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THREAD. Here’s the story of the reconstruction of the layout of a small #medieval town in 1249-5 - including who was living where: #CanYouBelieveIt? It’s March, in fenland like many of my examples, but the methods are straightforward & can be applied anywhere. 
2. Altho the one I’m interested in (around the crossing of the R Nene) is called March today, it was called Mercheford in 1249-50 when it was 1st recorded. The 13thC place called March lay about a mile to the S around the church near the bottom of the OS map.
3. Here’s the 1900 OS map of Mercheford. It’s believed to have been a planned settlement, laid out between 1222 (when it wasn’t mentioned in a list of the Bp of a Ely’s estates) & 1249-50 (when it was). Was it planned? How can we tell? The rule is..
