Black Death: The Effect of the Plague

Page 1 of 5

• 1. Deserted Villages
• 2. Village of Farnham: (I)
• 3. The Village of Farnham: (II)
• 4. The Village of Farnham: (III)
• 5. The Village of Farnham: (IV)
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Deserted Villages

Ambion: The hill on which Richard III pitched his camp on the eve of the Battle of Bosworth Field was the site of the deserted medieval village of Ambion. The last recorded reference to it comes in 1346, just before the Black Death. Thereafter, the records fall silent, and it does not appear in the Nomina Villarum nor the subsidy rolls of 1416.

Tilgarsley: When the collectors of the lay subsidy of 1359 came to the Abbot of Eynsham's manor of Tilgarsley, they reported that they were unable to collect the tax because nobody had lived in the village since 1350.

Tusmore: On 22nd November 1357, a royal writ granted to one Roger of Cottisford permission to enclose the hamlet of: '...Tusmore which belongs to the said Roger and was, before the pestilence, entirely inhabited by Roger's serfs. Because of the death of those serfs, it has been, from time to time, empty of inhabitants, and so remains, and intends to remain so in the future.'

Next, the story of the village of Farnham shows how the plague affected life in the countryside as the vast majority of Britain's population lived in the countryside.

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Published: 2001-01-01