Bawdeswell
The village of Bawdeswell (pronounced 'Bordswell') lies
seven miles north-east of Dereham.
In Chaucer's The Reeve's Tale (part of
The Canterbury Tales) Reeve
Oswald lived in Baldeswell (old spelling).
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.............He came, as I heard tell
From Norfolk, near a place called Baldeswell.
His coat was tucked under his belt and splayed.
He rode the hindmost of our cavalcade. |
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Geoffrey Chaucer
(c.1340-1400) |
Chaucer's uncle was reputedly the rector in Bawdeswell
and the old timbered building (opposite the church)
known as 'Chaucer House' may have been his rectory.
Parts of the house may date from the 15th and even the
14th century, so it is conceivable that Chaucer did
visit Bawdeswell - although it's impossible to prove.
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Chaucer House
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Bawdeswell village sign |
The Reeve's Tale concerns two clerks who are cheated
by a miller and in order to get their revenge they sleep
with the miller's wife and daughter. The miller comes
from Trumpington near Cambridge.Walter Rye, the
Norfolk antiquarian, wrote a book entitled Chaucer, A
Norfolk Man (1915) in which he suggests that
Chaucer's father came from
King's Lynn. Chaucer's son was also the owner of a
farm at Gresham in North
Norfolk which he sold to Sir William Paston.
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Links:
Bawdeswell Site |
Supported
by Norfolk Tourism