It is said that the Danes rowed up the Trent as far as Stone where they burnt down the local priory. If so, they must have passed near the micro settlement of Burston.

Being a romantic, I like to think that they stopped here en route.

With a bit of imagination one can detect a very small bench near the said site of Burston’s footbridge. From there they could have wandered ‘inland’ and perhaps noticed chimney smoke in the distance. Tempted, they would have walked up the valley side to where there might have been settlements. I like to think there were at least two of these. The first was the home of Bura, hence Buraston or Farm. This site was across the steam, just below the Greyhound Inn. It is now a ruin but clearly a one-time home. In the stream quite recently, a purse was found containing five coins thrown away in a panic perhaps, dated from the fourth century. They are in my possession.

Having pillaged this site, the Danes may have moved to the then main road, to a longhouse, the foundations of which were outlined in our lawn at Yew Tree House. One day I dug into a flowerbed and came across a large sandstone foundation block. It was surrounded by an amount of burnt ashes. Now who is to say that this wasn’t a further example to add weight to my musings.