A Short, Unauthorised and Inaccurate Account of the History of Willerby

By John Macdebs

170 million years ago – The Jurassic period: the land that is now Willerby stood by a river estuary. Fossils of land and sea animals remain from this time.

500 thousand years ago – Hominins made their way to what will become Britain on a land bridge. What is now Willerby stood on the banks of the Bytham river in which hunter-gatherer populations would have fished for food and used as a route for travel.

18 thousand years ago – The last glacial ice sheet retreats from Willerby, leaving Jack’s Pool filling a shallow indentation in the landscape. It is thought to have been occupied soon after.

6 thousand years ago – The first permanent settlement of Willerby – the barrows round what is now the church date from this period.

693BC (traditional date) – The first smithy was built and local ironstones mined and smelted.

673BC – Date of the Long Barrow – a burial site found to contain a hammer and a necklace of wolves’ teeth and eagles’ talons as well as human remains. The current location of these findings is disputed.

500BC (approx.) – Willerby lies on the border between two tribes – the Old Fort is built to defend the settlement.

325BC – Pytheas of Massalia visits northern Europe, possibly including Britain. He mentions the superior ironworking of a village called Hwelig. Whether or not this was Willerby, the fertile land was good for wheat farming and the village prospered.

43AD – The Dobunni and Corieltauvi tribes submitted to Roman rule. Soldiers from the 14^th legion occupy the Old Fort throughout the Roman Occupation. The Roman Road built nearby cuts Willerby off from the deep forest to the North. Villagers use a short cut to avoid paying tolls.

397AD – Legionaries withdrawn from Old Fort “temporarily” as Roman rule in Britain crumbles. The fort does not seem to have been reoccupied at this time.

500AD – Signs of charcoal burning, and the coppicing of woodland. The first charcoal burners – as an occupation – are thought to date to this time.

670AD – First church building on the Willerby site. Only traces remain. The stories of its founding after St Werbergh rescued geese from Jack’s Pool can be put down to fanciful tale-telling in the Green Man and have no archeological basis.

1086 – Domesday Book mentions within the Manor of Beckworth the “Common of Whelligie Pool” – 16 acres that were to be untaxed.

1217 – The first Green Man is begun – a stone inn built just outside the common to replace the old wooden ale house. Despite receipts for a stone building, the only stone parts of the original construction were the foundations and three feet of walls, the rest was wooden right up to the 19^th century. N.B. The name of this building has changed over the years but is referred to as The Green Man throughout this history.

1348 – Plague comes to Willerby. Village abandoned until some old families return in 1351. Eventually returns to pre-plague population as newcomers move in.

1354 – Edward III tours England to raise taxes for French wars. Visits Coventry and is entertained by local minstrels. The Queen is said to have delighted in the “Gwillerbie Bound”

1485 – Battle of Bosworth Field. Lionel Smith, the smith of Willerby, summoned to Protect The King. Documentation is puzzling and is consistent with protecting both kings, possibly from each other?

1501 – Death of Jane Green, buried in churchyard – oldest marked grave.

1536 – Stoneleigh Abbey dissolved by Henry VIII and awarded to Thomas Leigh. The estate was split on his death with the meadowland and small manor near Willerby awarded to the youngest son. Painted sections of Willerby Church plastered over.

1590 – Original Willo House built by wealthy newcomer to village. Rumours of “Spanish Gold” have never been substantiated. It was almost entirely rebuilt in the 1620s in a medieval style that rejected the fashion of the time.

1631 – Written agreement between the goblin Over-Queen and the landlord of the Green Man agrees some distinctions between human and goblin land. The original text is much altered over the intervening time.

1642-1651 – English Civil War ravages the region. The action bypasses Willerby, which holds onto its inn throughout the Puritan time. The name “The Star” was used in this period and indicates a careful avoidance of politics that remains to this day. Musket ball embedded in church door thought to be the combination of new firearm technology and a local farmer who had imbibed too thoroughly rather than any local battle. Death of Gregory Nichols.

1680 (approx.) -1753 – Willerby prospers as a centre of dairy farming and grows to several times larger than its current size. Willerby cheeses sold as far away as London and Carlisle. Good fortune ends with first visit of the Dun Cow in 1753.

1745 – Invasion of Bonnie Prince Charlie reaches River Trent. Deserters from the army include Ian Macdebs who continued south and settled in Willerby.

1773 – Inclosure act increases the size of the Meadows estate – now owned by the Netherley family. The original deed included what is now Willerby common (and Jack’s Pool), but after the sudden death of William Netherley in 1774 there seems to have been no attempt to enclose this area. The Meadows Manor dates from this time.

1851 – The Great Exhibition. The Tumulus Wrecks go “up London” to perform for Prince Albert and are never seen again.

1854 – Willerby branch line built by the London and North Western Railway. First visit by Castelli’s circus.

1910 – Hugo of Willerby publishes “The Natural History of Dragons”. Seventeen copies are sold.

1914-1918 – First World War. Records in the church show that 127 Willerby men went to fight and the war memorial in the centre of the village records 54 names of those that did not return. In addition, the war memorial records the death of Tom Smelton – not on the original list and not mentioned elsewhere in village records.

1929 – Meadows Manor fire at a great birthday celebration marks the last flourish of the Netherby family fortune. There was no money to rebuild, and the burnt-out manor stood until after the Second World War in which the last heirs to the land died.

1951 – Rene Magritte visits Willerby and stays at the Green Man. Etched graffiti in the gentlemen’s toilet is rumoured to be his work. The legend “Ceci n’est pas une pipi” was added later by a local humourist.

1957 – Early plans for the route of the new motorway would have involved the destruction of Willerby and resettlement of the villagers. The reasoning behind the long curve that detours the area is unrecorded.

1964 – Last official train runs on the Willerby branch. Station closed.

1972 – Advik “Vickers” Vedant becomes the first Indian landlord of the Green Man. It was first referred to as a Desi pub in an article in the Coventry Echo of 1978.

1984 – Miners' strike. Village tale-tellers say that the dwarves downed tools in solidarity and were seen above ground more often this year. The north wall of the church had fallen into disrepair and was remade during the strike.

2002 – Green Man taken into ownership by brewery. Renamed Sooty and Sweep. Widespread dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

2004 – Green Man bought as a free house by landlord Sunny and a village collective. Original name restored, TV memorabilia and merchandising removed and burned.