Editing Hanwell (section)

====Ancient Saxon burials====
Middlesex as a whole has a dearth of early Saxon archaeology. However, the nearby place names of [[Ealing]], [[Yeading]] and [[London Borough of Harrow|Harrow]] are of the early Saxon period, even though there are no surviving records of their presence in the Brent valley and its tributaries at this time.

In 1886, during excavation of gravel on Hanwell Common, seven Saxon graves were discovered. They were found approximately where Oaklands Primary School stands today. Of these burials, it is thought that at least three were men with iron spears. Gold-plated copper alloy brooches were also found and may be seen in the Museum of London.<ref>'Archaeology: The Pagan Saxon Period', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 1, Physique, Archaeology, Domesday, Ecclesiastical Organization, the Jews, Religious Houses, Education of Working Classes To 1870, Private Education From Sixteenth Century, ed. J S Cockburn, H P F King and K G T McDonnell (London, 1969), pp. 74–79. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol1/pp74-79 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413124024/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol1/pp74-79 |date=13 April 2019 }} accessed 29 April 2019.</ref> They have been dated to between the fifth and the mid sixth century and attest to the age of this Saxon settlement in Hanwell.<ref>An archaeological watching brief at 75b Studley Grange Road, London Borough of Ealing (9 May 2005) [http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/oasis_reports/aocarcha1/ahds/dissemination/doc/aocarcha1-10021.doc] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709192203/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=oasis_reports%2Faocarcha1%2Fahds%2Fdissemination%2Fdoc%2Faocarcha1-10021.doc|date=9 July 2021}}. Retrieved 10 November 2010.</ref>

However, when they were first uncovered, it led some historians to suppose that these were warriors slain in battle.<ref>Sharpe, Montagu (1926). Some accounts of bygone Hanwell. Chapt 3; pages 15 & 16. Brentford Printing and Publishing Coy., Ltd. London. UK.</ref> Especially since some 50 iron spears were found close by. In Victorian times they only had the written records to go on, and, as no mention of Saxon occupation in Middlesex appear for this period, it was a reasonable hypothesis to consider, even though there was no evidence for this fanciful idea that any had died in battle.<ref>{{Cite book
  | last =Oates
  | first = Jonathan
  | title =Southall and Hanwell
  | publisher =The History Press Ltd
  | date = 30 September 2002
  | isbn =978-0-7524-2638-9}}</ref> Archaeological evidence has since shown that Saxons were already present in small numbers along the River Thames generations earlier. Yet the colourful tale of the Battle of Bloody Croft (given as circa AD 572) circulates locally to this day.
<ref>'Archaeology: The Pagan Saxon Period', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 1: Physique, Archaeology, Domesday, Ecclesiastical Organization, The Jews, Religious Houses, Education of Working Classes to 1870, Private Education from Sixteenth Century (1969), pp. 74–79.  [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22102] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027214326/http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22102|date=27 October 2011}}. Retrieved 10 November 2010.</ref>

Bloody Croft alludes to a small former common field called Blood Croft.  This used to lie between the present-day golf links to the west, Greenford Avenue to the east, and is partly covered by the northern half of the present-day Grove Avenue, which itself is 1.5&nbsp;km to the nor-nor west of the burial site. Since ancient times, pigs were let loose into the woods that once stood upon Cuckoo Hill, to feed upon the acorns and roots therein. This practice was even recorded in the Domesday Book entry for Hanwell. Therefore, the name may just allude to the place, where they were then slaughtered during the Saxon lunar ''blood month'', which falls around November.  ''Blotmonað'': blot  ''blood or a sacrifice'', monað  ''month.''<ref>{{Cite book
  | last = Bosworth
  | first = J
  | title = A dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon language
  | publisher = Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman.
  | year = 1838
  | location = London
  | page = 60
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YIALAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA60
  | access-date = 6 November 2016
  | archive-date = 9 July 2021
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210709192139/https://books.google.com/books?id=YIALAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA60
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref> The [[English Place-Name Society]] found in its search of the Hanwell records an earlier name for the field, which was ''Blood Cut Meadow''. Their only comment is "possibly 'land on which veterinary phlebotomy was practised.'"
<ref>{{Cite book
  | last = Field
  | first = John
  | title = Field-Names of the London Borough of Ealing
  | publisher =English Place-Name Society
  | year = 1976
  | page = 14
  | isbn =0-904889-03-3 }}</ref>

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