashby, Smisby, Kilwardby, Blackfordby, Appleby.

Other Possible Scandinavian Settlement Names

 It is always very difficult to identify such other Scandinavian names.  However, it would seem that there are number which might fit this description i.e. Packington, Normanton[2].

Shell Brook

The Shell Brook rises from springs to the north west of Blackfordby and runs between Blackfordby, Smisby, Kilwardby and Ashby.  It then flows into Willesley Lake.  When it leaves this lake it’s name changes to the Saltersford Brook.  At this stage it is unclear if there is any significance from the name change which  takes place when the brook enters the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave.  It should be noted, however, that a similar name change takes place with the River Wreake[3] as it enters a predominantly Danish area of east Leicestershire.  Before this  it is known by as the River Eye[4].  This name change has been seen a s significant in that it reflect different land occupation.

It is difficult to draw any clear conclusions from such evidence other than to say it would seem to indicate that there was little Danish or Scandinavian influence within the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave.  This, of course, must be contrasted with the Donisthorpe and Oakthorpe problem.  However, this conclusion fits well with that put forward by Cameron[5]  that many Danish names reflect an in filling of less attractive agricultural land.  If this is the case then much of west Leicestershire may have been under populated before the later parts of the ninth century.

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Other Significant Features

The only other feature which should be discussed is that of the Danelaw boundary.   The south west boundary of the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave forms part of the commonly held line of the Danelaw boundary.  This boundary split Mercia between English and Danish parts after the Danish  settlements of the late ninth century.  Because of the significance of the Danelaw it would seem to add credence to this part of the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave  boundary.  Why should the Danelaw boundary create an artificial boundary at this point when it seems to use existing boundaries for the rest of it’s length[1].

Equally, with many of the boundaries using physical features this would seem to complement the hypothesis for the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave. If it is accepted that the Danelaw boundary forms the south west corner of the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave then this might also suggest that the enclave certainly goes back to the late part of ninth century.

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The Measham/Donisthorpe Enclave Hypothesis - Is It Valid ?

The object of this paper was to try and establish the hypothesis and then examine the evidence available to try and see if there is any convincing reason as to why it should not be pursued.  I feel that from the items examined above there is little reason not to pursue  the hypothesis . 

We know that by 1086 the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave was part of Derbyshire and by the fact that the Danelaw boundary forms the south west corner it might have existed earlier still.  It would seem that the place-names within the enclave are predominantly pre Danish with a suggestions some might be  pre English.  There is emerging evidence that there was significant Roman activity in the area[1].  It is also believed that many of the current boundaries in fact reflect very ancient boundaries[2] and this is certainly the case of many of the county boundaries which existed up until 1973.

Given all these points it is fair to assume that the hypothesis  is not an incorrect one to pursue. However this does not mean that the hypothesis  is correct and more evidence needs to be gathered