THEMES:

The Topsham Charter

Topsham was first documented as a Roman settlement. In the 11th century it was given by the King to the Minster church in Exeter. The boundaries of the land granted by the King later became the bounds of the parish of Topsham, which have remained unaltered since the early Middle Ages. It is possible to trace Topsham’s ancient boundary through modern maps.

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

The Anglo Saxon text

The text of the Topsham Charter has been broken down into the individual elements as shown in the walkthrough above. In its original form the document was written in sentences.

1. Ǽrest fram toppes horan úp an exan on þone nearen teampol
2. þanon úp on exan
3. þǽnne of exan on þa smalan lace
4. of þǽre lace eft an exan
5. þǽnne úp anlang exan on þone uferan teampol
6. ǽnon úp on exan stream od pole
7. úp of pole on þone ealdan herpod to dyranstreope
8. þanan sud on pynford
9. úp on stream on pyndeles cumb
10. middepeardne úp on þa pyrian þanon
11. anlang dice on þone peg
12. east an lang peges on þǽre dice hyrnan
13. anlang dice ut on clyst anlang streames eft to toppeshoran

Characters used here in substitute for Anglo-Saxon characters:

• Ǽ
• ǽ