Summary

Deserted medieval village 345m ENE of King’s Hill.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 3 June 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records. As such they do not yet have the full descriptions of their modernised counterparts available. Please contact us if you would like further information.

This monument, which falls into two areas, includes a deserted medieval village situated on the upper south facing slopes and summit of a prominent hill overlooking the confluence of the Finham Brook and River Sowe. The village survives as a series of earthworks including up to eight rectangular building platforms which stand up to 0.6m high and are situated on both sides of the current road, with their associated gardens, track ways and surrounding paddocks and fields containing clearly visible ridge and furrow. Partial excavations in 1971 revealed that each furlong of the field system had been laid out with a line of posts spaced approximately 9m apart. Further watching briefs in 1994 and 1997 produced no additional information although in a field to the south west and outside the monument 13th, 14thand 15th century pottery was retrieved following ploughing although there were no house platforms. A monastic grange connected with Stoneleigh Abbey was known in this area which was sold to Richard Andrewes and Leonard Chamberlayne of Woodstock in 1542. The village was known in old documents as ‘Hulle’, ‘King’s Hulle’ or ‘Helen’s Hulle’.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The village, comprising a small group of houses, gardens, yards, streets, paddocks, often with a green, a manor and a church, and with a community devoted primarily to agriculture, was a significant component of the rural landscape in most areas of medieval England, much as it is today. Villages provided some services to the local community and acted as the main focal point of ecclesiastical, and often of manorial, administration within each parish. Although the sites of many of these villages have been occupied continuously down to the present day, many others declined in size or were abandoned throughout the medieval and post-medieval periods, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. As a result over 2000 deserted medieval villages are recorded nationally. The reasons for desertion were varied but often reflected declining economic viability, changes in land use such as enclosure or emparkment, or population fluctuations as a result of widespread epidemics such as the Black Death. As a consequence of their abandonment these villages are frequently undisturbed by later occupation and contain well-preserved archaeological deposits. Because they are a common and long-lived monument type in most parts of England, they provide important information on the diversity of medieval settlement patterns and farming economy between the regions and through time. Despite some later construction the deserted medieval village 345m ENE of King’s Hill survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, development, longevity, the relative chronologies of the dwellings, the social, political and economic significance of the village, agricultural practices, domestic arrangements, abandonment and overall landscape context.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PastScape 335887
Warwickshire HER 2918 and 5292

Source: Historic England