{{Short description, Villages in England
The Fold villages are a group of villages in the
Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...
of
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
and
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
, whose suffix of -fold indicates a common origin as
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
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peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
settlements in cleared areas of woodland.
Such settlements were established on the better-drained soils of the Weald, the word "fold" being derived from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
"falod" meaning a staked-off pasture area. This indicates that the settlers were probably herders of domesticated animals such as sheep, cattle and pigs rather than arable farmers. The same source suggests that such folds were occupied on a seasonal basis with stock being moved by
drove road
A drovers' road, drove ''roador droveway is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were ancient routes of unknown age; oth ...
s between the folds and the coastal grazing areas, permanent occupation of the folds being completed by the end of the 12th century.
The Agrarian History of England and Wales
''The Agrarian History of England and Wales'' is an academic work, published by Cambridge University Press, which in 8 volumes covers the period from the origins to 1939. Vols. 1, 5 and 7 are each in two parts. Joan Thirsk
Irene Joan Thirsk, ...
: Volume 2, 1042-1350, edited by Stuart Piggott, H. E. Hallam, Edward Miller, G. E. Mingay,
Joan Thirsk
Irene Joan Thirsk, (''née'' Watkins; 19 June 1922 – 3 October 2013) was a British economic and social historian, specialising in the history of agriculture. She was the leading British early modern agrarian historian of her era, as well as ...
, H. P. R. Finberg, E. J. T. Collins (
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
, 2000 (p.181)
Examples of the Fold Villages include
Alfold
Alfold is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England on the West Sussex border. Alfold is a dispersed or polyfocal village in the Green Belt, which is buffered from all other settlements. The Greensand Way runs north of the village along th ...
,
Dunsfold
Dunsfold is a village in the borough of Waverley, Surrey, England, 8.7 miles (14 kilometres) south of Guildford. It lies in the Weald and reaches in the north the southern escarpment of the Greensand Ridge. It includes the Wey and Arun Canal ...
, Stotfold,
Chiddingfold
Chiddingfold is a village and civil parish in the Weald in the Waverley district of Surrey, England. It lies on the A283 road between Milford and Petworth. The parish includes the hamlets of Ansteadbrook, High Street Green and Combe Common.
C ...
,
Slinfold
Slinfold is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England.
Geography
The village is almost west of Horsham, just off the A29 road.
The parish covers . The 2001 Census recorded a population of 1,647 people living ...
and
Runfold
Runfold is a village in Surrey, United Kingdom, U.K., about ENE of Farnham.
Runfold lies on the ancient trackway known as the Pilgrims' Way and on the former route of the A31 road, which has by-passed the village since the early 1990s. Loss o ...