Bicton, South Shropshire

Coordinates: 52°26′17″N 3°02′49″W / 52.438°N 3.047°W / 52.438; -3.047
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the hamlet near Clun. For the village near Shrewsbury, see Bicton, Shrewsbury.

Bicton
Bicton Farm
Bicton is located in Shropshire
Bicton
Bicton
Location within Shropshire
OS grid referenceSO288825
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCRAVEN ARMS
Postcode districtSY7
Dialling code01588
PoliceWest Mercia
FireShropshire
AmbulanceWest Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Shropshire
52°26′17″N 3°02′49″W / 52.438°N 3.047°W / 52.438; -3.047

Bicton (or previously sometimes Bickton)[1][2] is a hamlet in southwest Shropshire, England, one mile north of Clun. The short River Unk passes through the hamlet.[3] In previous centuries it was a township in the Clun division of the hundred of Clun.[2]

The Bicton Burial Circle is a prehistoric stone circle, located south of the settlement between the River Unk and River Clun. Two barrows are seen as circular crop marks. The cremation at the burial site is suspected to belong to the Beaker period.[4][5]

The hamlet has been in existence for centuries. Although not listed in the 1086 Domesday Book, it is mentioned in county court papers dating from 1221, in which the county ruled that

John Fitzalan I, Lord of Clun, was right to claim that Bicton belonged to his fiefdom.[6][7]

Little remains of

Norman Conquest Picot de Say was Lord of Clun, other nearby minor castles such as Hopton and Acton provided him with military service, so it is assumed that the same applied to Bicton Castle.[11]

Records show that agricultural work took place at Bicton at least in the 14th century. Its fields were among the most fertile in the

Clun Valley. They were occupied by Welsh bondsmen, unfree tenants farming open fields.[12] It was the location of a demesne sheep stint for 300 animals owned by the Fitzalans in the early 14th century.[10] In 1354 a worker was paid four bushels of rye for spreading dung for seven weeks; and there is a later account of the same activity in 1372.[13] In 1355 sixty Welshmen provided mowing services to the manor at Bicton.[14] In 1373 240 sheared sheep were sent from nearby Clunton and Kempton to the reeve of Bicton. Swapping flocks of sheep between the locations of Bicton, Newton, Kempton, and Clunton was a recurring event throughout the second half of the 14th century.[13] Bicton Farm has been farmed by the same family for centuries.[15][16] The farm has one of the four water mills on the River Unk.[17] Records from 1919 show activities of agroforestry.[18]

A 14th century court known as "hallmoot of the Welsh" is presumed to have met at times at Bicton. The unfree tenants of the Lord of Clun's demesne were tried here.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Shropshire County Council (1952). A Guide to the Shropshire Records. Shropshire C.C. Record Office.
  2. ^ a b Gazetteer, Shropshire (1824). The Shropshire Gazetteer. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Unk - source to conf R Clun". environment.data.gov.uk. Environment Agency - Catchment Data Explorer. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  4. ISBN 9780002162517
    .
  5. ISBN 9780710013873
    .
  6. ^ Domesday Book. Open Domesday Book. 1086. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  7. ISBN 978-1843833741
    .
  8. ^ "Bicton motte and bailey castle". Historic England. 9 March 2001. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  9. ^ Duckers, Peter; Duckers, Anne (2006). Castles of Shropshire. Tempus.
  10. ^ a b c Lieberman, Max (2010). The Medieval March of Wales: The Creation and Perception of a Frontier, 1066–1283. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  11. ^ Nottingham, Gary (March 2009). "The Fitz Alans, the matter of Clun & the Welsh Conquest of Whitcott (part 1)". Clun Chronicle.
  12. ISSN 0143-3032
    .
  13. ^ a b Hallam, H. E.; Thirsk, Joan (1988). The Agrarian History of England and Wales: Volume 2, 1042-1350. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  14. ^ Davies, R. R. (1978). Lordship and Society in the March of Wales, 1282-1400. Clarendon Press.
  15. ISBN 9780859560658
    .
  16. ISBN 9781857936810
    .
  17. ISBN 9780850339895
    .
  18. ^ Papers by Command, Volume 9. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. H.M. Stationery Office. 1919.

External links

External links

Media related to Bicton, Clun at Wikimedia Commons


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