Thynghowe was an important
Viking Age open-air assembly place or thing, located at
Sherwood Forest, in
Nottinghamshire, England. It was lost to history until its rediscovery in 2005 by the husband and wife team of Stuart Reddish and Lynda Mallett, local history enthusiasts.[1]
The assembly mound is at Hanger Hill,[a]
close to a parish boundary stone.[b]
As a result of continued research, Thynghowe is now included on the English
Historic England Archive.[4][5]
The site lies amidst the old oaks of an area known as the Birklands in Sherwood Forest.[3]
Experts believe it may also yield clues as to the boundary of the ancient
Anglo Saxon kingdoms of
Mercia and
Northumbria.[l]
It functioned as a place where people came to resolve disputes and settle issues.
The name Thynghowe is of
Old Norse origin, although the site may be older than the
Danelaw, perhaps even
Bronze Age.[5]
The word howe often indicates the presence of a prehistoric
burial mound.[m]
The thyng or thing was historically the governing assembly in
Germanic peoples[n]
and was introduced into some
Celtic societies as well. It was made up of the free people of the community and presided over by law-speakers.[13]
^ The "mycel hæþen here" (
Great Heathen Army) over wintered at
Torksey
(near
Lincoln) AD 872-3[10][11]
This was probably the first opportunity for the Danes to discover the
Sherwood Forest area.
The distance from Torksey to Edwinstowe is about 19 miles via A6075 ( Google ).
^ In 2011,
English Heritage inspected the site, and confirmed it was known as "Thynghowe" in 1334 and 1609.
^ People of
Celtic origin found the ' Þ ' of the Old Norse language ( pronounced ” th ” ) difficult,
hence words that began ' th ' were often shortened to begin with just ' t ' or ' h '
(e.g. Number three - "tree")
^ It was lost to history until its rediscovery in 2005 by the husband and wife team Lynda Mallett and Stuart Reddish[1]
^ In the year AD 942 the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reported that,
following the military conquest of Danish Mercia by
Eadmond,
a new boundary existed between the lands of the Norse kings and of Eadmond .
[12]
... on a very ancient line dividing the historical Mercia from Deira ...
Adams, Max (2017). Aelfred's Britain: War and Peace in the Viking Age. Head of Zeus.
ISBN9781784080310.
Williams, Thomas (2017). Viking Britain - A History. William Collins Books.
ISBN978-0-00-817195-7.
Higham, Nicholas J.; Ryan, Martin J. (2015). The Anglo-Saxon World. Yale University Press.
ISBN978-0-300-21613-4.
Arthur, Ross G. (2002). English-Old Norse Dictionary pdf. In Parentheses Publications.
Reaney, P H (1969). The Origin of English Place Names. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Related reading
Community archaeology at Thynghowe, Birklands, Sherwood Forest by Lynda Mallett, Stuart Reddish, John Baker, Stuart Brookes and Andy Gaunt.Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire, Volume 116 (2012)