Beggars Bush: A Perambulation through the Disciplines of History, Geography, Archaeology, Literature, Philology, Natural History, Botany, Biography & Beggary

Evercreech, Somerset Beggars Bush 1778

A Lease and Release between Richard Henry Alexander Benet of St. James’s, Middlesex (1) and Thomas Coward of Spargrove (2) includes Beggars Bush (3.0.18), Pike Hill (0.2.5), Quarr closes (1.2.22, 9.0.39) and one horse common in Southwood in Stony Stratton, Evercreech. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: April 24th, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , , | No Comments »


Castle Cary, Somerset Beggars Bush 1839

A draft chapter for VCH says “Smallway Lane, recorded in the later 17th  century,  cut off the junction of the two roads from Sparkford and continued across country to Wincanton. It was sufficiently well used to support a beerhouse after 1839 on land called Beggars Bush”. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: April 24th, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , , | No Comments »


Bruton, Somerset Beggars Bush 1785

The earliest date is from deeds “relating to land including Beggar’s Bush or Hutchew’s Paddock and Hill Close, between Carter’s and Trendell Lane, . . . in the manor and parish of Bruton”. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: April 23rd, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , | No Comments »


Walcot, Bath, Somerset Beggars Bush 1740

Marked on a map prepared for Mr Gay showing the northern half of Bath before the development of the Royal, Lansdowne or Camden Crescents. Fields are marked with personal names or field names, and numbers. Beggars Bush is marked 73 and is on the northern boundary with Charlcombe Parish. It is the next field above the junction between what is now Lansdowne Road and Beacon Hill Road. Most of the neighbouring fields have personal names. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: April 23rd, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , | No Comments »


Laverton & Lullington, Somerset Beggars Bush 1807

The Lullington/Laverton fields form one site, straddling the parish boundary, close to a crossroads. They are a few hundred yards from the Hemington site, and about 2 miles away from the Frome, Oldford/Berkley sites as the crow flies. Until the 1620’s there was a direct route through Orchardleigh parish, but that was blocked by the Champneys family, who emparked most of the parish, and the new road skirts the park and doubled that distance. Along the edge of the site the road is called Portway, a common name for a road between markets. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: March 19th, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , , , , , , , | No Comments »


Hemington, Somerset Beggars Bush 1840

The Hemington site is a field a few hundred metres away from the Lullington/Laverton site along the line of Portway to the north. It is a lone exposed field, in the next valley, two fields away from the road. The parish boundary between Hemington and Laverton is a brook, not easy to cross.

The origin on the name in Hemington is clear from the names of the adjacent fields in the Tithe Survey, which tell of poor land; Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: March 19th, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , , , , | No Comments »


Phil Quinn Beggars Bush: A study of liminality and social exclusion

Phil Quinn takes a look at the ubiquitous place name of Beggars Bush and finds darkness at the edge of town

Quinn Beggars Bush 3rd Stone 1999
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Origins

As the purpose of this website is to put up for examination research into the place name Beggars Bush I felt I should include this article because it prompted my researches. Quinn’s hypothesis was that these were liminal sites on boundaries where begging or beggars were tolerated.

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Posted: March 17th, 2011 | Filed under: Speculations | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »


Frome West Woodlands Somerset Beggars Bush 1605

A Perambulation of West Woodlands, 1605-1606 has Beggars Bush as a location on the boundary of West Woodlands. (SRO D.615, copy Frome Museum). The perambulation records going up the Broadway towards Cottles Oak, turning at White Cross “along the Way that leadeth Southwards towards Marston and so along the said Way unto Beggars Bush and then along the Way South cross the way that goeth over to Tytherington”.

Many of these locations are identifiable today; White Cross must be the junction of Broadway with Portland Road, so Beggars Bush must be somewhere along Portland Road, Dommetts Lane, Green Lane and Marston Lane, which form a continuous route across the headland of the West Field. The location was probably at Dommetts Lane.
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Posted: March 13th, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , , , , , | No Comments »


Frome Oldford & Berkley Somerset Beggers bushe 1635

The Frome Oldford and Berkley sites are either side of a crossroads at the top of Oldford Hill, on the margin of the north common field.

An Indenture dated 10th September 1635 of church lands leased to Richard Treasure, includes “. . . and also other three acres of the said ten acres doe lye in another feild of Frome Selwood aforesaid called the Northfeild that is to say one acre of the said three acres doth lye nere Beggers bushe the way leading to Bartley on the Northside thereof and the land of Sr Thomas Thynne knight in the tenure of William Johnsons on the Southside thereof  . . “.
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Posted: March 13th, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , , , , , , | No Comments »