Marke's Mead

marke's Mead

An ancient meadow alongside the River Yeo

 

Marke's Mead (Parcel 889) - possibly from a personal name - was originally a field in the great Medieval East Field of the Manor of Kingston, beside the River Yeo. The word 'mead' comes from the Old English 'maed'. Before grass seeds were obtainable this was the only hay land of the community. It usually consisted of land near streams since that was the only kind of land on which hay grew in any quantity.

Although Marke's Mead appears on the 1842 Tithe Map, unfortunately the copy of the 1846 Tithe Apportionment in the Heritage Centre at Taunton omitted it, so the ownership, usage and size are unknown from that source. However another source gives the area of Marke's Mead as 3a 2r 36p. It was almost certainly a meadow and used for growing hay.

Marke's Mead was bounded on the east by the River Yeo, to the north by Moor (Parcel 890), to the south by Compton Mill Mead (Parcel 888) and to the west by Great Ground (Parcel 911).

By the time of the 1946 aerial photograph seen below, Marke's Mead remained as an open field, as it remains today, although its southeast corner was lost to the railway in the 1850s. Today Marke's Mead forms part of Yeovil Country Park.

For details on historic land measurement (ie acres, roods and perches) click here.

 

maps


This map, based on the descriptions in the 1589 Terrier and the 1846 Tithe Map of Yeovil shows the approximate boundaries of the Manors of Kingston and Hendford as well as the manorial three-field system used in Kingston.

 

A map of the great Medieval East Field of Kingston Manor showing conjectured locations of several fields based on descriptions in the 1589 Terrier.

 

Drawn from the 1846 Tithe Map with field names added from the 1846 Tithe Apportionment, with Marke's Mead (Parcel 889) at centre right.

 

The 1946 aerial survey photograph with parcel numbers of 1846 plotted on. The green line is the county boundary running along the River Yeo.

 

The 1843 Tithe Map overlaid onto a modern map of the area. The course of the Yeo just above the north point appears to have changed course somewhat.

 

Gallery

 

The southeastern corner of Marke's Mead, seen here, was lost to the railway in the 1850s. Photographed in 2010.