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Why choose Lammas View as the name for a holiday cottage?
In answer for good historical reasons; the town common in Warwick is known as Lammas Field and St Mary’s Land, which we overlook and Hampton Street forms the southern boundary.
The origin of “Lammas” refers to in English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere, that August 1 is Lammas Day (loaf-mass day), the festival of the first wheat harvest of the year.
On this day it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop. In many parts of England, tenants were bound to present freshly harvested wheat to their landlords on or before the first day of August- which were often large monastic institutions.
In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, where it is referred to regularly, it is called "the feast of first fruits".
The blessing of new fruits was performed annually in both the Eastern and Western Churches on the first, or the sixth, of August.
Before the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII, this part of Warwick contained a large monastery and the land opposite probably belonged to the church. Another relic of these days is the huge town church- St Mary’s and it’s medieval Beauchamp Chapel.
The common is still owned by the town but now is partly occupied by the 300 year old racecourse, which is one of the oldest in England.
The racecourse is open all year with about 25 meetings per year, on race days you can sit in the sitting room and watch the horse and jockeys ride past. Hence the “view” part of the name- both of Lammas Field and the gee gees.
What's in a name?
Friday, 22 August 2008
