Bottisham Second Millennium
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obliged to fast - difficult for those already hungry. The parish
priest, often with children of his own and well versed in the
ways of poaching, was the source of secular information and
acted as the family intermediary.
Within the family the ploughman’s lot was helped in a
small way by the introduction of a heavier plough, which made
it easier to reclaim land, but rural life changed little for many
decades to come. The busiest time of the year was the late-
summer harvest. The Normans introduced horses shod and
stirruped. The gap between the many (paupers) and the few
(potentes) remained as wide as ever. Perhaps conversation was
less parochial in the hamlets if the King included Bottisham in
the customary dispersal of some of his army amongst his
vassals. With Jewish money contributing significantly to
castle and cathedral building it is surmise that there were Jews
living in the area. In later centuries there was a quarter in
Bottisham, behind ‘The Plough’ where mostly Jews lived.
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2. 1200 A.D. to 1400 A.D.
It is difficult to select the most eventful century in the
life of the second millennium in Bottisham; the closer the
inspection the more events of interest are uncovered. The
twelve and thirteen hundreds hold much of historical interest.
Apart from, perhaps the lord of the manor, this would not have
been a view shared by the land workers and artisans of the
period. The pressure on land, resulting from increased
population and an endeavour to raise the standard of living, did
little for the land workers, whose status barely changed from
slaves of the Saxons to workers for the Norman lordships. It is