The project has been proceeding nicely these past weeks.
Today, whilst searching the internet for information on English friars and
pocket bibles, I stumbled across this article:
It reminded me of how lucky I am to participate in unlocking
this precious book’s secrets. It was also very neat to see Dr. Gwara’s quote
about how books like the Breslauer Bible were used by Dominicans or
Franciscans; we now know ours was almost certainly used by Franciscans thanks to the work we did
with Dr. Webb at Stanford.
These past weeks, I have spent most days deep in the bowels
of the Thomas Cooper Library, shifting through the hefty, red tomes of the
Victoria Histories of the Counties of England. Some of the books are old and filled with yellowed paper pages which crack when you turn them, but their information is very rich and detailed. Dr. Gwara sent me a list of
potential Samfords/Sandfords in Britain; my job has been to research
information about them so as to determine which ones ARE and are NOT likely
candidates. In my research, I have relied upon the Victoria Histories
extensively, but also upon internet resources as varied as Google maps and
local town councils’ histories. Here is an abbreviated example of my notes on
three Sandfords/Samfords:
Sandford SZ5481 Hampshire England
o
Not recorded in The Historical Gazetter of
English Place Names b/c Hampshire isn’t finished
o
On an island with no friaries according to
Rohrkasten’s map of friaries
o
Closest friary is Southampton (founded before
1250), 23 miles away across a channel.
o
Victoria County Histories
§
Benedictine Priory of Appledur Combe owned land
in Sandford. (v2 231)
§
Sandford had a mill (v v, 175)
Sandford SO8545 Worcestershire England
§
http://www.gazetteer.org.uk/view.php?placeid=39189
·
There is a settlement of a few houses on the
satellite map which could very well be this Sandford today.
§
The nearby Severn Stoke is only 7 miles from
Worcester Cathedral; Sandford is therefore less than 7 miles from the nearest
city containing a friary, Worcester Friary established prior to 1230.
Promising, very promising. It also apparently had a theological library—see
citations under vch notes
§
It doesn’t turn up anything on google,
indicating that it is not a place of great modern significance
§
http://placenames.org.uk/id/placename/04/002844
·
Doesn’t show up as a Parish, but is present on
the map as “Sandford” with what appear to be markings indicating a settlement.
§
http://placenames.org.uk/id/placename/04/003641
·
Is present as a part of the parish of Severn
Stoke. It has no sub areas.
·
It appears to be on a major road heading south
from Worcester
o
Victoria County History
§
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=302&page=2&sort=1
·
“The parish of Severn Stoke, inclusive of the
hamlets of Clifton, Kinnersley and Sandford, has an area of 3,326 acres, about
two-thirds of which are devoted to pasture” iv 192-7
·
“The village of Severn Stoke lies at the foot of
a fairly steep hill, about midway between Worcester and Tewkesbury, on the high
road connecting those places. It contains several cross-timbered houses. The
church of St. Denis, which stands low near the river bank, is backed by the
dark woods of Severn Bank. Near it is the rectory; a little to the north of the
village there is a pound.” 192-7
·
“mile north, on the Worcester road, is the
hamlet of Sandford, where there are brick and tile works on the river bank.”
192-7
I have covered around twenty-five Sandfords
in my notes thus far, with eight more to examine, two of which are in Scotland
(making them unlikely candidates). Another promising candidate is Sandford-on-Thames,
which I will discuss in detail in a future blog post.
-Carl
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