Elsdon : Early Medieval Patterns Of Lordship

Archaeological fieldwork conducted in Coquetdale and Redesdale has so far shed very little light of the early medieval era and there is no contemporary documentation. Early medieval carved stonework has been discovered at Falstone in upper North Tynedale and at Rothbury in Coquetdale, but none further up the Coquet or in Redesdale.

However the pattern of landholding and lordship in the upland valleys of Northumbria prior to the Norman Conquest may be glimpsed through a combination of the parochial framework and placename evidence. It is striking that the parochial centres of medieval Redesdale and North Tynedale all have toponyms incorporating personal names.

Elsdon (Ellesden in the earliest sources) presumably signifies Elli's or perhaps Aelf's valley, whilst Corsenside (Crossensete) combines an Irish personal name, Crossan, with the Norse term for hill pasture saetr, and may hint at Irish-Norse settlement (Beckensall 1992; Mawer 1920, 55, 74). Similarly the parish of Simonburn ('Simondeburn' in 1228-9), which embraced most of North Tynedale, seems to incorporate a personal name, Sigemund (Mawer 1920, 180).

It is tempting to infer, tentatively, that these parishes may, in effect, have fossilised 9th/11th century estate boundaries, a phenomenon well-recognised elsewhere (cf. Winchester 1987, 22-7), whilst the placenames preserve some memory of early proprietors. That this form of placename can be associated with early landholdings is demonstrated by the case of Gilsland (Gilles' land) which derives from the territory of Gille son of Boet, who held the western end of the Tyne gap up until the reign of Henry II.

A further possible clue to the early-medieval origins of the parochial framework noted above is provided by the dedication to St Cuthbert of the churches at Elsdon and Corsenside. These belong to a string of churches and chapels in the upland hinterland of Northumberland - Elsdon, Corsenside, Bellingham, Haydon Bridge, Beltingham - which are consecrated to St Cuthbert (cf. Bates 1889, 326-327).

Whilst some dedications to St Cuthbert can be related to the medieval holdings of the Prince Bishops of Durham the same cannot be said of this upland series. It is possible the series in some way reflects early proselitisation by Cuthbert himself (as suggested by Bates, ibid.), however a more attractive hypothesis may be advanced. The dedication sites can be linked to form a single itinerary leading from north Northumberland along the edge of the uplands and through the Tyne-Solway gap to Cumbria.

It is tempting to identify this with the route followed by the Community of St Cuthbert during the late ninth century, when it fled from its first refuge at Norham to a temporary haven in Cumbria in the face of the Danish onslaught (cf. Higham 1986, 310 with regard to Cumbrian church dedications). Indeed, just such a tradition of extensive church and chapel foundation 'in the western districts', by the itinerant Community, is preserved by the 15th-century Prior Wessington of Durham (cited by Bates 1889, 327 n.38).

The dedications may reflect a process of alliance building between the Community and the local secular elite, marked by the establishment of chapels on important estates. It also falls within a broader pattern of similar activity, as the foundations of the English parochial structure were laid by the widespread creation of estate chapels from the ninth century onwards.