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Vestry Extract, North Field Earthworks

File: PC/MIN/23/021 · Vestry_Extract_1923.htm

Extract from Parish Vestry Minutes, 1923. The earthworks in the North Field were under discussion following an archaeological survey commissioned earlier that year. Present at the vestry meeting: Rev. T. Ashford (Chair), Mr. H. Warden (Churchwarden), Mrs. E. Cole (Parish Clerk), and six parish electors whose names appear on the signed attendance sheet.

  1. Survey report, North Field earthworks: Received and filed. The earthworks appear on the 1889 Ordnance Survey map but are absent from later editions. No explanation for the discrepancy was recorded.

  2. Excavation notes: Tabled by the survey party. Evidence noted of repeated gatherings over a long period. No conclusion was reached regarding the purpose of those gatherings.

  3. Prayer Hours: Evening bonfires held on the earthworks were noted under the standing item Prayer Hours. No church service or official event was recorded on the same dates.

  4. Entry crossed out in original minute book. The original wording can no longer be read on the parish copy.

  5. Sketch appended: Nine beacon positions marked around the earthworks. None are labelled in the surviving extract.

During a parish history survey in 1987, several long-term residents recognised the positions on the earthworks immediately but described them only as "the old custom." When asked what the fires were for, nobody could give an explanation. Two interviewees said only that "they knew where to stand." The beacon sketch is held in the clerk's office; centre pages of the vestry file were removed. No further investigation has been undertaken.