Saintbury

The name Saintbury is thought to come from Swain meaning villager and Bury meaning hill or Burth meaning fort, which given the village’s age and hillside location, makes perfect sense. Saintbury was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Suineberie. The Church of St Nicholas was built in the 13th century. It is a grade I listed building.

Most of the original Saintbury houses were separated from each other by twists in the hillside. You also had to be quite fit to live there, as outside the house you would often be walking up or down hill. In 1910 most houses had cowsheds under the same long roofs as the farmhouse so as to keep everyone warm in the winter.