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History - Part 1

Local History

Page updated - 22 August 2008

POTTED HISTORY OF GREAT CORNARD - This series of  Potted History of Great Cornard has been submitted by Cornard News. The articles were written by Joan Herbert who researched them from a variety of local sources.

Part 1 - Palaeolithic to 1086

Since the Stone Age men and woman have lived in Great Cornard or so the evidence suggests. A Palaeolithic hand axe and a Bronze Age axe have been found at different locations in Cornard which leads to the supposition that they must have lived and hunted locally. Further on in our history the Roman occupation affected Cornard - a Roman lead coffin has been found in the vicinity of Bures Road and also Roman jewellery at another site in Cornard.

Anglo Saxon coins and jewellery have also been discovered and a field "named Danes Hole" near the Country Park is reputed to be the scene of a fierce battle between the Saxons and the Danes in the 9th Century. It is hard to imagine now in the peace of the park that the air must have filled with the sounds of swords clashing and the screams of the dying. However peace did come to Cornard and in the late Anglo Saxon period the manor of Cornard (which included the parishes of Great Cornard & Little Cornard) belonged to the mother of Earl Morcar. There were eight villagers, nine smallholders, eight slaves, three plough teams in the region, a mill, fourteen acres of meadow, woodland and a church without land.

The Domesday Survey of 1086 shows that the manor Cornard was held by the King and had increased to ten villagers, twenty-five smallholders, nine slaves and one plough team in the region, woodland for 44 pigs, 27 cattle, 130 pigs and 539 sheep. With a population of 79 this would appear to be a prosperous and thriving settlement as the Domesday Survey also mentions a number of freemen (privileged members of the community) within the manor with their own separate land holdings.

(Information from County Records Office)

Compiled by Joan Herbert – Cornard News - 21 April 2003