Freewomen of Fordwich

This short documentary film, Freewomen of Fordwich, investigates the status of women in an English small town (Fordwich in Kent) from a historical and modern day viewpoint. The film primarily focuses on the punishment of women in the medieval period in particular and compares this to the historical status of ‘Freewoman’ that was also a feature of women’s history in Fordwich. The film compares this history with the story of two modern day women who were recently given the honorary title of Free Woman . These two women also have power in the town being the former major and the current Landlady of the town pub, The Fordwich Arms. The reasons why I was drawn to this small town and its interesting perspective on women are due to me being a foreign student and encountering unfamiliar historical punishment methods such as the Ducking Stool and the Scold’s Bridle. This led to me being curious about women who live in a small English town in terms of both history and contemporary life.