The Ancient History of the Village
The Dark Ages & Saxon Period AD 491 to
1066
AFTER
THE
ROMAN
forces
had
departed
Britain
was
left
completely
defenceless,
and
after
some
three
centuries
of
peace
and
security
the
native
Britons
had
no
knowledge
of
defensive
techniques,
and
fell
easy
victims
to
barbaric
invaders
and
marauders
previously
kept
at
bay
by
the
Roman
soldiers.
Consequently,
Britain
went
through
a
period
known
appropriately
as
the
Dark
Ages,
during
which
time
the
settlements,
towns
and
other
marks
of
civilisation
built
up
under
Roman
rule
were
destroyed.
The
whole
period
is
shrouded
in
the
mists
of
obscurity,
with
the
legendary
King
Arthur appearing on the scene as an uncertain national figure at some time after the Roman departure.
Whatever
upheavals
may
have
taken
place
during
the
Dark
Ages,
a
renewed
and
more
settled
civilisation
had
reappeared
by
the
year
871
when
England
had
become
unified
into
one
Kingdom
under
King
Alfred.
The
old
hill-top
settlements
and
road
systems
had
been
abandoned
in
favour
of
villages
generally
sited
in
the
valleys,
and
it
was
therefore
during
this
period
that
most
of
the
present
day
villages,
including
Bere
Regis,
were
first
established.
Such
Saxon
villages
were
usually
small,
consisting
of
little
more
than
a
manor
house,
farm,
church
and
a
few
cottages,
mostly
timber
built
and
thatched
including,
often,
the
church.
It
is
not
possible
to
say
exactly
when
Bere
Regis
was
first
established
as
a
village,
but
some
sort
of
manor
house
is
known
to
have
been
in
existence
by
the
year
978,
and
to
have
belonged
to
the
crown,
and
we
may
therefore
suppose
that
a
small
village
and
church
would
have
been
associated
with
it.
It
is
probable
that
the
Saxon
church
was
basically
a
timber
building,
but
a
part
of
it
may
have
been
stone,
and
if
the
stone
portion
was
retained
and
incorporated
as
a
north
transept
into
the
subsequent
Norman
church,
it
would
account
for the odd alignment at the east end of the nave and north aisle still apparent in the present building.
The
first
event
in
national
history
associated
with
this
parish
to
which
an
accurate
date
can
be
assigned,
is
the
murder.
or
probably
more
correctly,
the
assassination
of
King
Edward
the
Martyr
at
Corfe
Castle
on
the
18
March,
978.
The
Norman
castle
at
Corfe
had
of
course
not
then
been
constructed,
but
a
Saxon
building
of
some
sort
did
exist
on
the
site,
which
like
the
manor
at
Bere
was
crown
property.
It
was
evening,
and
the
young
King
Edward,
having
been
hunting
in
the
neighbourhood,
had
decided
to
visit
his
stepmother
Queen
Elfrida
who
was
at
the
time
staying
at
the
Corfe
house.
As
Edward
was
a
young
king,
it
seems
Elfrida,
as
queer.
mother,
was
virtually
ruler
of
the
country
and
could
use
any
crown
property as her own.
Edward
was
about
to
drink
a
cup
of
wine
he
had
been
given
before
dismounting
at
the
entrance
to
the
house,
when
he
was
stabbed
and
received
a
wound
from
which
he
soon
died,
and
it
is
said
that
he
was
dragged
by
the
stirrup
for
some
distance
when
his
horse
took
fright
and
fled.
His
body
was
for
some
time
hidden
in
a
nearby
cottage
before
being
buried
in
a
humble
grave
at
Wareham,
but
it
was
subsequently
borne
in
great
state
to
Shaftesbury Abbey where his tomb became a shrine for pilgrims.
It
is
not
known
for
certain
whether
or
not
Elfrida
was
implicated
in
the
assassination,
as
Edward
is
known
to
have
been
very
hot
tempered
at
times,
especially
towards
his
servants,
so
that
he
may
have
had
many
enemies.
However,
as
his
death
resulted
in
the
throne
coming
to
Elfrida's
own
son
Ethelred,
Edward's
half
brother,
she
was
considered
to
have
profited
by
it,
and
consequently
suspicion
fell
heavily
on
her.
Not
surprisingly,
she
sought
refuge
in
one
of
the
more
secluded
of
the
royal
houses
and
accordingly
came
to
stay
for
a
time
at
Bere.
She
is
said
to
have
eventually
become a nun, and to have lived a humble life of atonement.
This
Saxon
manor
house
would
have
almost
certainly
stood
in
what
is
now
Court
Green,
and
would
have
been
the
nucleus
from
which
developed
the
later
buildings
of
King
John,
and
the
still
later
manor
house
of
the
Turbervilles.
The
pipe
rolls
of
King
John's
reign
(1199-1216)
make
no
mention
of actually constructing his group of buildings at Bere, but refer only to alterations, additions and repairs, suggesting that they already existed.
It
is
said
to
have
been
whilst
staying
at
Bere
that
Ethelred
received
a
beating
from
his
mother
Elfrida
when
he
let
it
be
known
that
he,
too,
believed
her
guilty
of
Edward's
death.
She
used
large
wax
candles
to
administer
the
beating,
nothing
more
suitable
being
ready
to
hand,
and
the
Saxon
chronicle,
recording
the
incident,
states:
"Wherefore
Ethelred
ever
hated
wax
candles,
and
would
have
none
burnt
before
him
all
the
days
of
his
life".
It may have been considered a dark age, but it was the dawning of Bere Regis village as we know it today...
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