Wonford Village and the Great House
The project story ...
A group of local residents, acting as the steering group for the project, met throughout 2019 to make the decisions about how to celebrate the long history of Wonford Village and the Great House. They truly do deserve to be called the Wonderful Wonford Pod!
As well as our Wonderful Wonford Pod, we were thrilled to work locally with:-
Wynstream School
Wonford Community and Learning Centre
Wonford Methodist Church
Girls Brigade and the Beanies
Wynstream School
Wonford Community and Learning Centre
Wonford Methodist Church
Girls Brigade and the Beanies
800 years of Wonford Village!
Early on in the project members of the Pod arranged to meet with Steve Reed, one of the excavation team of the Gardeners' Arms site in 2000 and he was able to show them that the bell-shaped area shown in green here is in fact a typical settlement plan from the early medieval period. This suggests that the layout of the current village is likely to date to the same time as the earliest manor house - i.e. the late 12th Century. That's around AD 1200.
Just to help you orientate yourself that means the street layout of Wonford Village itself dates to the time of King John and the legends of Robin Hood!
Early on in the project members of the Pod arranged to meet with Steve Reed, one of the excavation team of the Gardeners' Arms site in 2000 and he was able to show them that the bell-shaped area shown in green here is in fact a typical settlement plan from the early medieval period. This suggests that the layout of the current village is likely to date to the same time as the earliest manor house - i.e. the late 12th Century. That's around AD 1200.
Just to help you orientate yourself that means the street layout of Wonford Village itself dates to the time of King John and the legends of Robin Hood!
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What did the Wonford Great House look like?
The Pod quickly found that the archaeological evidence for exactly what the Wonford Great House would have looked like is not good. However, using the excavation report and looking at examples of still standing medieval manor houses of a similar date they feel confident to say:- 1) It sat on a square plot of around 700 metres square including square moat. 2) Its front gate would have faced the village with a small bridge over the moat 3) It would have had a steeply gabled roof and small windows 4) The very first house dating to around AD1200 may even have been timber but later versions were almost certain constructed from our very own, red, Heavitree stone And from this evidence local artist Steve Bramble created the project's very own original artwork logo! 
The Wonford Project logo - click here to see the development of our very own logo by local artist - Steve Bramble
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Example Medieval Moated Manor Houses
Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire
Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59834609 
Ightham Manor
By Katie Chan - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33966990 |
More recent Wonford histories and local reminiscence
Wonford Reminiscence
Some are more interested, of course, in more recent history and Pod members organised a Reminiscence event to hear stories from living memory. At a friendly chat with tea and cake, Pod researchers were able to really flesh out their understanding of the development of Wonford Street in particular.
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And we had some great chats with more folk at the Wonford Summer Fair where the Pod also managed to raise funds through the sale of hand-made project merchandise |
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Working with Wynstream Primary, Yr5 - July 2019
We were thrilled to be able to work with over 50 children from Wynstream Primary and in early July, the Wonford Pod commissioned professional, participatory artists Gaby Lovatt and Becci Erikkson to work with two classes of 30 Yr5 children to develop Medieval emblems. Taking typical medieval imagery as their inspiration the children worked hard to develop 16 images of their own to be used in the Moat Recreation event.
We were thrilled to be able to work with over 50 children from Wynstream Primary and in early July, the Wonford Pod commissioned professional, participatory artists Gaby Lovatt and Becci Erikkson to work with two classes of 30 Yr5 children to develop Medieval emblems. Taking typical medieval imagery as their inspiration the children worked hard to develop 16 images of their own to be used in the Moat Recreation event.
Hitting the Press - 4th July 2019
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Recreating the Moat - 11th July 2019
Two Yr5 forms of Wynstream Primary children, along with TAs, teachers and some parents too, visited the Wonford Methodist Church to draw on the ground where the moat of the lost Great House of Wonford once was, using their own especially designed medieval emblems.
It was a fantastic morning, well supported by several volunteers from the Methodist Church and from our very own Wonford Pod. The children of Wynstream worked incredibly hard through several stages of a complex creative process to make something truly beautiful together. Their amazing work now means that the project has a range of original designs that can be reproduced on the Wonford Great House interpretation board.
Two Yr5 forms of Wynstream Primary children, along with TAs, teachers and some parents too, visited the Wonford Methodist Church to draw on the ground where the moat of the lost Great House of Wonford once was, using their own especially designed medieval emblems.
It was a fantastic morning, well supported by several volunteers from the Methodist Church and from our very own Wonford Pod. The children of Wynstream worked incredibly hard through several stages of a complex creative process to make something truly beautiful together. Their amazing work now means that the project has a range of original designs that can be reproduced on the Wonford Great House interpretation board.
See more about the school's involvement here - - https://www.wynstreamprimary.org.uk/great-house-project
Finale events Sunday 27th October 2019
The Wonford Pod arranged a full day of creative celebrations including:-
The unveiling of the Wonford Great House Interpretation Board
Guided Trails
Reminiscence with tea and cake
Lantern parade
Medieval-themed party
The Wonford Pod arranged a full day of creative celebrations including:-
The unveiling of the Wonford Great House Interpretation Board
Guided Trails
Reminiscence with tea and cake
Lantern parade
Medieval-themed party
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What you had to say
Very interesting, very well presented. Good to see what's behind what is now. Picturing how it would have been. Thank you. Excellent tour. Very knowledgeable guides and didn't realise how much history surrounds where I live! Fantastic walk and talk. Very interesting and informative Very enjoyable and interesting Lovely relaxed informative walk. Thank you Excellent, informative and engaging Brilliant Thank You Thank you JoJo and everyone else involved - It's been wonderful learning so much more about 'my' area Fascinating history of Wonford Street - the road we live on! Thank you. Fascinating - I saw parts of Exeter I never new existed. Will look at Wonford differently now - lots of historical interest. Excellent work by so many. Thank you. Extremely interesting. A lot of work. Fascinating! Well done all concerned. Well done everyone. Brilliant. Wonford past. Very interesting Thank you. Very Interesting. Very much enjoyed. Thank you. Very interesting Thanks so much to everyone who made this happen, especially the 'gilet jaunes' team. A really enjoyable and interesting walk I'd just like to thank you for a lovely interesting walk this afternoon. Very well run, fun & informative. |
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And finally ....
In March 2020 the Heavitree Squilometre were pleased to team up again with the Heavitree Local History Society as part of their annual talks to present their Wonford Village and Great House findings. Kindly hosted by the Wonford Methodist Church to allow good disability access and so that people could come to view the new Interpretation Board, around 40 local history buffs were able to engage with this piece of re-discovered heritage.
In March 2020 the Heavitree Squilometre were pleased to team up again with the Heavitree Local History Society as part of their annual talks to present their Wonford Village and Great House findings. Kindly hosted by the Wonford Methodist Church to allow good disability access and so that people could come to view the new Interpretation Board, around 40 local history buffs were able to engage with this piece of re-discovered heritage.
Phew, that was fun!