The Saxon Period.

The Saxon Period.

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We do not know exactly how, or when, Bossington and Houghton became the Saxon villages that their names indicate. Bossington is probably derived from a leader called “Bosa” - a known Saxon name (there was a Bishop Bosa of York in the 7^th Century ). The word-ending “ing” generally means “the people of” and “ton” simply means an “enclosure” or “hamlet”. Bossington therefore means “The village of Bosa’s people”. Similarly “hough” usually means a hill or a mound and therefore Houghton probably means “The village by the hill”, referring to the slope of Houghton Down above the village.

In many ways Houghton is an archetypal Saxon village: it is a long ribbon development straggling along the riverbank. As the Saxon invaders originally came from the sea, following in their boats the course of the major rivers upstream, it was natural that they should settle first on the riverbank where their boats were moored. Little is known about Saxon Bossington but it is likely to have been near the present church of St James.

Christianity came to the valley during the 6^th and 7^th centuries. At first, services were probably conducted in the open. Later simple wooden churches were built at both Bossington and Houghton and smaller chapels at Pittleworth and North Houghton. All, or most, were in turn rebuilt in stone in the 12^th century. [See Churches and Chapels].