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The Village of Alrewas has a long and fascinating history. Here are a few snippets taken from The History of Alrewas written in 1987 by Norman Stubbs. Early history of the area It is difficult to consider the history of Alrewas Manor in isolation and it may be necessary at times to look beyond its boundaries and see how it was affected by outside events and influences. Alrewas had its beginnings several thousand years ago, when migrating races from Europe, following wave after wave over the centuries, penetrated the heartland up the river arteries from the North Sea. The land they settled on here was ideally suited to support them, with dense upland forests, rivers and streams, and wide river meadows, giving them a variety of food, with timber for their homes and fuel for their fires, rushes for bedding and thatch, clay for pottery and level areas of light land for grazing and growing their crops. More Fascinating History of Alrewas Along the main river banks of Trent and Tame, the last receding ice age had left river terraces of higher land, close to the river, yet safe from normal flooding, and it was on these terraces that the earliest settlers chose to live, and in many cases they are still the sites of modern villages. The primitive dwellings of these early people have long since vanished, leaving only faint burnt wood stains in the soil, but aerial survey is beginning to locate them from crop marks, filled in ditches and droveways which are undetected from the ground. It is certain that new scientific archaeology will bring to light more of these settlements, except for those which are buried beneath modern villages which occupy the original sites. Gravel workings have revealed very early sites at Hilton, Branston and Fisherwick, and we shall look later at the excavation of a typical Iron-age farm to see what it can reveal of life here 2,400 years ago. How do we know of the presence of prehistoric men here, even before such excavations are made? Cinerary urns of rough clay, containing fragments of human bones, have been found in the past at Yoxall, Oakley and Orgreave, which have been dated back to 1200 B.C. and it is almost certain other such unmarked cemeteries lie undiscovered in the district. Over the years, a large number of stone and flint tools and weapons have been found at Elford, Fisherwick, Yoxall, Barton, Fradley and Alrewas, while the writer has hand-axes, man's most primitive weapon and tool, found in the last few years at Orgreave, Wychnor, Tamworth, Croxall and a polished flint axe from Barton. It is significant to note that all these have been found very close to modern villages, which would indicate continuous occupation of the sites for several thousand years. Most burial mounds, lows or barrows, have vanished with time, only two obvious ones remaining at Elford and Croxall. In 950 A.D., three barrows are mentioned as markers in the boundaries at Branston, large enough to be considered permanent features at that time, but all have vanished. Recent aerial and ground surveys have identified the sites of at least twelve barrows in Alrewas. Some British or Celtic names have survived, mainly along the ancient track to be later taken over by the Romans, and renamed by them, as near as they could to the strange British pronunciation. Llwyd Coed of the Celts became Letocetum, the origins of Liccedfeldth or modern Lichfield. Penno cruc Penkridge while the British Rhydwaru (the dwellers by the ford) became the Ridwares of today. The names of permanent features like rivers and hills retained their ancient names from pre-historic times, Trent, Dove, Tame, Cannock and Needwood. Naturally many early names must have been lost, like the Parva Ridware of a thousand years ago, which was part of Alrewas Manor and was where the modern hamlets of Netherton and Pipe Ridware now stand. Wychnor gets its name from Hwicce, a British tribe who lived in Gloucestershire and Warwick, a group of whom must have migrated here and settled on the bank where the church is, and it is very probable that their Iron-age village was along the hill west of St. Leonard's Church. More Local History Of all the commodities carried by traders' ponies along the early British track salt was the most widely needed, and Salters' Ways threaded the country from the salt springs and mines of Cheshire and the Stafford area. One such track passed through Alrewas, coming from the north west via Kings Bromley, through Orgreave, along Overley Lane and through Alrewas to cross the ford of Trent either at Mill End or the weir, and on to Wychnor and the north east or forking south to cross the Tame Ford near the present Salters' Bridge, a continuing south-east. It is possible that the salt traders (and others) might at times be held up at the fords by flooding, and this could have been the reason why an Iron-age farm became a village, to supply the needs of the trading people. Aerial survey has shown traces of early settlements near to the ford over the Tame, on the large field called Stoney Furlong, and a possible connection along the north bank of the Tame with Fisherwick and beyond to the west. Lastly up on the high lands of Cannock Chase, stands two ancient Iron-age fortresses at Castle Ring and Stonall, which point to a tribal structure in the area, where these defense positions could act as refuges in any inter-tribal conflict. There are archaeological mysteries too in Alrewas, in the shape of strange circles, once ditches cut into the earth. One is on the bank of the Tame opposite to Mytholm in the field called Rattlejack, farmed by Mr. G. Mallaber. Here in a dry season, the circle, fifty yards across, can be clearly seen, as the crops growing there like a fairy mushroom circle, are greener and taller than the rest. Near to the Sale, on the land farmed by Mr. D. Collingwood of the Bagnalls Farm, and only occasionally traceable on the ground, are three concentric circles encompassing about five acres, and these have been clearly shown by infra-red photographs taken from the air by a Birmingham archaeological team, which came, I understand from the University. The ground covered by these strange circles includes part of three fields, and their centre is roughly at the right angled bend leading to the Sale from Daisy Lane. Mr. Collingwood was informed that similar circles had been discovered at Handsacre. No one as yet, knows what these strange circles were for, but they may have been pens for drovers of cattle to rest their animals in, or for traders to confine their ponies. They do not appear to be either farms or defensive positions, and it must not be forgotten that at that time the area was mainly covered in forest, and such fenced and ditched pens would be very necessary during a halt. The rapid opening up of sand and gravel workings along the Trent and Tame valleys, is bringing an urgency to the archaeologists to explore the threatened sites of early settlements before they are destroyed. To this end, regular aerial surveys are carried out using new scientific photography, which will reveal crop marks, drove ways, or signs of ancient soil disturbance showing signs of early farming or occupation. Such discoveries have been made at Fisherwick, Catholme, Barton Turns, Alrewas, and near the Tame south of Fradley, and four of these sights are either scheduled for sand and gravel workings, or have disappeared because of road development. The surface markings which can help to find early sites are caused by variations in the crop growth, by variations in temperature, and by the effect of low sunlight on uneven ground. The continued deep ploughing of land can eradicate many of
these traces, and, following the deepening of the rivers by the River Catchment
Board, and the resultant lessening of flooding, many farmers are ploughing up
the old permanent river meadows and pastures for arable crops, and this has
constituted an added anxiety for the archaeologist. A Local Iron-age Farm From the excavations carried out at Fisherwick, it is possible to establish how some of the earliest farmers in the area lived and worked. New techniques in archaeology involving various branches of science, have brought to light information which would have been lost only a few years ago. Aerial survey first revealed crop marks and field patterns at a point where a brook joined the Tame, and where an ancient farm had been sited along a river terrace about five feet above the present flood plain. When excavations were carried out, most of the discoveries were made at depths of less than two feet, which would mean that on similar sites, disturbed by later continuous agricultural activity or later village growth, no evidence would remain of such early occupation. Such sites at Alrewas, Orgreave, Elford, Croxall and Catton, where geographical conditions are similar to those at Fisherwick, would no longer be apparent, for Fisherwick was unique in being left undisturbed pasture for many centuries. The dig revealed a farm consisting of an enclosure about sixty metres square with a gated entrance. The Romans In 43 AD the Romans decided that England was valuable enough to be added to their empire. In due course they invaded and constructed roads through the district. One of these, Rykneld Street, passes right through Alrewas. The Anglo-Saxons Around 600 AD many British farming and fishing communities in this area, including Alrewas, were taken over by the invading Angles. In 672 AD, St. Chad died at what was to become Lichfield. In 771 AD this village was written as Allerwas, and the name consists of two words, Aldr and waesse, which meant Alder marsh. The Danish Invasion In the early 800s Christianity had become firmly established, and in 822 AD Bishop Aethelwald instituted prebends at Freeford, Weeford, Longdon, Colwich and Alrewas. Later in the century bands of Danish and Vikings raiders had begun to plunder the coasts. In 874 AD a large Danish army reached Repton. Eventually, the Danish invasions came to an end, but we can still find traces of their presence here. Down the valley from Burton to Alrewas the river meadows and islands still retain the Danish name for island which is holm. Extract from alrewasnews.com
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