Nettlebed

On the 70th Anniversary of the ending of World War Two we remember those who served and those who gave their lives in the defence of our nation. The men from Nettlebed who died are recorded on the village war memorial at St Bartholomew’s Church lych-gate and their names are read at Nettlebed’s Royal British Legion Annual Remembrance Service every November. Where the service records of particular individuals are known it is important that these are recorded on the Nettlebed website’s history page. We would be pleased to add the wartime careers of others if the details could be sent to the editor@nettlebed.org **************************** Captain John (Jack) Egerton Broome DSC RN 23.02.1901 – 19.04.1985 A destroyer captain who defended convoys with vital supplies for Britain and Russia during the long Battle of the Atlantic and later commanded an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. Jack Broome served in the Royal Navy in both World Wars. He entered the Royal Naval College at Osborne. Isle of Wight,...

Nettlebed minted its own coinage in the 17th century. The turmoil of the English Civil War 1642-1651 caused a shortage of small coinage such as farthings and halfpennies (pr. ha’pennies) which had stopped being minted by the Government.  This was a problem for local tradesmen, particularly alehouse keepers. To counter the shortage “token money” was produced in many towns and villages such as Henley and Nettlebed and for twenty-four years 1648-1672 the currency of these privately issued tokens, defined as “money of necessity”, was not challenged by the authorities. Tokens were issued in Henley and other larger villages by many traders between 1669 and 1672 who were required to pay a local tax based on the number of smelting “hearths” they operated. The taxation records show that two tokens were issued in Nettlebed, with its busy coaching inns and thirsty brick and pottery workers. David Gasquon at The Bull paid tax on ten hearths in 1665 and Timothy Holding at The White...

Early history The origin of the name Nettlebed is unknown. There are various theories. One is that Roman soldiers in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD rubbed nettles on their limbs to keep warm on marches. Another well known fact is that nettles yield a thread which can be made into a linen cloth. Many homes at the end of the 18th century had sheets and table cloths made from nettles which grow in abundance around the area. Nettlebed remained part of the manor of Benson until the late 13th century hence it was not mentioned in the  Domesday Book which was a record of the ownership of manorial land. Nettlebed has been an inhabited area for centuries and many middle Stone age implements found in earthworks in a Highmoor trench are now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. At Digberry farm there are little-known remains of a Roman encampment with squared ramparts reaching as high as fifteen feet in places. Grimm's...