Page 13 - Ludlow Tower January 2023

Christ's Croft
The open space to the east of the
house known as The Croft, Number 11,
Dinham, running down towards the
river is (or was) known as Christ Croft
(’Cristecroft’). The word 'croft' derives
from Old English and means an
enclosed field, but whether this
enclosure dedicated to Our Lord refers
originally to glebe land belonging to an
older parish church than Saint Laurence,
and so antedating the first settlement of
Augustinian friars in Ludlow, is
uncertain.
Some historians believe the land may
have formed part of the defences of an
early settlement based on Dinham, and
it does align with the outer bailey of the
Castle.
The prevailing opinion is that Christ's
Croft takes its name from the site of
the original Augustinian priory, erected
here when the Black Friars first came
to Ludlow. There is no surviving trace
of the original buildings - they were
probably only constructed of timber
and wattle-daub - but a chapel for the
friars' daily offices of divine service will
certainly have existed on this site
before the friars finally moved to their
new home on Lower Galdeford in
1256.
Nick Ford
WORDs OF THE
YEAR
The four leading English-language
dictionaries have announced their
‘words of the year’ for 2022.
The Oxford English Dictionary went for
‘goblin mode’ – ‘a type of behaviour
which is unapologetically self-indulgent,
lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a
way that rejects social norms or
expectations’ - which went viral on
social media perhaps as a reflection of a
widespread reluctance to return to
’normal life’ after the Covid pandemic.
Merriam Webster opted for ‘gaslighting’
– ‘the psychological manipulation of a
person that causes the victim to
question the validity of their own
thoughts and perception of reality
leading to confusion, loss of confidence,
uncertainty of their emotional or
mental stability and a dependence on
the perpetrator’.
The Cambridge Dictionary’s ‘homer’ -
American slang for a home run in
baseball owes its place in the list to
Wordle, the online five-letter word
puzzle. Thousands of non-American
Wordle players turned to the dictionary
for an explanation of the unfamiliar
term when it eluded them to bring a
winning streak to an end.
Collins English Dictionary’s choice of
‘permacrisis’ - ‘an extended period of
instability and uncertainty’ seems
particularly apposite given the on-going
pandemic, war in Europe, droughts,
floods, famine and wildfires of climate
change, political instability, and now a
truly frightening cost-of-living crisis.
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