User:Thelmairene/History of Brailes, Warwickshire

THE EARLY HISTORY OF BRAILES: PART ONE: TO 1485

The full history of Brailes has not yet been written, in spite of the survival of a substantial quantity of original source material, housed both locally (mostly at Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon)and farther afield (mostly at Birmingham and at London, at the National Archives and the British Library). Two exceptions exist to this generalisation, but both are patchy and highly selective: the relevant sections in William Dugdale's monumental 'Antiquities of Warwickshire' of 1656 (re-edited 1730), a milestone in Warwickshire history but now of limited usefulness; and the essay in the 'Victoria County History', Volume V, dating from 1945 and now in need of substantial rewriting and expansion. Some recent scholarly studies contain good background material, particularly J.B.Harley, 'Population trends and Agricultural Development from the Hundred Rolls of 1279',English Historical Review, 1958/9, and R.H.Hilton, 'A Medieval Society', 1966. More recently, a series of original articles on Brailes history down the ages is ongoing since 2003 in the twice-yearly publication 'Brailes History'. These essays are based on largely unpublished material but are not arranged chronologically as a continuous narrative. The large series of published calendars of State Papers available in libraries and record offices lists countless references to Brailes through the centuries, providing a vast scattering of specific information which can be consulted. The parish registers recording births, marriages and deaths begion in 1570 and are inva;uable for family historians, but provide very little information village history.