Compton

Compton today is just an area of Ashbourne but centuries ago it was an area whose traders were able to undercut the prices of traders in Ashbourne.

The name Compton may be a reference to a battle site in the war between the 'English' and the Danes around 900 AD

Compton is not only the name of a street but was originally the name of an area.  It was a completely separate place and not administratively  part of Ashbourne until 1873. The boundary of Compton with Ashbourne was the watercourse the Scolebrook or Henmore Brook which was a boundary before the Conquest in 1066.  This is still the boundary between the two Shrovetide football teams.

Furthermore Compton itself was dived between two townships.  The eastside of Compton was in Sturston and the westside was part of Clifton. Again this is of significance to Shrovetiders as the two goals are Sturston and Clifton Mills.  Such a boundary must have been introduced before Compton was occupied and could be pre-1066.   This boundary explains the rather curious wording used in 1898 to describe the two Lumbard brothers who lived on opposite sides of Compton.  Edward Lumbard, of Lumbard’s Garage, was of ”Compton in the township of Sturston in the parish of Ashbourne” while his brother, who inherited the family’s butchery on the opposite side of the road, i.e. the west side, was of “Compton in the township of Clifton in the parish of Ashbourne”.

The name Compton (Campdene) may go back to before the Conquest.  The name might mean ‘the valley where a fight occurred’.  In the period 875 to 925 Ashbourne was on the border between the areas controlled by the English and the Danes.  Derby was taken by the English in 917.  So a skirmish around Compton is quite possible.




 

In the 1270's Ashbourne traders complied with The Assize of Bread and Ale, but had their prices undercut by Compton traders.

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Probably the best known of the 15 remaining Festival Football games played in Britain, the game at Ashbourne is takes place throughout the streets each year on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. The boundary between the two teams, Upards and Downards, is the Scolebrook/Henmore Brook.

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