Details

The site at Stormsworth is situated to the north of the South Kilworth to
Swinford road on ground sloping down to a stream which forms its western
boundary. It includes the earthwork remains of the site of a deserted
medieval village and an adjoining fishpond.

The earthworks occupy an area with maximum dimensions of over 300 x 300m. A
hollow-way measuring a maximum of 8m wide and 1.5m deep runs from the
south-west to the north-east and is joined by a series of house platforms
which are mainly situated to the centre of the area. Well preserved medieval
ridge and furrow ploughing, considered an integral part of the monument,
occurs on part of the western slope extending to the top of the ridge where it
adjoins the village boundary which is demarcated by a ditch. In the south-
west corner of the site is a square fishpond surviving in a marshy area and
measuring about 35 x 35m. The fishpond adjoins the road to the south and the
stream to the west.

Stormsworth, also known as Starmore, is listed in Domesday Book as possessing
two manors. Between 1069-1086 it was given to Selby Abbey in Yorkshire and
retained by it until the Dissolution in 1539. In 1086 there were 15 families
and as many as 35 households by the time of Edward I. The village is also
known to have contained a chapel dependent on Swinford which is thought to be
located on the north-east side of the area. The site became depopulated by
order of the abbey by 1500.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

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.

The deserted village site at Stormsworth survives well. It possesses more
documentary evidence than most similar sites in Leicestershire and has links
with the important abbey at Selby in Yorkshire.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Hoskins, WG, Essays in Leicestershire History, (1950)

Source: Historic England