The extinct village of Alvington once existed near Cawston on an area that now belongs to the village. It is believed that Alvington was quite a large settlement and ceased to exist in the late Middle Ages. The social structure of Alvington was organized according to the system of feudalism which in practice meant that the village was governed by the Lord of the Manor.

It can be assumed with almost certainty that Alvington grew out of a fortified manor. The village would have consisted of a manor house, a small stone church or chapel, the village itself and probably several hundreds of acres of land divided into pasture land, woodland and cultivated fields. The fields would have then been further divided into strips; the biggest portion belonged to the Lord of the Manor, somewhat less to the church and the remainder in equal shares to the villagers, i.e. the peasants and serfs. In Medieval times the villagers did all the work on the manor farm and were obliged to spend at least half the working week on the land that belonged to the Lord and the church. They worked on the fields, looked after the livestock, maintained the farmhouses and buildings, provided domestic services in the manor house, cut firewood and made clothes. The rest of the time the villagers could spend cultivating their own plot of land.

The Lord had a steward in the village who was in charge in the absence of the Lord. The Lord's reeve looked attended to the overall management of the village under the supervision of the steward. His major task was to ensure that the inhabitants of the village or serfs completed their daily work on the land of the Lord. The messor was responsible for the work done in the fields, the hayward supervised the work done in the hay fields, the woodward ensured that the work done in the woods was done properly and the pinder looked after animals that went astray or starting eating the crops. The beadle was responsible for law and order and the ale connor controlled the sale of ale. Alvington was most likely large enough to have had this social structure.

Alvington, like all Medieval villages, would have been self sufficient for most of the time, meaning it could grow enough food and could supply all the needs for the villagers living there. Any surpluses or luxuries would have been taken to the markets and fairs held regularly in the village or nearby.

The inhabitants of Alvington would have lived in stone houses or wooden huts that were whitewashed. The walls were thin, there were dirt floors and no chimneys and maybe only one small window which made the home cold, damp and dark. The houses mainly had two rooms, one containing the hearth that would have served as the living room and the other one containing a stone oven for cooking. One end of the two room house or hut was often used to keep livestock. There could have been a few one room houses which the family also shared with their animals. The inhabitants of Alvington would have built their houses themselves as it was too expensive to have them built. Some of the smaller houses were probably made of sticks and straw, made to last for no longer than some thirty years.

In a small house or hut there was not much in the way of furnishings; three legged stools, a wooden self-made table, beds on the floor softened with straw or dry leaves that would have attracted lice and fleas. The villagers probably used wooden tubs with water heated from the fire for a bath which in good weather might have been placed outside. As soap was unheard of people would probably have been covered with dirt, fleas and lice.

It can be safely assumed that were numerous barns and sheds around Alvington and that animal pens were kept in the centre of the village. Animals were a valuable asset to each family. As wild animals like wolves roamed the countryside these could easily have taken a pig, cow or chickens. The loss of any animal could be a set back but the loss of valuable animals such as an ox would be a disaster. If the animals were left outside at night they could also have been stolen or simply have wandered off. For this reason they were kept in the homes.

As much of the area around Alvington and Cawston was covered with woods in those days a large supply of wood was readily available to build houses. Wood was used mainly for making fires, cooking, heating and scaring off wild animals. The handles of axes and spears were also made from local wood supplies.

Alvington was probably a dirty places to live in. As there was no sewage system as we would know it today, most people threw waste into the street along with other rubbish. The toilet would have been a bucket which would have been emptied in a ditch close by. Rats were therefore very common and water was not clean.

Life expectancy was short, whether rich or poor, and archaeological evidence shows an average adult life expectancy of about thirty-five. The infant mortality rate was extremely high and faced constant fear of sickness and life-threatening diseases.

As people did not travel far in those days the villagers of Alvington probably married spouses from their own or neighbouring village, had children and later died there after rarely having gone far beyond its boundaries. The inhabitants of Alvington would have had a hard life as most of the times was spent on the land trying to grow enough food to survive the year. Even the children from poor families would have worked from the age often or eleven.

The main food of the inhabitants would have been dark bread made of rye grain. The also ate stew called pottage which was made of beans and onions they grew in their gardens as well as porridge and cheese. The poor also ate lots of wheat, turnips and nettles. Their only sweet food was wild berries and nuts they gathered in the surrounding woods. Peasants did not eat much meat. If they hunted rabbits or hares they were punished by the Lord of the Manor.

Social activities were important and every citizen in the village would have been expected to attend. No one worked on Sundays, saints' days or Medieval celebrations which were feast days of pagan origins based on ancient agricultural celebrations. Most of them marked when certain crops should be planted or harvested e.g. wheat and rye from Michaelmas to Christmas. Like most towns and villages in Medieval society it can be assumed that Alvington celebrated Christmas. This was the time of year when the Lords of the Manor often gave presents of food, drink, clothing and firewood to servants. History books tell us that houses were decked with holly and ivy, and large Yule logs were burnt.

Markets and fairs, that probably kept spirits high in hard times, were also held regularly a few times a year. Fairs with merchants selling goods in the village square and games of chance held at the local tavern and tournaments featuring knights from nearby, were just some of the ways medieval peasants spent their leisure time. A Medieval wedding also gave the entire village an occasion to celebrate.

Alvington in the Middle Ages was probably not a comfortable place for most women as Medieval society was completely dominated by men and women had to know 'their place' in such a society. Women did their daily work and had many responsibilities for the family.

In the village, women would have done many of the tasks men but with lower pay.

Why did Alvington cease to exist?

It is unknown why Alvington ceased to exist, but it could have been for a number of reasons. In Medieval times, many villages were temporary, and it is known that society would move on if the land proved infertile or weather made life too difficult while other villages continued to exist for centuries. Medieval villages always feared having a lack of food. Crop surpluses did not exist and storage systems could not be created. By the beginning of the 14^th• century the population had grown to such an extent that it became almost impossible to grow enough food. Crop failures were therefore a disaster and this might have been a reason for people to have moved away from Alvington.

Village life in Medieval times would change from outside influences with market pressures and new farming policies of new landlords which often led to a clash of interests between lords and tenants. This could have caused some of the villagers of Alvington to move to larger settlements.

Malnutrition was present in the 14^th. century and cold and wet springs and summers of 1315­17 decimated crops to such an extent that and all classes of society suffered. It was said that people killed their animals and started eating seed grain for food On top of this, the winters were especially hard on Medieval society, as cold housing led to numerous cases of deadly pneumonia. Typhoid. tuberculosis, dysentery and smallpox remained constant problems. It is . likely that the inhabitants of Alvington could have had the terrible pestilence, known as the Black Death, or the plague that visited England over 30 times between 1348 and 1485, which remained a constant treat in those days, and therefore possibly caused Alvington to rapidly declined and cease to exist.

NB from the author: This item is based on assumptions taken from historical events at that time.

Michael Yaxley
Bone, Germany.      December 2007