Page 13 - Oundle Life December 2022

refuge for travellers. Another building of great market towns in Northamptonshire prior to the
importance in the early life of the town was the monastery, which formed part of
a network of such buildings under the
care of St Wilfrid.
Norman Conquest), the town had a royal stamp
It was while he was visiting Oundle
that St Wilfrid died in 709 or 710AD
at the age of 75, and it was in reference
to his death that the Venerable Bede
became the first to leave us a written
record of the town by writing that ‘St Wilfrid died in his monastery in the region of Oundle.’
to truly prosper and grow into the lively market town we know today.
‘St Wilfrid died in his monastery in the region of Oundle.’
of approval and could look to the future with confidence. When the Domesday Book was written in 1086, it recorded Oundle as consisting of 23 villagers, ten smallholders, and three slaves at that time.
That was all about to change during the medieval period, as Oundle began
Wilfrid was buried in Ripon – not in Oundle as some sources suggest – but the town’s patron saint, Saint Cetta, was buried in Wilfrid’s monastery in Oundle around 1000AD, again emphasising the town’s growing status.
With Oundle having had its market charter renewed by King Edgar in 972 (the Domesday Book records that it was already one of five
Stuart Barker is a professional writer and author. He has a keen interest in local history and likes nothing better than riding round Northants visiting historical sites on his motorcycle.
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Collection of photographs taken on the dig at Oundle in 1982. ©P Hampel / www.historicengland.org.uk