Whitwell-on-the-Wold
Demographics
Almost entirely populated by those native to south-western Talanthia, with a couple families that have foreign origins (both from Raemar from the south, as well as a prominent artisan family from Roune). There is hints of some ancient noble blood in the village, as well as the possibility of some fey ancestry, due to its proximity to ancient fey ruins, though nothing more than rumors and family tradition back up these beliefs.
Government
Whitwell is a small feudal village which has expanded beyond the status of hamlet, but is nevertheless without a charter of City. It is ruled by a local Lord, descendant of a landed knight who established himself as a decent subject of the crown, and good with his given resources. The title of Lord of Whitwell thus became a hereditary title and the position grew slightly from the very smallest of country manors to actually house a small, walled Lord's estate. It therefore became something of a refuge point for nearby hamlets the walled estate could be used in times of great distress to house some fair number of nearby villagers.
Lord Whitwell, ruling at the behest and service of the local baron, manages the town with the help of a Steward, or "Village-Reeve." The steward manages many of the administrative functions on behalf of both the manor and the village itself, collecting taxes, settling disputes, and generally running the estate if and when the lord is away. The village was also fortunate to have the service of a verderer, or ranger, who managed the local forest and wildlife, and settling disputes regarding common land and game.
Infrastructure
The village's church having been destroyed after the The Treaty of Tormhill, Whitwell technically lost its status of "town," within the feudal structure, but given the universal nature of this fact, it was granted that towns which had had a church but lacked a City Writ could be classified as "villages" rather than being lowered to that of a hamlet, and would therefore be granted to keep the various rights and privileges associated with their previously earned status. This practice was not universally followed throughout the kingdom, but was generally the way such matters were resolved.
Whitwell also features a walled manor-house, which contains a small functioning population of its own, in addition to a small, spared, prayer chapel. It also maintained the services of an active grain mill on the river, a local public house (the "Cat and Mustard Pot") as well as a ranger's hut on the far side of the river. The village sat at the confluence of two main (dirt) roads, one which stretched north and south from the village, and another, which originated from the village and stretched east through the Wold, which functioned as the main connection for the region to the rest of the barony. There was also an old path which left the village to the west and continued on into untamed lands near an old "Elf Forest" and beyond.
The village managed the services of many different trades which, though rarely the primary occupation of the villagers in question, substantially added to its self-sufficiency. These services included fletcher, a thatcher, a milner, a cobbler, a wheel and wainwright, a weaver, a potter, a cooper, and freeman ferrier (a rarity in a village of this size, of which the village was duly proud).
Architecture
Mostly single-unit post-and-beam farmsteads, made from stucco and timber, with thatched roofs. The old church appeared to have been made from limestone quarried nearby, and the manor likewise.
Geography
Sitting high upon the high rolling north-to-south plain known as "The Chalk," the village flanked the western banks of a river, with fields rolling down and away from it to the north-west, with the highest point of the immediate area being home to the manor-house.
Maps
Founding Date
386
Type
Village
Population
126
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
Characters in Location