DATA BASE REF: H 1034

BELSIZE FARM ASSART c1214AD

Abbot Robert of Lindsay (1214-1222) founded a grange in the manor of Castor, which he granted to the cellary comprising “all our new assarts in Nassaburgh, that is to say Belsize with all its dependencies…” he built houses at Belsize, and planted hedges and drained the land around it…The fields around Belsize are small with many turns and returns. Large amounts of woodland still remain in irregularly shaped patches to remind us that in the thirteenth century this was an area of colonization from the forest. The name indicates that already men had begun to appreciate the beauties of landscape. “Belsize” means beautiful spot or site. Perhaps it seemed to the monks a pleasant spot by comparison with the flat and featureless fen to the North and East”

From Northants Landscape p108