Wychbold, formerly known as Uuicbold (692AD), Uicbold (815AD), Wicbold (831AD), and the Middle English variations of Wicbald, Wichbald, Wichbaud, Wichbould, is two miles north of the important Romano-British town of Droitwich straddling the old Roman road (now the A38).
A slightly whimsical, not to say, untested theory about Wychbold's beginnings is recorded in the proceedings of the Worcestershire Archaeological Society proceedings...
"The theory is propounded that the rights of salt working in Droitwich were fought over by on the one hand Oddo, a Saxon chief from Wessex, with interests in Droitwich salt production on the one hand and Dodo, an Angle, ostensibly from further north on the other. These two protagonists are, according to the author, named for posterity by the villages of Oddingley in the south and Dodford in the north of the county. These two seem to predate the Hwicce, who ruled in the later Anglo-Saxon period. The account goes on to state, that after a stalemated battle between them and their followers near Oddingley, the protagonists divided the salt workings in a reasonably equitable manner with the Angle being given salt trading rights on the river Severn, upstream from the junction of the Severn and the local river Salwarpe. The latter river flows through Wychbold and Droitwich. The account also mentions a castle being built by Dodo in Wychbold".1
J.D. Hurst (of the Hereford & Worcs. C.C. Archaeology section) in his admirable popular publication "Savouring the Past" makes the makes the point of the extreme importance of the Droitwich salt making industry. He goes on....
"The interest in Droitwich of the Mercian royal house is clear from the establishment of a palace at Wychbold.... Here the royal council met on several occasions in the 8th-9th centuries. Under Kings Æthelbald and Offa, Mercia emerged as the most powerful kingdom in the country, at one point even controlling London. By the 8th century, Droitwich was known as 'Saltwic' - the 'wic' element in this period meaning an important trading centre. Certainly trade in such a rare commodity as salt would have been important, as well as a source of considerable wealth.At this time we see the first reference in documents to the existence of a brine well, though it is possible that this was an earlier, even Roman, structure. The King of Mercia controlled the industry, but from an early date there were cases of salt rights being granted. Many of the more powerful institutions of the day were favoured in this way, including the early abbeys at Pershore and Worcester, as well as the Minster church at Hanbury. By this time the brine springs were being celebrated by Nennius, who, writing in 800 AD, listed them as one of the wonders of Britain". 2
More especially, the number of early Royal charters can attest to the early importance of Wychbold. W.H. Duignan in his "Worcestershire Place Names" states that...
"The charter of 692 AD says 'in vico quem nobili vocitant nomine Uuicbold' ; that of 815 AD is tested by Cœnwulf, king of the Mercians, 'in vico regis qui dicitur Uuicbold' ; that of 831AD is signed by Wiglaf, king of the Mercians, 'in regale villo quae nominatur Wicbold'.It is therefore probable that Wichbold was a permanent residence of the kings (or Reguli, as they were sometimes termed) of the Wiccii, who were tributary to the Mercian kings themselves."
Duignan goes on...
"The terminal word bold in Anglo-Saxon has two meanings: a) a house, b) a superior house, a palace. The prefix Wic- or Wich- is probably derived from its vicinity to 'Wich' (Droitwich), and I take the meaning to be 'the palace at (or near) Wich'"3
One is tempted to think that the presence of a palace would entail a greater concentration of population, if not for anything else, but to serve the 'royal' guests. Once the people congregated there their reason for staying would have been eroded by the downgrading of their sub kings (or Reguli) by the centralisation of Mercian power. It is not generally known that salt springs must have abounded in Anglo-Saxon times in the vicinity of Wychbold.
There seems to be an underlying belief that Droitwich was the sole repository of brine. This is not so. Under ground salt streams still run through the village, in some cases, their effect is to seriously weaken the foundations of local houses. The exploitation of salt by industrial means is comparatively recent. The celebrated entrepreneur John Corbett concentrated the industry, some four miles to the north of Droitwich, in the process of which, serious subsidence was seen in Droitwich and Wychbold. One could make a case for a local Wychbold based mini salt industry, just by looking at some of the local farm names. Brine Pits farm and Coley Pits Farm, for instance, being within a half mile of what is now the modern village centre. A sizeable population and importance, in Anglo-Saxon times and after, looks possible if one examines the Domesday Survey and other material. One is left with the impression that the village had been prosperous and would remain so even after the Conquest. The 'Domesday Book' gives the following information
"[ in Clent Hundred] Wychbold. Earl Godwin held it. ... 11 hides. Of these, 4 hides were exempt from tax. In lordship 1 plough; 2 more hides would be possible. 19 villagers and 27 smallholders with 18 ploughs. 2 slaves. 5 mills at £4 8s; 26 salthouses pay £4 12s. 13 burgesses in Droitwich who reap for 2 days in August and March and who serve the court. Woodland, 1 league. Value before 1066 and later £14; now £15."4These are exceptionally high figures. Some 190 years later the 'Lay Subsidy Roll' of circa 1280 AD shows a total of 78 householders liable to tax.5 The village was still retaining its comparative prosperity.
We need to examine the following parameters:
a) Aerial Photography. I am not aware that the Cambridge survey took in this part of the country in any detail. We are going to have to use every method available to us in this task. This will mean vertical and oblique straightforward photographic methods, hopefully done at least enough times to derive a seasonally adjusted set of results. We will be looking for shadow sites, and more importantly in our case crop marks. Soil marks in winter frosts will be particularly useful to the project.
We need to look for patterns of settlement hopefully pertaining to the Anglo-Saxon period. Again, from the data, we will attempt to look for Mediaeval ploughing practices and the shape of the village, if this is possible. We will be looking for field boundaries and fences, the clustering of the habitations and the spatial relationships that simple mixed farming would have observed. With this in mind we will be in a better position to understand the siting of a 'palace' or court within the village.
b) Fieldwork and Excavation. Fieldwork will in the end be the crucial discipline if we are to attain our goal. Accordingly, because of the strictures of walking on privately owned land and the sheer size of the project, a radical solution or methodology needs to be found. We need to motivate the inhabitants of the village at least to do some of the fieldwork for us! I shall expand this point in my conclusion.
Because the Anglo-Saxons built mostly in timber, stone remains will be unlikely. We will be looking for pottery scatter and its make up. Coins, and their dates, associated with building remains will be useful. Ideally, we will be looking for the post -hole or wall-slot structures of hall houses or the signs of an Anglo-Saxon Grubenhaüser, houses either comprising a dug hollow or set above such a hollow. We shall be looking also for signs of burial sites, with the vital information these will provide. We will also use some geo-physical prospecting methods, such as resistivity measurements giving data on buried solid objects. We will hope that together with the latter technique, together with more advanced magnetic anomaly systems, that at least we might stumble over a stone built chapel, similar to that of Cheddar Palace.
1. Transactions of the Worcester Archaeology Society: NS XXII 10.11
2. J.D. Hurst: Savouring the Past (1992) p17
3. W.H. Duignan: Worcestershire Place Names (1905) p177
4. Domesday Book: Phillimore (1982)
5. Bund & Amphlett: Lay Subsidy Roll (1893) Worcestershire Historical Society pps 23,24
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