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A Brief History of Barford
Pre-historic Barford
A fascinating mix of people have lived in and around Barford from Neolithic through Roman and Anglo-Saxon times up to the present day. The area attracted Neolithic (New Stone Age) people who left traces of their lives, such as stone flint tools and pottery, in this area nearly 5000 years ago. They hunted and gathered food like their ancestors but also kept animals and grew crops.
Just outside Barford lay a 4000 year old "henge", rather like Stonehenge but without the stones, the size of four tennis courts. The Bronze Age (2500 - 700BC) saw further areas of woodland cleared and people discovered how to use an alloy of tin and copper to make tools and axes. There is evidence of a Bronze Age burial barrow at the Oldhams’ site.
About 900 BC there was a great immigration of Celtic speaking people into Britain. By the Iron Age (800 BC - 43 AD) people had developed the skills to work iron which was much tougher and more durable than bronze. There was a large well-documented Iron Age Settlement west of Half Moon Plantation, now under the M40. A splendid and well-preserved Iron Age Fort may be seen in Oakley Woods indicating considerable activity in the area.
Romano-British period - the beginning of history
Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54BC but it was not until a hundred years later that Emperor Claudius arrived and conquered. Following occasional rebellions such as that of Boudicca in 61AD, direct Roman rule was imposed and the druid religion ruthlessly eradicated. In villages such as Barford, the inhabitants would probably have continued to scratch a living much as they had done before the invasion. By the 4th century, the hold of the Romans was becoming tenuous and Britain had been largely abandoned by 410 AD.
Out of the frying pan ……
With no help forthcoming from the departed Romans, desperate Britons invited over the Saxons to assist in their fight against the Picts and Scots. However, once these had been subdued, the Saxons turned their weapons on the Britons. They eventually divided the whole country into seven kingdoms. Warwickshire lay in Mercia - a name that persisted for 300 years and which was later divided into shires or counties.
The Saxons probably formed the first recognisable community at Barford. At this time much of central Britain would have been woodland without roads or bridges. Early settlers would have soon discovered the shallow crossing or ford near today’s bridge and this gradually became recognised as a reliable crossing over which a load of barley or other grain could be carried - hence the name "Barford".
The original settlement would have occupied today’s Bridge Street, Church Street and High Street with farming beginning on the higher ground.
The Anglo-Saxon language (old English) was quite Germanic and lasted as the common language of England until the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066. The society would have had a tribal organisation with everyone sharing in the task of clearing forest and shrub land for cultivation and the produce being shared.
These early farmers worked an "open field system" with each man’s holding consisting of scattered long narrow strips of half an acre or more separated by furrows for drainage. This system lasted for almost another 750 years. It is thought that a type of crop rotation was probably practised and around Barford there are many excellent examples of this once-arable cultivated land now used as pasture.
