Sevenhampton, Gloucestershire

Sevenhampton is a village and civil parish in Cotswold District, Gloucestershire. The parish is located in the Cotswolds in an area designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Most of the parish population reside in the two main settlements of Sevenhampton village and Brockhampton village, both are located in the valley of the River Coln.

The Church of St Andrew was built in the 12th century. It is a grade I listed building.

Topography
The landscape is mostly of high limestone plateau that has been bisected by the north – south aligned valley of the River Coln. The river rises from springs to the north of Brockhampton and is fed by more springs along the way. The springs and streams that feed the River Coln in its early stages provide an ideal habitat for sedges and rushes to grow. During the medieval period sedges and rushes were known as "seeves", hence the origin of the name Seven..hampton.

Name history
The name was recorded as " SEVEN..hā..TONE " in the Domesday Book of 1086 A.D.

Documented name history:
 * SEVEN..hā..TONE (1086).
 * Seuehamton (1221).
 * Sevehampton (1241).
 * Seueshampton (1327).
 * Sevezhampton (1327).
 * Senhampton – Sen(n)yngton (1575).

Parish name
The parish is now known by the village name of Sevenhampton, but during the 16th century it was variously known as Senhampton and Sennington. A house near Brockhampton was known as Sennington, and an old village now deserted was known as Old Sennington.

Village name
The springs and streams that feed the River Coln in its early stages provide an ideal habitat for sedges and rushes to grow. During the medieval period sedges and rushes were known as "seaves".

The name element seve (13th–14th century) is from English dialect seave ( " sedge or rush " ).

The name element Seven arose from a common mistake whereby Anglo-Saxons confused Old Norse sef ( " sedge, rush " ) for Old English seofon ( " seven " ).

The name element hampton is from Old English hām and tūn.

The toponym for Sevenhampton might be:
 * 1) Village where seeves grow.
 * 2) Village overgrown with seeves.

Related place names
There is a cluster of place names in Gloucestershire that might share a similar etymology:

All of the above places provide a wet habitat suitable for sedges and rushes to grow. The name element Seven arose from a common mistake whereby Anglo-Saxons confused Old Norse sef ( " sedge, rush " ) for Old English seofon ( " seven " ).

Compare the etymology of related place names:
 * Sevenhampton (Seven..hā..tone 1086); (Seve..hampton 13th–14th century).
 * Seven Wells (Seofon Wyllas).
 * Seacourt DMV (Seofon..worþ c.957); (Seva..worð 1086).

Natural England maps
Maps showing Administrative, Designations and other criteria from Natural England:

Sevenhampton parish

 * MAGiC MaP : Sevenhampton village – St Andrew's Church.


 * MAGiC MaP : Sevenhampton parish boundary.


 * MAGiC MaP : Cptswolds – Administrative boundaries.


 * MAGiC MaP : Cptswolds – Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.


 * MAGiC MaP : Brockhampton Park – Wood-pasture and parkland.


 * MAGiC MaP : Old Sennington ancient village.


 * MAGiC MaP : Puckham Woods SSSI.


 * MAGiC MaP : Sevenhampton parish – Woodland.

Neighbouring areas

 * MAGiC MaP : Seven Springs.


 * MAGiC MaP : Seven Wells.

Parish boundary
Neighbouring villages and parishes:

Puckham Woods SSSI
Puckham Woods is a large area of ancient woodland in a deep valley on the western fringe of the parish. It is designated as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The woodland consists of a mix of original and managed ancient woodland.

At the time of the Domesday Book (1086), part of the woods were within the bishop of Hereford's Prestbury estate, which presumably included the Queen's Wood area to the west of Cleeve Common.

The Domesday Book entry for SEVENHAMPTON also included PRESTBURY in the ' Land and resources ' totals.
 * Ploughland: 5 lord's plough teams. 29 men's plough teams.
 * Other resources: Meadow 20 acres. Woodland 1 * 0.5 leagues.

A rabbit warren was established in the woods in the 13th century; however the warren was later destroyed in the 17th century.

During the Middle Ages the woods were of economic importance for the supply of timber and firewood; also for sheep grazing in the wood-pasture's. Parts of the woods were available to local people as common land for the grazing of horses and cattle.

Brockhampton Park
There are fragmented areas designated as ' Woodpasture and Parkland – BAP Priority Habitat ' in and around Brockhampton Park.

Danish Vikings
The Danish Viking warlord Guthrum based his army at Cirencester for about a year following his defeat at the Battle of Edington. It would be expected that a large army would have needed to spread out across a large area of the surrounding countryside in order to sustain themselves for a long period of time. Sevenhampton village is about 12.2 mi north of Cirencester. The Salt Way (Salt road) provided an easy walk from Cirencester to Sevenhampton and beyond.

At that time Sevenhampton was in south-west Mercia and ruled by Ceolwulf II of Mercia. It has been suggested that there might have been battles between the Viking's and the Mercian's that worked out to Alfred's advantage – Ceolwulf disappeared about that time.

There are a number of hillfort's along the Salt Way, place name evidence suggests that the Danes either built or reused existing camps, most notably Beckbury near Hailes Abbey and Grims Hill near Roel Gate. Some of those hillfort's might be compared with the D-shaped earthwork discovered at Repton in Derbyshire.

In 879 Guthrum moved his large army from Cirencester to East Anglia, as had been agreed in the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum. It is possible that not all of Guthrum's army recruits regrouped from the surrounding countryside and followed Guthrum to East Anglia. Place name evidence suggests that a population of Danes settled in the local area and integrated with the local population.

In 892 another Viking army arrived in Wessex where they engaged in battles with Alfred for about four years. In 896 the remaining Danes separated and travelled independently to Danish controlled areas such as East Anglia. It is possible that some Danes remained in the local area and integrated with the local population.

Sennington DMV
Old Sennington is a deserted medieval village (DMV) about 0.5 mi north-west of Sevenhampton village. The site is listed as a Scheduled Monument.

Old Norse language
In the North of England place name elements such as dale, beck and side are ubiquitous in those areas most heavily influenced by the Old Norse language, especially the English Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. Many Old Norse words became absorbed into the English language as northern dialect, but are rarely seen in the South of England.

Gloucestershire
Place names in Gloucestershire that might share a Danish Old Norse influence:

Beckbury
Beckbury hillfort is located high on the Cotswold escarpment above Hailes Abbey. The hillfort is a Scheduled Monument. The name is probably a reference to the stream that flows past Hailes Abbey, and especially to the valley that cuts into the Cotswold escarpment. The name element beck is from Old Norse bekkr – "stream". The Old Norse bekkr became absorbed into the English language, but was mostly used in those areas associated with the Danelaw, especially the North of England and East Anglia. The name element bury is from Old English burg (" fortress ").

Grim's Hill
Grim's Hill is the 10th century name for the earthwork known as Roel Camp near the summit of Bespidge hill. It is a short distance west of Roel Gate on the Salt Way. The hillfort is a Scheduled Monument. The name " Grim " was a common Old Danish personal-name during the Viking Age. The name may have been used by the Anglo-Saxon's as a metaphor and to identify a place that was associated with people of Danish Viking origin.