Introduction.
(October 2023) Dotted through the local history of the village are regular references to field names and often it is difficult to work out where they were – tantalising.
We hope to be embarking on a project in partnership with the University of Nottingham to explore this further. Given the links and close relationships between the villages of Hickling, Upper Broughton and Nether Broughton, it seems logical for us to work together – farm ownership and people generally are rarely restricted by parish boundaries, after all!
If you would like to be involved in this project, please contact us.
Introducing a new project to explore the Mapping and Field Names of Hickling and Upper & Nether Broughton
An Introductory talk will be held in Hickling Village Hall on Thursday 23rd November at 7.30pm. Tickets: £5—contact Pauline 01664 822835 or ‘on the door’.
This is the first stage of what we hope will be an exciting new project but it is also a fascinating subject in its own right—please join us to find out more!
The evening will feature two speakers, a short opportunity for discussion at the end plus tea & biscuits:
‘Landscape Futures and Pasts: the Field-Names of the Upper Onny Valley in Shropshire’ a case-study by Susan Kilby
A recent project undertaken by the Institute for Name-Studies at the University of Nottingham focused on the field-names of thirteen pastoral farms in the Upper Onny Valley in south-west Shropshire. Working in partnership with local farmers, researcher Dr Susan Kilby collected more than 500 modern field-names which have been georeferenced in order to create new digital and hand drawn field maps of the area. These names were compared with earlier field-names – captured within nineteenth-century tithe maps and earlier documents – which formed the basis for discussion with the farming community. Collectively, the field-names form an important archive. They emphasise the strength of farmers’ relationships with and custodianship of the rural landscape, whilst also helping to inform future farming and landscape management practices.
Voices from the past: exploring local language and landscape through Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire field-names by Rebecca Gregory
Field-names are a unique way to access the voices, interests, and concerns of local people over years and centuries past. Using the field-name collections of the English Place-Name Society and her own research, Dr Rebecca Gregory will walk us through some of the ways in which East Midlands field-names can help us access local language and local knowledge preserved over up to 800 years (and perhaps even longer!) and make a case for their importance in our understanding of history and heritage. We’ll also consider some of the names which point us towards land and water management on the Nottinghamshire/Leicestershire border and the Wolds in the past, and perhaps – building on Dr Kilby’s talk – in the future.