Bottisham Second Millennium
Page 8 of 69
Clare, (d. 1206) held some 40,000 acres of land in this region,
hence many local inns still include a white swan in their sign!
It seems unlikely that the isolated peasants of
Bottisham could have been involved with happenings of
national importance, but locally it must have been disturbing
times. The last struggle of the Saxons for independence, under
the leadership of Hereward and Morcar in the fens of Ely, was
happening a few miles to the north within sight of the heath at
Bottisham. The men of the true fens of Bottisham were
probably familiar with many of the passages, but which only
seemed confusing to the Normans. Survival depended upon
local knowledge of the islands of higher ground which were
surrounded by the wet peat and deeper waters. Did news of
such happenings as the King throwing up defences at
Cambridge, in the aftermath of his pacifying campaigns, reach
the hamlets via travellers, or was the lord of the manor
committed to providing support? We can only use our
imagination. Manors of Anglesey, Tonbridge, Allington, Vaux,
and Bendyshe were created and much information exists on the
families living then. It is impossible in this review to recount
all the known families from the extensive records.
At a time of crisis the King required an
assessment of his strengths and so, at midwinter 1085/86, a
somewhat hurried record of the King’s resources was shown in
the completion of the Domesday Book. The Little Domesday
Book, edited but retaining much information, gives some
insight into social aspects of this area. The twentieth-century
Bottisham is now administratively separate from the village of
Lode and of Longmeadow, but not so in the eleventh century.
The Domesday Book covers the area from the river, now called
The Cam, to the present Nine Mile Hill - some eight miles
north-east to south-west. By 1085 the Feudal System was