Great Easton, St John
St John, Great Easton: the church from the south-west, c. 1086 Illustration by Daniel secker
The place-name is misleading, it was never the east tun or estate farm of anywhere. In Domesday it is Eistanes ('the island of the stones' or more specifically, 'the island of the Roman remains'). This may refer to an island in the River Chelmer which the church overlooks. There is certainly much re-used Roman brick in the present building. Like Chickney, the church occupies a curvilinear churchyard The walls of the eastern part of the nave are considerably thicker than those of the western part, suggesting the former presence of a very substantial axial tower.
To the east of the church is a motte and bailey castle of the twelfth century. Excavations on the site in the 1964-6 however produced some residual St Neots Ware, suggesting late Saxon occupation nearby (Sellars 1966). This may suggest the present late medieval hall, which is adjacent to the motte, occupies the site of a late Saxon thegnly complex. A speculative gatehouse to the latter is depicted on the right hand side of the illustration.
The church is usually open
References
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) 1916, Essex, Volume 1
Sellars, E. 1966, Great Easton, Medieval archaeology 10, 190
The place-name is misleading, it was never the east tun or estate farm of anywhere. In Domesday it is Eistanes ('the island of the stones' or more specifically, 'the island of the Roman remains'). This may refer to an island in the River Chelmer which the church overlooks. There is certainly much re-used Roman brick in the present building. Like Chickney, the church occupies a curvilinear churchyard The walls of the eastern part of the nave are considerably thicker than those of the western part, suggesting the former presence of a very substantial axial tower.
To the east of the church is a motte and bailey castle of the twelfth century. Excavations on the site in the 1964-6 however produced some residual St Neots Ware, suggesting late Saxon occupation nearby (Sellars 1966). This may suggest the present late medieval hall, which is adjacent to the motte, occupies the site of a late Saxon thegnly complex. A speculative gatehouse to the latter is depicted on the right hand side of the illustration.
The church is usually open
References
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) 1916, Essex, Volume 1
Sellars, E. 1966, Great Easton, Medieval archaeology 10, 190