I seem to bleat on about having a backlog of papers to which I only need to add a few finishing touches before they can be posted without ever finding the time to do just that and put them to bed. Well I am happy to report this ends now, and in the words of many a Blue Peter presenter, here’s one I prepared earlier…
Woking Hundred and Baxter’s Model November 2011
The above was written for the SyAS Medieval Studies Forum last winter; it has been subject to only minor amendment since then. As with so much of Surrey’s earlier medieval history, I would contend that the limited amounts of relevant evidence is as much of a help (in terms of the clarity it can lend to arguments) as a hindrance. There’s some thematic overlap with my contemplation of the “Surrey Fens” causeways, and it dovetails nicely with the paper taking a closer look at the so-called regio of Woccingas I presented to the MSF at the start of December – I’m about to start work on completing turning this into an essay for posting here. (I have also been toying with the early medieval Portable Antiquities Scheme data for the former area of Woking Hundred that might be bashed into something to add a material archaeology dimension to the aforementioned.) For the time being I hope it will counter the impression many hold that the origins of manors prior to, and even at the time of, the Domesday Survey are all but inscrutable.
Surrey Medieval 