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Simons Strip - Footpath repairs

Saturday, 03 July 2010 10:35

A big thank you to Travis Perkins for their support of the latest parish council activity - the repairs to the footpath across 'Simons Strip' and into the Mingledown woods.

Travis Perkins provided the materials, delivery and tool hire to this community project. The project targeted the areas of the footpath by the bridge and both kissing-gates into the wood, as these areas have been very muddy and eroding quickly during the winter months.

To protect the rural nature of the village and to minimise the visual effect of such a change, only problematic areas were surfaced, not the entire length of the path.

The parish council would also like to thank those members of the community that gave up their time to perform the work.

Beating the bounds of Chawton

Wednesday, 31 March 2010 15:59

In former times when maps were rare, it was usual to make a formal tour of the parish boundaries. The priest of the parish with the churchwardens and the parochial officials, headed a crowd of boys who, armed with green boughs, usually birch or willow, beat the parish boundary markers with them. Sometimes the boys were themselves whipped, or even violently bumped on the boundary stones to make them remember. The object of taking boys is supposed to ensure that witnesses to the boundaries, should survive as long as possible.

The ceremony had an important practical purpose. Checking the boundaries was a way of preventing encroachment by neighbours; sometimes boundary markers would be moved, or lines obscured and a folk memory of the true extent of the parish, was necessary to maintain integrity of borders.

In England the custom is as old as Anglo-Saxon days, as it is mentioned in the laws of Alfred the Great and Aethelstan, however it could go back as far as the Vikings, or even the Romans who had a festival – Terminalia – in honour of Terminus, the god of landmarks.

It is some time since we ‘beat the bounds’ of Chawton, so this coming October, on Saturday 2nd, we will be doing what Chawtonians have been doing for centuries.
We will start mid morning from the entrance to Chawton House drive, with lunch at the Greyfriar before the second half of our 11 mile walk.

It is a fun day out, good exercise too, and a chance to meet your fellow villagers.

Nearer the date I will confirm the exact time of departure.

Tony Day
01420 561484

Councillor Vacancy

Friday, 05 March 2010 00:00

Chawton parish council currently has a vacancy for a parish councillor.
We meet once a month and you can tailor the level of involvement to fit your circumstances.