FieldTown

The Field Town morris tradition comes from the village of Leafield (and probably from the neighboring villages of Minster Lovell and Finstock) located in Wychwood Forest in northwestern Oxfordshire. For much of its history Leafield was a part of the lands belonging to the Duke of Marlboro and thus the Churchill/Spenser family.

Sharp's researches led him to believe that FieldTown was renowned as one of the best morris sides in Oxfordshire. He collected many of the FieldTown dances from Henry Franklin, a retired police officer. Even though aged 81, Franklin demonstrated many of the dances and tunes.

FieldTown is the primary tradition danced by Berkeley Morris, which is the oldest and largest team in the Bay Area. They are also the godparent of many of the other Bay Area teams.

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Steve Allen <sla@ucolick.org>