Place MPM1834 - Wymering

Medieval settlement recorded as a royal manor in the Domesday survey of 1086. It has been suggested by Bereford and Hurst that Wymering was the site of a deserted medieval village. By the early-19th century Wymering consisted of three farms, the manor house, vicarage and church.

Wymering, or 'Wimeringes', is recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086 as a royal manor. The settlement had a population of 16 villages, 6 smallholders and 2 slaves, with two lords plough teams and four men's plough teams. The manor had been held by Edward the Confessor prior to the Norman Conquest. [1]

It has been suggested that Wymering was the site of a deserted medieval village, although if this was the case the settlement was repopulated at a later date. [2]

By the time of the 1839 tithe the village appeared more as a hamlet, consisting of three farms, a vicarage and a church. It is unlikely there were more than five households in the village, considerably less than the 22 recorded in 1086. This may suggest the settlement shrank sometime after the Domesday Survey, possibly as a result of the Black Death in 1349. However, studies into medieval settlement within this area of Hampshire show that nucleated settlement did not tend to exist, and that settlement around the church was restricted to the manor house and adjoining farm. Any shrinkage during the later 14th and 15th centuries usually led to the disappearance of outlying farms rather than desertion of the manorial centre. Wymering as it appeared in 1839 followed this general pattern, the south farm being the home farm to the manor house, with the Upper and Lower farms and vicarage the only other significant buildings near the church. It is therefore thought possible that the medieval settlement did not extend far beyond the area of early-19th century occupation. [3]

<1> Morris, John (ed), 1982, Domesday Book: Hampshire (Bibliographic reference). SPM455.

<2> Beresford, Maurice & Hurst, John G (eds), 1972, Deserted Medieval Villages (Bibliographic reference). SPM456.

<3> Currie, Chris, 2002, Wymering Methodist Church, Cosham (Unpublished document). SPM29.