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Journalists and other writers who ought to know better often describe things incorrectly. Why do they persist in calling the cottages in Alcester's Bleachfield Street and Malt Mill Lane 'mediaeval'? Because they are not. Is it because 'mediaeval' sounds old and many of the town's buildings seem old?
In English history, how do we describe' the various 'centuries?
The Roman occupation (AD.43 to 410) was followed by the 'Dark Ages', which' merged into the Anglo-Saxon and Danish Kingdoms. The 'Middle Ages' is usually said to start with the Norman invasion of 1066 and to end with the coming to the throne of the Tudors at the end of the 15th century. in other words, give or take a few years, A.D. 1000 - A.D. 1500. The early mediaeval period is c.l000 - c.1200, the middle of the period c.1200 - the Black Death (c.1350), with the late mediaeval period, Black Death - C. 1500.
The 16th century for Britons is the Tudor Age; the 17th century more or less the Stuarts; the 18th century, and running into the 19th, the Georgian Period. This is followed by the Victorian Age - and so. to the 20th Century.
From the above., it will be seen that a 17th century half-timbered house cannot possibly be called 'mediaeval': yet in Alcester and most of the Villages' roundabout the timber buildings are mostly Stuart, with a few of Tudor origin. In Alcester itself, only two constructions immediately stand out as mediaeval,. viz. the 14th century stone .church tower and the late 14th century cruck house' at 19, Henley Street (though the outside appearance is much later than' that). Mediaeval, Alcester undoubtedly once was. House deeds show that many of the Bleachfield Street cottages were rebuilt about 1625, following a disastrous fire; 'the burnt houses were likely to have been middle or late mediaeval, some perhaps Tudor. It is the same with all the town's old streets; they were populated in the Middle Ages, though probably not as densely as at present: unfortunately, none of those buildings remains, destroyed either through natural decay or the curse of old times, fire.
Occasionally, one comes across a building with a question mark, like the marvellous jettied house at the corner of Church Street and Malt Mill Lane, usually' referred to as 'Malt Mill House'. It undoubtedly goes back to Henry VIII but whether it was there when Henry VII ascended the throne we do not know; if it was, we could just about call it 'late Mediaeval'. It really needs examining by a specialist in joints or by a dendrochronological test (tree ring dating).
In' Alcester we have mediaeval roads, even names that originated then: but mediaeval architecture we are very short of. Glossy magazine and guide book writers, please note: stop referring to 'the 'mediaeval' cottages of Malt Mill Lane - there aren't any!
© Alcester & District Local History Society 1991