Ancient and Medieval Earl Shilton - Saxon and Danish Settlement

Saxon and Danish Settlement

Following the departure of the Romans, Jutes, Angles and Saxons were rapidly spreading throughout England. The Britons, in fierce fighting, checked these Germanic tribes for a time, but by the mid sixth century the Anglo Saxons had started to expand once again, eventually carving out seven kingdoms. Earl Shilton lay in the kingdom of the Middle Angles. Middle Anglia and Mercia were built around the River Trent and the rivers that flow into it, such as the River Soar.

The first recorded attacks on Saxon England by Viking raiders came at the end of the eighth century. Being well inland, early Viking raids did not affect the villagers of Earl Shilton. But in 874 – 875 a great heathen army of Danes moved up the River Trent and into the heart of Mercia. They attacked and overran Nottingham before moving their ships along the River Trent into North Leicestershire.

The Vikings called their farmsteads a ‘thorpe’, and designated who owned the land with the word ‘by’. There are many examples of villages with Viking names such as Elmesthorpe, Ullesthorpe, Ashby and Cosby, which show the Danish settlement throughout Leicestershire, while in Warwickshire there are few. The name Elmesthorpe, originally Aylmersthorpe, derived from a Saxon lord named Aylmer and Thorpe, a Danish word for village. Earl Shilton retained its Saxon name of Sheltone despite the settlement of Danes in the area. The name relates to a ‘shelf’ as the original village was perched on the hill around Hilltop.

Before the Norman Conquest the Saxon Thegn, or Lord, of Earl Shilton is not known, but records show that Shultone had 5 ploughlands worth 5 shillings at the time of Edward the Confessor. Shultone’s neighbour, the village of Barwell, stood on the lands of Leofric, Earl of Mercia (John Lawrence).