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The mystery of Plym and the mistakes of the past have long intrigued historians. At the heart of Devon's history lies Iscac, an ancient settlement renowned for its importance and intriguing structure. The names of waters such as Laira and Hoe evoke tales of centuries gone by, connecting us to the land's rich heritage. Delving deeper, one cannot overlook the fascinating presence of Saxon history, which has left an indelible mark on Devon's cultural tapestry. From the boundaries that have shaped the region to the domain of Glastonbury in Somerset, the historical significance of Devon is unparalleled.


The allure of Devon's history beckons historians to uncover its hidden stories. Exploring the depths of Iscac and its influence on the past reveals not only the mistakes made but also the lessons learned. The names of waters like Laira and Hoe paint a vivid picture of the region's historical importance, complementing the intriguing tales of Saxon history that enrich our understanding of Devon's cultural roots. As we venture into the boundaries that have shaped this land, the connection to the domain of Glastonbury in Somerset becomes clearer, intertwining the histories of these two significant regions. Devon's history awaits, inviting historians to uncover its captivating past.


BOUNDARY OF UPLYME
possess for a study of the agrarian history and historical geography of pre-conquest England, and it is therefore essential to locate accurately the estates to which they refer. 

This exercise often requires a close examination of boundary clauses. For example, an estate om Homme, the subject of a charter of 847, was tentatively located by Birch in Dorset; forty years ago,. Rose-Troup correctly suggested that this estate lay in the South Hams o f Devon, but claimed that it covered most o f the country between Dart and Plym ; and not until 1969 did Professor H.P.R.Finberg, after a more critical examination of the charter’s boundary clause, show that the land was in fact centred on Kingsbridge to the west of the Dart .

The Uplyme charter is another case in point. Secondly, the existence o f a record describing a later perambulation is of the greatest assistance in elucidating the boundary clause of a Saxon charter. As far as is known, this paper is the first to use such a document in order to discover the location o f a Saxon estate,12 but it is clear that a similar approach could be more widely adopted, with rewarding results.
Descriptions o f perambulations can be found among both manorial and parish records.

Absolutely — the parish church of St Peter and St Paul, Uplymehas a fascinating story that stretches back many centuries. Here’s a sketch of its history:

🏰 Early Origins

  • The church is thought to have been founded as early as the 9th century, when Uplyme was first recorded as a manor gifted to Glastonbury Abbey .
  • The 14th-century tower is the oldest surviving part of the present structure .

⛪ Medieval & Tudor Period

  • Much of the main body of the church — nave and chancel — dates from the 14th and 15th centuries2.
  • The dedication to St Peter and St Paul was a favourite of King Ine in Anglo-Saxon times, and the church sits prominently on a knoll overlooking the village 3.
  • Graffiti on the bells from 1595 includes an anchor and a bishop’s mitre, showing the long continuity of parish life 3.

🕰️ 17th–19th Century

  • Inside, there are 17th-century brasse sin the chancel, and a Jacobean pulpit dated 1616— the same year Shakespeare died 4.
  • The church clock was added in 1846, and the east window commemorates Ann Ethelston (d. 1854), whose husband, the Revd. Charles Ethelston, was rector for 31 years 4. He also built the village school in her memory.

🛠️ Victorian Restoration

  • In 1876, the church underwent a major restoration, typical of the Victorian era’s enthusiasm for “renewing” medieval churches 2.
  • The nave and chancel wagon roofs were repainted with gold stars, giving the interior a striking celestial feel 4.

🌳 Churchyard & Legacy

  • The churchyard is especially beautiful and was even voted one of the 12 best-kept churchyards in Englandin 2004 4.
  • A venerable yew tree, estimated to be at least 1,000 years old, still stands there 4.

So when Revd. Thomas Tothill (1718–)became vicar in the mid-18th century, he would have served in a building that already carried centuries of history — with its medieval tower, Tudor pulpit, and a living yew tree that had been rooted there since before the Norman Conquest.

Would you like me to trace what the church would have looked like in Tothill’s own time (1740s–1760s), before the Victorian restoration changed its appearance?

Uplyme parish church is part of the Diocese of Exeter

Patrons: Hyndman Trustees and Church Pastoral Aid Society (jointly)

The Churchyard

The Uplyme churchyard is exceptionally beautiful. In 2004, Uplyme Churchyard was voted one of the 12 Best Kept Churchyards in England, and that was out of more than 400 competitors. If you haven’t visited the churchyard, do pay a visit. It is an enchanting place.

So who is buried in the churchyard? The most popular name is Harris with 24 in the Churchyard and Cemetery. Runner-up is Collier with 15 entries, hotly followed by Fowler (14); then we have Newberry (12), and then both of these with 11: Matthews and Irish; there are 10 Adams, Sansom, Bowditch, Smith and Gay. After that Brown comes in with 8, Allen & Furzey with 7, Benett with 5, and the also rans with 4 are Back, Baker and Bastin.

Incidentally, did you know that all English surnames were settled before 1400? After that year there are no new surnames. There are four different types of surnames:

  • Professions– Smith, Taylor, Butcher, Baker, etc.. In the 14th Century, the tailor made shoes and this is why we do not have the surname Shoemaker (unlike the Germans).
  • Son of your father– Matthews is the son of Matthew, Richards is the son of Richard (Hickson is also the son of Richard, but some English have always had difficulty pronouncing their letter Rs )
  • Location– Green, Hill, Church, Lake, etc.
  • Characteristic– Small, Irish, Large, White, etc.

Register of Graves

The Register of Graves was last updated in 2006.

There are approximately 1415 entries in the book, comprising the names of those in 586 graves in the churchyard and 629 in the cemetery.

There are also 200 recorded cremations with 86 cremation slabs.

Eleven people are buried in the church.

We keep a book in the Church which records all the names of those buried in either the churchyard or the cemetery and those who have been cremated.

Bells

According to Dove’s Guide for Church Bell Ringers, Uplyme tower has 6 bells, with a tenor of 9-2-6 tuned to the key of G.

The Church

The church of St Peter and St Paul is a mediaeval building heavily restored in 1876. Our venerable yew tree is at least 1,000 years old. Inside, the handsome wagon roof of the Nave and Chancel are painted with gold stars.

On the right from the entrance there is a fine stained glass window of the resurrection dedicated to the memory of Wilfred Parke, a very early aviator, who was killed in 1912 ‘by the fall of his aeroplane’ (the word “crash” had not yet been invented).

Beyond the window is the Jacobean pulpit, which has 1616 (its date) scratched on. This is the year Shakespeare died.

In the chancel are two interesting brasses dating from the 17thcentury.

The east window commemorates Ann Ethelston, who died in 1854, wife of Revd. Charles Ethelston. He was the Rector here for 31 years and, in her memory, built the church school next to the church called ‘Mrs Ethelston’s School’.

The reredos behind the alter contain effigies of Christ in Majesty in the centre, with St Peter and St Paul, our patron saints, on either side. An octagonal Saxon Font stands in the corner.

Back in the nave on the north wall is a tablet to the Revd. James Stuart who was Chaplain to the King’s Rangers in South Carolina (The king was George III) at the time of the American War of Independence.

The latest window to be installed is in the north aisle facing the door and depicts two incidents in the lives of St. Peter and St. Paul.

The last column has some interesting graffiti on it. John Jones scratched his name here in 1601

In the 14thcentury the tower above, which hangs six bells, are two boards with the names of the 50 Rectors of Uplyme since 1259.

The building has recently been developed to give a flexible space for different styles of worship and the children from Mrs Ethelston’s School are able to gather and use the space for their assemblies, drama and worship. The Victorian pews have been re-homed within the local community. The bell tower floor has been re-instated, where it once was, creating more space for our growing congregations.

A complete rewiring and new lighting have been put in, replacing the condemned mixture of wiring and outdated light fixtures, which enhance the beauty of the old stone walls and the wagon roof with its golden stars.

Uplyme Church is a warm, friendly place where you are very welcome to attend any of our many different worships.

A history of Uplyme Church booklet is available at Uplyme Church for £2. This contains a fascinating, detailed history of the church with beautiful photographs.

Jack Thomas

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The Boundary of Uplyme

                          King Athelstan granted six hides of land at Lym to his namesake the Ealdorman Athelstan, and added to the charter recording his gift a clause which describes in detail the boundary of the estate. At some time later in life the Ealdorman became a monk at Glastonbury, and gave the estate at Lym to the abbey. Domesday Book records that Glastonbury Abbey possessed two manors called Lym or Lim, one of which can be identified as Lyme Regis in Dorset, the other as the neighbouring manor of Uplyme across the county boundary in Devon.

King Athelstan’s charter was first printed in full by W G Birch in the late 19th century Birch took the six hides at Lym to be Lyme Regis, and subsequent authorities have followed his interpretation Moreove, an attempt has recently been made to fit the boundary points of the charter to the topography of Lyme Regis parish. The discovery of an early 16th-century description of the boundary of Uplyme, part of a survey of the manor made for Glastonbury Abbey in 1516, shows beyond doubt that the Lym of the Saxon charter must be identified as Uplyme and not as Lyme Regis: almost all the points in the boundary clause of the charter recur in the document of 1516.  The purpose of this paper is to print the boundary description of 1516 together with the boundary clause of the Saxon charter for comparison, and to lotate the points mentioned in each document. Before printing the texts, two general observations can be made. Firstly, any historian attempting to interpret or to criticize a Saxon charter ‘will remain blindfold until it is known where exactly the land lay’. Saxon charters with boundary clauses are among the earliest and most important documents we Notes (numbered a onwards) are collected at the end o f the article.


 BOUNDARY OF UPLYME
possess for a study of the agrarian history and historical geography of pre-Gonquest England, and it is therefore essential to locate accurately the estates to which they refer. This exercise often requires a close examination of boundary clauses. For example, an estate om Homme, the subject of a charter of 847, was tentatively located by Birch in Dorset; forty years ago,. Rose-Troup correctly suggested that this estate lay in theSouth Hams o f Devon, but claimed that it covered most o f the country between Dart and Plym ; and not until 1969 did Professor H.P.R.Finberg, after a more critical examination of the charter’s boundary clause, show that the land was in fact centred on Kingsbridge to the west of the Dart.The Uplyme charter is another case in point. Secondly, the existence o f a record describing a later perambulation is of the greatest assistance in elucidating the boundary clause of a Saxon charter. As far as is known, this paper is the first to use such a document in order to discover the location o f a Saxon estate,12 but it is clear that a similar approach could be more widely adopted, with rewarding results.
Descriptions o f perambulations can be found among both manorial and parish records.


John Norden considered that one o f the duties o f the surveyor o f a manor was to perambulate its boundary, and descriptions of such perambulations were sometimes entered into manorial survey books like the 1516 survey o f Uplyme . They might also be entered into the records of the manorial court. For example, two surveys of the manor of Kenton, one made in 1598 and the other in about 1705, begin with a boundary description; while a memorandum concerning part of the boundary was copied into the court book in 1626.

Parochial boundaries were traditionally perambulated each year on Rogation Day, but more emphasis was placed on memory than on written records in the perpetuation of knowledge about parish limits . Sometimes , however , a record was made for preservation among the parish documents.  Thus, in 1613, the Bishop o f Exeter instructed Devon incumbents to make and return to him a record o f the boundaries of their parishes. Many o f these documents have survived, and some describe the boundaries in great detail— the returns relating to Blackawton , Bradninch , where the perambulation took three days to complete ; Colaton Raleigh, Cotleigh and Dean Prior for example.
BOUNDARY OF UPLYME

The Boundary in 938
The original of K in g Athelstan’s charter has not survived. It must have passed with the manor of Uplym e into the hands of Glastonbury Abbey, for it was copied into two of the abbey’s cartularies compiled in the second quarter of the 14th century. One of these cartularies, from which Birch printed the text of the charter, is now in the Bodleian Library;  the other is at Longleat House and has been edited by Dom A . Watkin for the Somerset Record Society. The following text of the Uplyme charter’s boundary clause is taken from Watkin’s transcription.
Istis terminibus predicta terra circumgirata esse videtur. Erest of se in Sigilmere (1)  thanen upon clif   (11) of clive on Faragoren (111) thanen on herepath (iv) on Syrdeheved (v) thanen on Mappillecnap (vi) o f Huneforde (vn) thanen on the sour apildure

(vm) of the Waynlete  (ix) thanen on enlipe sexeberghes (x) on herepath (xi) forth on herepath forth bi than combesheved ( x ii) to than rede wey  (xm) thanen on Lullisburghe (xiv) to Crowanstaple (xv) of than staple to Daliesberghe (xvi) on Monnisclive

(xvn) thanen to Estbroke (xvm) on doune on strem on Saltforde (xix) o f Saltforde on tha Sweluende (xx) thanen on Lym (xxi) o f Lym up on the hasil (xxn) of than hasil on Somersete (xxm) of Somersete on Werboldiston  (xxiv) thanen up to than Weygate (xxv) on Wythilake (xxvi) eft out on se (xxvn).
T h e B o u n d a r y in 1516
In the second decade o f the 16th century, Glastonbury Abbey caused a great survey of its estates to be made. Officials were sent to each of the abbey’s manors to compile a field by field description, or terrier, of all the holdings. They were also charged with perambulating the boundary of each manor and making a record of the perambulation. The results of this activity are preserved in a series o f volumes, each of which contains the surveys of a number of manors.21 Some of the
surveys are incomplete, giving the terriers in full, but leaving blank pages on to which it was intended to copy the boundary descriptions. Fortunately Uplyme is one o f the manors for which the boundary description was copied into the survey volumeThe description makes reference to contemporary landowners (Lady Harrington and the Abbot o f Newenham for example) and to several minor features not recorded in the Saxon charter, such as the ‘thorn tree at Holcombehed’ and ‘a
certain ash called Langshere ayssK.

This confirms that it was the result of an actual perambulation made at Uplyme in 1516. It also contains almost all the points mentioned in the Saxon charter, even such transient features as a hazel tree; and it still refers, archaically, to the here path of the earlier document. It seems likely, therefore, that those who perambulated the boundary in 1516 had available for their guidance some older document setting out the boundary of the manor.

We know that part o f the boundary was perambulated in about 1275, and that another perambulation was made in 1324


The surveyors o f 1516 m ay well have had access to records concerning these earlier perambulations, or, possibly, to a copy of the charter o f 938.


The description of 1516 runs as follows:


Precinctus manerii ibidem
Incipiendo in orientali parte domi ibidem apud la Glyffe maris existentem in australi parte de Segimere  & sic per dictum Cliffe directe per litus maris usque occidentem usque Merkehegge iuxta terram Domine de Dunfrefelde modo domine Aryngdon  & deinde borialiter per sepem predictam ultra montem usque Brodepathe  inde directe borialiter usque Brodestrete alias brodewaie  & deinde per viam predictam occidentaliter usque harepathe  & exinde borialiter usque M apulknappe qui est bunda inter
terram Domini de Newnham et terram Domini de Uplyme
(6) & deinde borialiter usque Soureappuldore

& deinceps
borialiter usque holcombelane (8) & sic directe borialiter
usque la thorne apud holcombehed (9) & deinde usque
Monkesdyche (10) et sic per ffosatum predictum usque la
northende eiusdem fossati Wocombehedde (11) & sic directe
borialiter usque sex puteos (12) & exinde borialiter usque le
pytte apud Byttecombecombeshed (13) & deinde Northe &
Northeest usque Redeweye apud Broroshete (14) & abinde
orientaliter usque Lullesburowhe modo inclusum per Abbatem de Nwynehame iuxta ffurshyldowne  & deinde
orientaliter usque le Burches (16) & sic directe orientaliter
usque Crowstabull (17) & abinde ad orientem australi ter
usque Dallesborgohe (18) & exinde australi ter & orientaliter
usque Monescleffe (19) & abinde australiter usque Estbrowke (20) & deinde directe australiter per cursum aque
usque Salteford alias dictum W arlackeford (21) & abinde
australiter usque Swalomedesende (22) & exinde australiter
usque le W hytw ythy (23) & sic directe usque la hasell (24)
& deinde ad quandam venellam vocatam Sherelane (25) &
sic directe ad quandam fraxinum vocatam Langshereayssh
(26) & exinde per occidentalem ffinem tenementi nuper
Johannis Ghynehame (27) & deinde australiter ad quandam
sepem inter Comitatus Devonie & Dorset que extendit
versus australem usque Somersettlane (28) & abinde australiter in longum dicte venelle usque Colyfordeweie (29) & a
dicta via australiter usque warbulstone (30) & exinde
australiter usque W ythelake (31) & sic directe ad quandam
spinam apud W ythemore (32) & abinde directe australiter
usque W acheknappe (33) & exinde usque Segemere super
mare et ibidem ffiniendo ubi superius mete et bunde predicte
erant incepte (34).
Location a l Analysis
In the following section a translation is given of the boundary
descriptions o f 938 and 1516, and the points mentioned in each
are located on a map (Fig. 1). The numbers in the left-hand
margin below, and on the map, refer to the texts in the preceding two sections o f this paper. The Saxon boundary points
have been given Rom an numerals, and those o f the 1516 document have been given Arabic numerals. Most o f the points can
be located precisely, but any uncertainty about an exact location is indicated below and on Fig. 1. Grid references are best
followed on Ordnance Survey 2J2- sheet S Y 39.
The derivations o f the place-names in the Saxon charter
have already been discussed by Dr. C. H art,24 and most o f his
interpretations are used here. Translations o f place-name elements have been taken from A . H. Smith’s English place-name
elements (2 vols. Cam bridge, 1956).
The location of the points mentioned in the two documents shows that the boundary of Uplym e manor followed a course almost identical with the course of the old parish boundary of Uplyme. Today the parish contains a small area of land around
Shapwick Grange which formerly constituted a detached part of Axminster parish, and which was transferred to Uplyme in 1884. Prior to that date, the western section of the Uplyme
The boundary of Uplyme.

The Roman numerals refer to the Saxon chapter and the arable numerals to the 1516 description of parish boundary ran about half a mile to the east of its present course.25 A part from this recent alteration, the boundary of Uplyme, both manor and parish, has remained unchanged since the early 10th century.
I, First from the sea at Sigilmere;
1. Beginning on the east side o f the house there at the sea cliff being
on the south side of Segimere;
T he boundary began in the vicinity o f Devonshire Head
(3339I4)• English (O.E.) mere can mean ‘sea pool’, and
perhaps refers to the small rock-bound bay beneath the headland.
II. then up onto the cliff;
2. and thus by the said cliff directly along the coast towards the west
end o f the boundary hedge next to the land o f the lady o f Dunfre -
felde, now L ady Aryngdon;
T o 3 19910. Dunfrefelde is a corruption o f Downhumfraville, a
manor which included the farm o f Pinhay. Pinhay Farm lies
behind the coast slightly to the west o f the boundary.28 The
‘Lady Aryngdon’ o f the 1516 document was a member o f the
Harrington family.
I I I . from the cliff to Faragoren;
3. and then northwards by the aforesaid hedge, beyond the hill to
Brodepathe;
4. thence northwards straight to Brodestrete alias brodewaie;
Along the parish boundary to the A. 35 at 318916. Faragoren
probably means ‘fern-covered point o f land’, some minor topographical feature in this vicinity. Brodepathe m ay have been a
continuation o f the lane which runs eastwards to Pinhay Farm ;
Brodestrete is the A . 35 farther inland.
IV . then to the arm y p ath ;
5. and then westwards along the aforesaid w ay to the arm y p ath ;
T h e old parish boundary followed the A . 35 westwards as far
as 315915, and then struck north along a foot-path. This may
be the ‘arm y path’ (kere-path) o f both documents, although the
term was usually given to more prominent routeways.
V . to Syrdeheved-,
V I . then to Mappillecnap;
6. and thence northwards to Mapulknappe which is the bound between
the land of the lord o f Newenham and the land o f the lord of
U plym e;
O .E . sierett means ‘dry barren place’ ; O .E . heafod is commonly
4 2 BOUNDARY OF UPLYME
used in the sense ‘hill-top’. T h e ‘dry hill-top’ o f the earlier
document is p robably^ ie ridge between two combes at 316919.
O .E . cnapp also means ‘hill-top’. The ‘hill-top with the maple
tree’ must therefore be in the same vicinity. T h e ‘lord o f
Newenham ’ was the abbot o f Newenham Abbey, the owner o f
Shapwick Grange which here lies to the west o f the boundary.
V I I. from Hmeford;
V I II . then to the crab apple tree;
7. and then northwards to Soureappuldore;
T h e ‘honey ford’, or ‘H una’s ford’ is at 315922 where the
boundary crossed a small stream. The crab-apple tree m ay
have stood at 312929 where there is a sharp change in the
direction followed by the old parish boundary.
I X . from the lane jun ction ;
8. and next northwards to holcombelane;
The Holcombelane o f the later document is the path to Holcombe
Farm .which crossed the boundary at 310930. T h e Waynlete o f
the earlier document is probably derived from O .E . weg
(ge)lat, ‘junction o f roads’ ; but there is no junction here now.
X . then to enlipesexeberghes;
X I . to the arm y p ath ;
X I I . along the arm y path by the combe’s head;
9. and thus northwards straight to the thorn tree at holcombehed;
T o 305936 where the head o f the combe in which Holcombe
Farm is situated touches the parish boundary. The Saxon
document contains two additional boundary points: enlipesexeberghes, probably the ‘hill o f the solitary ash’ from O .E . anliepe,
esc, beorg; and another ‘arm y path’. T h e former refers to the
slope o f Shapwich H ill, but the latter cannot be identified. A
pronounced ditch and bank can be seen along this section o f
the boundary.
X I I I . to the red w ay;
10. and then to Monkesdyche;
11. and thus by the aforesaid ditch to the north end o f the said ditch
(at) Wocombehedde;
12. and thus northwards straight to the six pits;
13. and thence northwards to the pit at Byttecombecombeshed;
14. and then north and north-east to liedeweye at Broroshete',
T h e section ends at 316964 on the A . 373, the ‘red w ay’ o f both
documents. This place is today called Burrowshot Cross
{Broroshete in 1516); while the name R ed Cross, farther to the
east along the A. 373, perpetuates the ‘red w ay’ o f both
BOUNDARY OF UPLYME 43
perambulations. The later record is far more detailed than the
earlier for this section, perhaps because the boundary here ran
across Trinity Hill which was probably wild and devoid of
features which could be used as boundary points in the ioth
century. Today, the vegetation in this vicinity consists o f heath
and scrub, so that it is impossible to identify the Monkesdyche
and the six pits mentioned in 1516. Wocombehedde is probably
the head o f the combe now known as W oolly Goyle at 307953.
Byttecombecombeshed cannot be identified with certainty, but
may be the head o f the stream running westwards from 303959.
XIV . then to Lullisburghe\
15. and thence eastwards to Lullesburowhe, now enclosed by the abbot
o f Newenham next to ffurshyldowne; Lullisburghe is ‘Lulla’s hill’, from O .E . beorg, ‘hill’. A derivation from O .E . burh, ‘fortification’, is improbable for there are no traces o f earthworks in this vicinity. This point must be near
the hill-top at 325964. A n 18th-century estate m ap o f Axminster shows that Furzley Down, which belonged to Furzley
Farm, another grange o f Newenham A bbey, extended as far as
the U plym e parish boundary in this neighbourhood.27
XV . to Crowanstaple;

16. and then eastwards to the gallows;
17. and thus eastwards straight to Crowstabuil; The ‘crow’s post’ was probably at R ed Cross (325961). The
ffurches of the 1516 document were gallows, normally placed on
a parish boundary, as at Colaton Raleigh, Kenton and Sidbury
in Devon.28 The U plym e gallows must have stood on the
boundary to the west o f the crow’s post XVI. from the post to Daliesberghe;
18. and thence south-eastwards to Dallesborgohe;
‘D alla’s hill’ must be the present-day Penn Hill at 341955.
XVII. to Momisclive;
19. and thence south-eastwards to Monescleffe;
‘M anna’s cliff’ is almost certainly the slope below the A . 373 at
34I953- T he top o f this slope falls away sharply, and appears
cliff-like when viewed from below.
X V I I I . then to Estbroke;
20. and thence southwards to Estbrowke;
T o 338951 where the parish boundary reaches a small, and
today nameless, tributary o f the Lim,
44 BOUNDARY OF UPLYME
X I X . down stream to Salteforde;
21. and then southwards straight along the watercourse to Salteford,
otherwise called arlackeford;
T h e boundary followed the stream for about a mile and a h alf
to 333933 where there is still a ford today. A charter o f 77429
and entries in Domesday Book30 record salt working at Lym e
Regis. T h e ‘salt ford’ must be where a salt w ay inland from the
sea crossed Estbroke.
X X . from Salteforde to the whirlpool;
22. and thence southwards to Swalomedesende;
Im m ediately to the south o f 333933, between the ford and the
meeting o f Estbroke with the Lim. T he sweluende o f the earlier
document is derived from O .E . swelgend, ‘whirlpool’.
X X I. then to Lym;
23. then southwards to the white willow;
T h e Saxon boundary reached Lym (i.e. the River Lim) at 334933- T h e ‘white willow ’ of the 1516 document probably stood at this point.
X X I I . from Lym up to the hazel;
24. and thus straight to the h azel;
Probably to 333932 where the parish boundary changes
direction.
X X I I I . from the hazel to Somersete;
25. and then to a certain lane called Sherelane;
26. and thus straight to a certain ash called Langshereayssh;
27. and then by the western lim it o f the tenement lately John Chymehame’s ;
28. and thence southwards to a certain hedge between the counties of Devon and Dorset, which stretches southwards to Somersettlane; Somersete and Somersettlane are probably derived from O .E .
sumor sate, ‘summer seat’. The element -sate occurs several times in Devon in the names o f places situated on or near hills;31 and
a derivation from Old Norse satr, ‘mountain pasture’, is im ­
probable for this county. A t U plym e, the prominent hill to the
south o f the village must be implied, its summit being at
327923, very close to the parish boundary. T he lane running
over the top o f this hill is still called Shire Lane, and is so
marked on the 6-in. map. In 1516 this lane m ay have extended
down the hill to the village, being called Sherelane for the
northern part o f its course, and Somersettlane for the southern
part on the hill-top. T h e ‘ash called Langshereayssh' probably Stood at 328923 where the Jane changed direction. The name
BOUNDARY OF UPLYME 45
derives from O .E . land-scearu, ‘boundary’, a word which frequently occurs in Saxon charters from the west of England,32 and which was still being used in its original sense in 17thcentury Devon.33 As the 1516 record tells us, the manor boundary along this section followed the county boundary between Devon and Dorset.
X X I V . from Somersete to Werboldiston;
29. and thence southwards along the said lane to Colyfordeweie;
30. and from the said w ay southwards to warbulstone;
Werboldiston should probably be rendered ‘W ernbeald’s tun’
or farmstead. It is now W are House near the parish boundary
at 329919. T h e Colyfordeweie o f the later document is the A . 35
from Colyford to Lym e Regis, which the boundary crossed at
32992IX X V . then up to the cart g a p ;
X X V I . to Wythilake;
31. and thence southwards to Wythelake; Wythilake, ‘willow stream’, must be the small stream which begins near the parish boundary at 332918. The stream runs in a narrow valley which carries a small road crossed by the
parish boundary at 331918. This is probably the ‘cart gap’
(O.E. wtegn, geat) o f the Saxon document.
X X V I I . then out to sea.
32. and thence straight to a certain spinney at Wythemore;
33. and thence southwards straight to Wacheknappe;
34. and thence to Segemere upon the sea, there ending where the
aforesaid metes and bounds began, as above.
T h e Wythemore o f the later document can be translated ‘boggy
ground w ith willows’ (O .E. withig, mor); Wacheknappe means
‘look-out point’ (O.E. wacu, cntepp'). Both must have been
situated on the last section o f the boundary but cannot be
identified on the ground, perhaps because the surface here has
been greatly modified by land slipping. As the later document
tells us, the boundary ended at Segemere (333914),34 the point
at which it began.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am most grateful to Professor H.P.R . Finberg and Dr. C .Hart for helpful discussions in Cam bridge; to Mr. D . Sherlock of the Ancient Monuments Inspectorate, Ministry of Public Building and Works, for
going over the ground with me at Uplyme; and to M r. R . Blackmore, who drew the map.
46 BOUNDARY OF UPLYME
N o t e s
3. D .B . f. 77b. T he Glastonbury manor at Lyme Regis later became known as Colway: Victoria County History of Dorset, vol. 3, p. 74.
3. D .B . f. 103b.
4. W. de G . Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum (3 vols. London, 1885-93), no.
728. T he charter had been printed earlier, but without the boundary
clause, in W. Dugdale, Monastkon Anglicanum (ed. J. Caley, H . Ellis and
B. Bandinel, 6 vols. London, 1819-30), vol. 1, p. 50; and in J. M .
Kem ble, Codex diplomaticus aevi Saxonici (6 vols. London, 1839-48), no.
372­
5. H . P. R . Finberg, The early charters of Wessex (Leicester, 1964), no. 582;
P. H . Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon charters: an annotated list and bibliography
(London, 1968), no. 442.
6. C . H art, 'Some Dorset charter boundaries’, Proc. Dorset jVat. Hist, and
Arch. Soc., 86 (1965), pp. 160-1.
7. British Museum. Eg. M S. 3134. f. 216-216 v.
8. H . P. R . Finberg, ‘Some Crediton documents re-examined’, Antiquaries
Journal, 48 (1968), p. 85.
9. Cartularium saxonicum, no. 451.
10. F. Rose-Troup, ‘T he new Edgar charter and the South H am s’, Trans.
Devon. Assoc., 61 (1929), pp. 266-76.
11. H . P. R . Finberg, West country historkal studies (Newton Abbot, 1969),
pp. 11-23.
12. F. Rose-Troup compared the Saxon boundary o f O ttery St. M ary with
a boundary description made in 1612, but the location of the estate was
not in question: ‘T he Anglo-Saxon charter o f O ttery St. M ary’. Trans.
Devon. Assoc., 71 (1939), pp. 201-20.
13. The following notes relate only to post-medieval records. Descriptions of medieval perambulations also exist: for example, 14th-century boundary descriptions of the Glastonbury manors of Wrington and Lympsham (British Museum. Eg. M S. 3321. f. 155 and f. 190 v.).
14. Devon Record Office. i5o8M/Lon./estate/valuations/4; i5o8M/surveys/Kenton/6; 15o8M/Lon./manor/Kenton/2.
15. A n account of perambulations of this kind is given in pp. 28-31 of ‘A journey along boundaries’, being ch. 2 of M . W . Beresford, History on the ground: six studies in maps and landscapes (London, 1957).
16. W . E. T ate, The parish chest (Cambridge, 1969 ed.), p. 74.
17. Devon Record Office. Glebe terriers.
18. M S. Woodempt. 1.
19. M S. 39.
20. A . Watkin (ed.), The great chartulary of Glastonbury (Somerset Record Society publications, 3 vols. Frome, 1947-56), vol. 3, p. 577.
21. T h e volumes are British Museum Eg. M S. 3134 (which includes thesurvey of Uplyme); Eg. M S. 3034; H arl. M S. 3961; and Society of Antiquaries M S. 653. T hey have been described by R.Fowler, ‘The last pre-dissolution survey of Glastonbury lands’, British Museum Quarterly, 10 (1935-6), pp. 69-72.
22. A . Watkin, op. cit., p. 580.
23. British Museum. Eg. M S. 3321. f. 273 v. This is an incomplete record of the course of the boundary, part of a survey o f Uplyme made in 1324.Unfortunately, only the first section of the boundary is described,
BOUNDARY OF UPLYME 47
24. C . H art, op. cit.
25. W. H . Wilkin, ‘Axminster notes. Part I I ’, Trans. Devon. Assoc., 68 (1936) , P- 359 - On Fig.1, the old parish boundary is shown, taken from the Uplyme tithe map at the Devon Record Office.
26. Devon Record Office. 123M/E/31.
27. Devon Record Office. T . 7.
28. Devon Record Office. Glebe terriers; Devon Record Office. 1508M/Lon./estate/valuations/4; Public Record Office. E. 134/5 Jas. i/M ich. 1.
29. Cartularium Saxonicum, no. 224.
30. D .B ., f. 77b and f. 85.
3t. J. E. B. Gover, A . M awer and F. M . Stenton, The place-names of Devon (2 vols. Cambridge, 1931-2), pp. 201, 245, 329 and 529.
32. T he word and the distribution of the charters in which it occurs are fully discussed in A . S. Napier and W. H . Stevenson, The Crawford collection of early charters now in the Bodleian Library (Oxford, 1895),
33. A t Ashburton and Sidbury, for exam ple: Public Record Office. E . 134/2 Jas. i/H il. 15 and E. 134/5 Jas. i/M ich. 1.
34. There have been several recent land slips in this vicinity. It is interesting to note that coastal erosion, probably closely connected with land slipping, was recorded near here in the thirteenth century: A . Watkin, op. cit., p. 582.

Definition of medieval

The adjective medieval literally means “of the Middle Ages,” i.e., the period between antiquity (the Roman world) and the early modern era 

Common chronological range

Historians most often treat the Middle Ages as roughly the 5th century to the 15th century: from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (commonly dated 476) up to the Renaissance and early modern transitions around 1400–1500 

Standard subperiods and their usual dates

  • Early Middle Ages: about 500–1000.
  • High Middle Ages: about 1000–1300.
  • Late Middle Ages: about 1300–1500.
    These are conventional labels; exact boundaries vary by region and by the historian’s focus 

What authors usually mean when they write “medieval”

  • Broad cultural sense: the social, political, religious, and material world shaped by feudal institutions, Christendom, and post‑Roman societies in Europe between Late Antiquity and the Renaissance 
  • In specialised works an author may narrow the term (for example, “medieval urban law” might mean 1100–1400), so check the author’s period definition in introductions or captions 

Origin and first use of the word

The English term derives from Latin medium aevum “middle age.” The modern English adjective (often spelled mediaeval earlier) was coined in the 19th century from that Latin phrase; recorded modern forms date from the early 1800s (commonly cited 1825 for the form medieval/mediaeval) 

Quick guidance for reading historical scripts

When you encounter “medieval” in a text, assume 5th–15th centuries unless the author states otherwise; for precise work always look for the author’s explicit chronological scope because usages and boundary years differ by topic and region 

Bronze Age time boundaries overview

The Bronze Age is a cultural-technical phase defined by the pervasive use of bronze (an alloy of copper with tin or arsenic), alongside associated changes in technology, trade, burial practice, and social organisation. Its absolute dates vary widely by region because metallurgy and associated cultural changes spread at different times. Below are commonly used regional ranges and practical guidance for tagging or labelling gazetteer entries.

Common regional date ranges

  • Near East and Anatolia
    Early Bronze Age: c. 3300–2100 BCE; Middle Bronze Age: c. 2100–1600 BCE; Late Bronze Age: c. 1600–1200 BCE.
  • Aegean (Greece and Cyclades)
    Early Bronze Age: c. 3000–2000 BCE; Middle Bronze Age: c. 2000–1600 BCE; Late Bronze Age: c. 1600–1100 BCE.
  • Central and Western Europe
    Broad Bronze Age: c. 2300–800 BCE; subdivided (Early/Middle/Late) roughly as Early c. 2300–1500 BCE, Middle c. 1500–1200 BCE, Late c. 1200–800 BCE.
  • British Isles (including Devon and Cornwall)
    Broad Bronze Age: c. 2500–800 BCE; Early Bronze Age often starts c. 2500–2000 BCE (after Late Neolithic/Beaker horizons), Late Bronze Age ends c. 800 BCE.
  • South Asia (Indian subcontinent)
    Indus-related Bronze Age/Harappan: c. 3300–1300 BCE (mature Harappan c. 2600–1900 BCE); local Bronze-using traditions continue and overlap with early Iron use.
  • East Asia
    Bronze Age in China: roughly c. 2000–771 BCE (Xia-Shang-Zhou sequences; Shang c. 1600–1046 BCE is strongly bronze-rich).
  • The Americas and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa
    No true widespread Bronze Age phase comparable to Old World sequences; metallurgy often appears much later and in different forms.

Practical guidance for mapping and gazetteer work

  • Use region-specific ranges rather than a single global boundary.
  • For ambiguous or single-site reports, prefer relative labels: Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, or Bronze Age (broad)with a numeric range (e.g., Bronze Age c. 2500–800 BCE).
  • Where chronology is uncertain, record both: cultural label(Bronze Age) and confidence/precision(e.g., high if radiocarbon dated; low if typological only).
  • Include key local markers in metadata: metallurgy present; Beaker/urnfield/bronze-ritual features; radiocarbon dates range; typology links.
  • Allow fields for overlapping phases (e.g., “Late Neolithic / Early Bronze Age transitional”) and for caveats like reuse or later disturbance.

Why ranges differ and how to communicate that

  • Start and end dates depend on: first local alloy production; availability of tin or copper sources and trade; cultural adoption of bronze technologies; and the arrival of ironworking.
  • Use wording that communicates variability: “Bronze Age (regional: c. 2500–800 BCE)”or “Bronze Age — British Isles convention: c. 2500–800 BCE”.
  • When precision matters, attach dating evidence: radiocarbon ranges, stratigraphic context, or diagnostic artefact types.

Short recommended labels for database fields

  • Period label: Bronze Age
  • Region qualifier: e.g., British Isles
  • Numeric range: e.g., c. 2500–800 BCE
  • Subdivision: Early / Middle / Late (if known)
  • Dating confidence: High / Medium / Low
  • Dating evidence: Radiocarbon; typology; stratigraphy; historical reference


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