On A Brief History

The village of Fen Drayton, then known as Fenny Drayton, was originally mentioned in the Domesday Book (the first general census in Britain partly drawing on the older Saxon chronicles) commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1068 to determine who should pay tax. Owners of the Three Tuns, our local pub and restaurant, for example, were recorded as having one bullock and two sheep and were deemed well-off enough to pay two grotes a year.

The word ‘fen’ usually designates an area that is ‘fenny’ or wet and, along with other places in East Anglia (e.g., Fen Stanton, Fen Ditton, Flag Fen). Normally the land was reclaimed from the edge of the sea for dry habitation and agriculture.

The fens and beyond are a flat land right up to the Wash, having been under water until the successful creation of dikes in the 17th centuries. The Fenland region of eastern England was once the largest wetland in Britain (source East Anglian Archeaology Society). Although there are some hills and high ground in the area, many parts were virtual islands (Old Scandanavian holmr) at high tide or in the rainy season and the rest spent most of the year under water (source UK & Ireland Geneology).

The word ‘drayton’, comes from an old Saxon term ‘draeg’ which meant ‘to draw or to drag’ and is usually applied to a place where boats were dragged up from the water. One suggestion is that goods coming down from Conington, Elsworth, and Knapwell (e.g. timber) may have been dragged to Fen Drayton for transport along the Ouse, just beyond our home.

We do not know much about the history of our farmhouse between that date and the middle of 19th century. In 1838, the Enclosures Map showed our property in the middle of a number of land parcels owned by the Daintree Family (Richard, Robert, John Cole, the village squire) extending up to what is now the A14. The farm is clearly shown on the first Victorian Ordinance map. At the turn of the century, the lands of the Daintree Family became the property of the Land Settlement Association and by 1950 were partitioned into some 50 odd smaller holdings with ours as one of the largest plots.

Today, we are at the north-west end of a ‘sleepy’ village just inside the agricultural green belt between two playing fields and the nature reserve. It is a quiet little haven for those who relish bird songs at dawn, and the smell of jasmine, roses and honeysuckle at dusk.

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