Wyreshire

[Nikevs 0]

Note: This City Journal, much like the city itself, will most definitely be a work in progress. As you may have noticed, I'm new here, this is my first attempt at a CJ, so I will appreciate any friendly advice beyond those of the forum guidelines and tutorials I've already read. That said however, if I happen to lapse into breaking any of the rules set out, then please don't hesitate to remind me (and I'm sure you won't! )

Main Mods/BATs/Sets used (subject to editing):

BSC Texture Pack

NAM

Many BATs I felt would fit in with the British aesthetic; thanks especially to simgoober, nerdly_dood and ill tonkso

Also, to create the region I used both SCRegion and SCTerraFormer.

Thanks to all those dedicated people who put time and effort into these brilliant alterations.

Wyreshire

Wyreshire is a small county located somewhere in the South-West of England (if you wish to place it roughly, It probably represents a smaller, hillier and more wooded Dorset, or part thereof) It boasts one of the tallest hills in Southern England, Wyre Top. The hills of Wyreshire are partly volcanic in origin, as they are sedimentary rocks that lay too close to igneous intrusions that are common in the South-West of England, they were metamorphosed and then more recently have been uplifted and eroded. This is why they are so stark on the landscape, but also why they are so localised.

In ancient times, Wyreshire was inhabited by the Romans, who built a small fishing port here, centred around a beachside villa, then after the Roman exodus the land lay empty, until the Vikings settled on the shores of the Wyre Estuary. Although a short river, it was just wide and deep enough to be a good harbour for ships travelling between Normandy and Ireland, both raiding grounds and later settlements of the Vikings.

Throughout the Medieval period however, the marshland surrounding the shores of the river and the boggy ground that lay beneath Wyreshire's acres of forest deterred many settlers, and its population throughout the period did not climb above 300. The Earl of Wyre himself did not reside in the county, he visited only to hunt in the extensive forests, and many of the other gentry of the South-West considered it a useless backwater.

By the 17th century, only one settlement of note existed in the county, and that was Stile's Mill. This lay on the border with Somerset in the North and a handful of families eked out a meagre living by sowing barley on the hilly slopes that rose toward the moorland of Wyre Top. There was also a small fishing hamlet, on the site of the Roman one, in the East of the county. This was called Tyke’s Landing. From here on a clear day you could see the Dent Isles, originally named les Îles des Dents (roughly, The Isles of Teeth) by a Norman baron who explored this stretch of coastline for the Conqueror in 1067.

 

By 1800, a lane had been built from Chard, the nearest big town outside the county, and it passed Stile’s Mill on its way to Tyke’s Landing. Wyreshire was opened up to travellers of all kinds, many of whom were clamouring to purchase the land of the recently deceased Earl of Wyre, who had left no heir.Stile’s Mill by this time had become a fringe village, and it was decided the new post road to Exeter would pass through the village.

By the time the turn of the 20th century came around, the land of Wyreshire was very undeveloped and lay in several different hands, many of whom agreed with the long deceased predecessors; Wyreshire was rather useless. There was only the odd visitor to Stile's Mill, perhaps a travelling salesman, and the only outsiders who set foot in Tyke's landing were those wishing to take a boat to Grand Dent to spot rare species of seabird. Soon, all this was about to change...

(Since the above region pic, I have altered the highlands slightly to make them smoother and more in keeping with the Dartmooresque ideal; I also finished plastering the ground with sensible amounts of trees)

Just as a heads up, I intend to make this CJ as historically orientated as possible (and therefore as realistic as I can strive to be), as I am myself a History student. However I do not come from the South-West, I merely chose it as it represented the best "value for money" so to speak, in terms of topography. I can have sea, river, mountain, islands, etc. Plus it means that the area was pretty much rural right up to when I want to begin this CJ, which is roughly in the interwar period.

I already have a number of British type buildings installed and the NAM helps a lot, but if anybody can aid me in hunting down UK specific BATs or sets, for anything, and in particular, those which fit seamlessly with the Devon/Dorset South Coast aesthetic, don't hesitate to let me know!

Next Update: A view of Stile's Mill and Tyke's Landing before the discovery of something important!

[fabsies55 5]

WOW thats one hell of alot of writing you got their so hope you don't take this as offense i can't be stuffed reading it all... i never read anyones anyways. i'm sure its good.

good intro by the way

ifor a custom region thats really good.... mines bad.

if you decide to make a city i wonder where you will put it. can't wait for your next update.

[Twenty20 28]

Good start, it's a beautiful region !

[Mike the Mayor 51]

Very nice start, that's a great chunk of land you're using there.

[Theirishnintendonerd 13]

Nice Region , Im looking foward to more updates

-Trevor

[lucky7 73]

Great region and very informative history, looking forward to more,

lucky7

[Nikevs 0]

Thanks for your comments, guys. No update yet, but I'm running into a little trouble. I'm currently trying to get Stile's Mill looking at least a little more British but a popular depency for some of the stuff I want is:

BSC BAT Props MJB Mega Pack

I know this is not on STEX but is on SC4D; therefore I registered and activated my account with Devotion but still cannot access BSC Exchange. Is there a waiting period, or further activation period? Either way, is there another point where I can download this pack? Thanks in advance.

[psander5 198]

You have to register seperately for the exchange (LEX) on SC4D.

This intro is excellent. The history is spot on. It's extremely believable. Thanks for the geology lesson too! I'm certainly looking forward to what more you have in store.

[Schulmanator 5,813]

A nice map. I look forward to seeing you develop it.

[irdesi 0]

Wow! What a lovely map and history! Can I make one suggestion? You might want to consider reorienting the river behind a small hill at its headwaters so that it appears naturally. Right now, it sort of feels like the river just materializes without any streams/small tributaries.

[mayorbk 66]

nice start

[TV-VCR 15]

Nice region. I would recommend you install a terrain mod and a water mod.

Waiting for the next update.

[Nikevs 0]

Replies

psander - thanks for the advice, I found what I was looking for in the end. I did Geology as (an almost useless) GCSE subject... Glad it's coming in handy a little now.

irdesi - How does this look? I don't want to add too much river really, and I find it difficult enough to fit water around elevated ares. I guess the answer is... don't.



TV-VCR - Which particular mods do you suggest? I'm fairly happy with the terrain at the moment, but I know I will run into trouble later on with slopes and elevation and such. Any advice on theat would be appreciated.


And thanks to the rest of you for your comments and support!

Notes

I have tried my best to make the screenshots as friendly to the eyes as possible, and also give a British aesthetic. If you think my style is flawed or there is a part of my city that you don't quite get or understand, please point it out. By the way, I have also chosen to set this at the beginning of the post-war period. If you do see any dates on screenshots (not likely as I will minimise the HUD or crop them) then ignore them; I will be applying my own VERY loose timescale to this CJ. Thanks!

Also, anybody got any hints for how to power my villages better than wind turbines? Or a mod for wind turbines at least. And I hate Maxis power lines. Any suggestions to remedy that?

Update 1

Stile's Mill, 1946



Stile's Mill is the defacto county town of Wyreshire, mainly because it is the only town in Wyreshire. And most people would not call it a town, either. Apart from the cottages and newer, brick-built residences of farm workers, it also contains a mayor's residence, which doubles as the town hall, and a fire station, a necessity for such a remote area. the only remaining feature is the Mill itself. Named after William J. Stile, it was the original flour mill for the county, and it was set it up in 1278. Stile was granted permission by the Earl of Wyre to levy fees upon those who brought their cereal to him, with the Earl recieving a significant portion. This however was still only a meagre proportion of the Earl's income, and did not tempt him to visit Stile's Mill often, even as the settlement grew a little as poorer farmers from the North moved in.

However, the 6th Earl of Wyre, Earl Robert De Temis, also Baron of Chateau-de-Temis, a distant descedant of the first Norman Baron to explore this area for William I, decided to finally visit his demesne lands. He found a vast expanse of land that was relatively untouched and only barely populated by a scattering of farmers, the rest being woodland, filling with all kinds of game. He immediately made arrangements for a stonemason and architect to travel from Gloucester at great expense, and commissioned the building of a lavish hunting lodge. in the mean time he organised the peasants into a more effective workforce, and appointed one of his stewards as the first Mayor of Wyre (this effectively meant that not only was Stile's Mill under the Mayor's influence but the whole of Wyreshire was also). The hunting lodge was finished merely 5 months before the 6th Earl's death early in the War of the Roses, but the subsequent generations of his family enjoyed its use periodically.



It still stands to this day, although in a rather dilapidated condition. The late and last Earl of Wyre however was a gardening enthusiast and expanded upon the grounds and even maintained an estate farm in order to contribute to the economy and maintain upkeep of the house.

Unfortunately this was not enough and it was believed the strain of this enterprise, combined with the loss of his only son and the future heir in World War II, was the eventual cause of his passing. In a recent auction, the Temishill Lodge, along with all the trappings of the Earl of Wyre's estate (including the power to appoint a Mayor to rule over a democratically elected council), were sold to an as yet un-named bidder for £250,000.

Tyke's Landing, 1946

The situation of Tyke's Landing could be perceived as even worse than Stile's Mill. More remote from the rest of the country, it was mainly dependent on fish caught by small boats launched off the slipway. After the war however, many boats have disappeared as their owners are either dead, wounded, or have given up completely and moved away. there are a few farms and a small beach that provides some amusement for the children of the county, but other than that most people can be found in the very small pub in the centre of the village, drinking home-made cider.





Preview




Somewhere west of Stile's Mill, a great new historical discovery has been made, and what is even more intriguing is that it has been funded by the new owner of Temishill Lodge....

Stay tuned! Questions, comments and constructive criticism are always welcome!

EDIT: I forgot to add a little something I knocked up earlier, just to give those with no idea about UK Geography where exactly my fictional county might be.

[jacqulina 162]

great start and intro my friend,interesting history there.

[wallasey 8]

Great start...nice to see another UK CJ here.

A Little suprised to find Wyreshire to be in down south...was thinking this would be in the Red Rose County of Lancashire!

[Schulmanator 5,813]

A fine update- good pictures and story information. I look forward to more.