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he
earliest written mention of Fowlmere records that in 1042 - 1066 Aluric
the aide de campe to King Edward the Confessor held land in Fowlmere,
as did the Queen, Edith the Fair. Before that, the Saxons had dwellings
by the ancient Round Moat, proof of which was found during excavations
prior to the building in 1999 of the Aldous Court houses. Traces of a
possible Iron Age farmstead were also found during excavations at Black
Peak, near the RSPB Nature Reserve in 1993. The Round Moat in the centre
of the village has been described as an ancient enigma and archaeologists
consider that the resemblance of the Round Moat (in fact oval in shape)
to the strong defensive ring earthworks of the simple motte and bailey
castles built in the 11th century, hints at an early date for its construction
by an important person. A substantial linear earthwork, probably of Anglo
Saxon origin, extended from the Fowlmere mere by Black Peak to an ancient
thick forest at Heydon. It formed a defensive barrier across the Icknield
Way and this large earthwork, all traces of which have now been ploughed
out, once controlled the movement of people and goods in and out of East
Anglia. A large number of mutilated skeletons were found during excavations
of this earthwork, known as the Bran Ditch, during the late 1920's. The
church of St Mary the Virgin is at the centre of the village, parts of
its structure dating to the 13th century, although there are indications
that an earlier Norman church may have stood on the same site.
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An
artist’s impression of the Round Moat by kind permission of English Heritage
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| The village takes its name from a mere, fed by springs flowing from an underground chalk aquifer, which has existed since prehistoric times. The Domesday survey of 1085 - 1086, records the name of the village as Fuglemaere, which has been translated as the wild birds mere or lake of the fowls. Since then, the village with a population of a few hundred people had, until recent times, been largely dependent on agriculture. Most of what is known about farming the three large open fields that surrounded the village comes from the harvest and household accounts for the 1680's and early 1700's written by the Rev John Crakanthorp of Fowlmere. Life was hard for agricultural workers in the 19th century and in 1830 a riot occurred when mounted constables armed with long wooden staves confronted striking labourers in the High Street. Other important events in the history of the village are the growth of the non conformist movement in the 18th century culminating in the building of a chapel (now the United Reformed Church) in 1780, the Enclosure Act of 1845, the building of a National School in 1861, the establishment of watercress beds after the mere was drained following the Enclosures and the subsequent development of the RSPB Nature Reserve. |
 Fowlmere
has a long association with aviation starting in 1916 when land was leased
as a landing station for aeroplanes. Then in 1918 a large aerodrome was
constructed with six massive 'Belfast truss type' hangars, accommodation,
workshops and instructional huts. It was however demolished in 1922/23.
In 1940, the RAF used the fields of Manor Farm again as an airfield and
during 1943 the airfield was expanded to become Station 378 of the USAAF
and was used by the 339th Fighter Group flying P51 Mustangs. The Americans
left in 1945, and after the war the old accommodation huts were used for
Polish refugees. Most of the former airfield reverted to agricultural
use in the 1960's. Since then a civil airfield has become established,
Modern Air operating self fly rental aircraft. Today, light industry has
been established on the sites of old farm buildings and the village has
more than doubled in size since the 1970's. |
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By
Leslie and Joyce Price Authors of the Fowlmere 2000 Book
(now available and in reprint). |
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Village
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