Staple Village
( From an article supplied by a Local Resident, Karen Garwood-Young)
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By considering the meaning of the word STAPLE and its derivations we are able to conclude that people have inhabited this particular village for a very long time, and for many different reasons.
There are five meanings given to the word STAPLE in the Universal Dictionary: 1) To hold fast. 2) A U-shaped piece of wire or metal with pointed ends. 3) Principal commodity. 4) Part of a lock. 5) Place of execution.
As far as our village is concerned, only meanings 3 or 5 need considering. The Old English word STAPOL meant pillar or block of execution, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that as far back as pagan times that this was the case. The old French word ETAPE - halting place, may well apply during Chaucer's time of pilgrimages to Canterbury, and many centuries later. There is at least one remaining cottage in Staple which was a watering place.
In Chaucer's times there lived a knight called John of Gaunt. In John's will money was left to a 'Kathryn of Staple'. Was this perhaps Catherine Swynford, John's mistress, whom he married in the late 13th Century? We know that spelling varied with the scribe at the time of writing. So were these two Kathryns the same person? Was it 'our' Staple? (I'd love to hear from any students of Chaucer's writings who may be able to shed light on this).
Back to the derivation of the word Staple: Another old French word ESTAPLE - a place where merchants enjoyed trading privileges appointed by Royal Charter, solely to export certain goods: leather, textiles, tinware and wool. This offers the most probability. If we consider a dew facts: Local merchants must have been faring well during Edwards' the Fist and Second reigns; the indigenous sheep grazed local pastures; that the Monarchy was saved when the ransom for Richard the Lion Heart was paid in wool sacks; most of the current enactments benefited these merchants and they had their own courts. For instance the 'Court of the Mayor of the Staple' was of considerable antiquity, and it is quite possible that this was held at Grove, this being the oldest property site in the area. Here customs duties upon the wool trade would be levied. This tax, established in 1276 A.D. was to remain until the decline of the wool trade in 1678 A.D., with the popularity of cotton.
One object of the 1283 'Statute of Acton Burnell' was to remove the Staple from Calais to 15 appointed places in England, Ireland and Wales. This is where the Royal Appointment decreed that 'All wool for export should be gathered at the Staple, if not the selling there.' One local (in this area) government regulation of 1200 A.D. was that - 'No tradesman be allowed to lend anything to the spinners of wool'.
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