Details

The monument at Muscott lies just to the north-west of the village of
Brockhall, although the two places are identified as separate
settlements. The site consists of the earthwork remains of the deserted
medieval village and of a double moated site, the location of the
Muscott medieval manor house. The remains of the village are orientated
with respect to a major hollow way between 1.5m and 2m deep, which runs
from WSW to ENE through the settlement, with a further hollow way
branching off to the north. Alongside the roads low scarps show the
extent of property boundaries and, within these areas, raised platforms
indicate the sites of former buildings. In the western part of the
village earthworks, hollow ways and property boundaries cover the faint
remains of ridge and furrow, indicating that the village was extended in
this direction. To the south of the remains of the village lay further
crofts belonging to the village and some of these were excavated in 1958
prior to their destruction. Within one of the crofts the remains of
three buildings were discovered. One building was a stone house with a
hearth and two others proved to be the locations of timber barns. All
the buildings were dated to the thirteenth and early fourteenth
centuries. To the south-west of the medieval village lie earthwork
remains which originally consisted of two linked rectangular moats. The
western moat island covers an area measuring approximately 90m x 75m,
and is recorded as the location of the medieval manor house belonging to
the village, and part of the south ditch of this moat, together with a
slight external bank, can still be seen, although the rest of the
ditches and much of the moat island have been destroyed by later
building. The gatehouse to the present Muscott House is considered to be
late medieval in date with 19th-century additions and is listed Grade
II. The second moat lies just to the east of the main moat, is connected
to it and covers an area 67m x 57m. The eastern moat island is
surrounded on the north, east and south sides by a ditch 0.3m deep. To
the west of the two moats lie the earthwork remains of water channels
and a rectangular fishpond, 40m long, 8m wide and up to a metre deep
which was part of the medieval site.
The village at Muscott is recorded in Domesday Book along with the nearby
village of Brockhall. Muscott village is also documented throughout the 14th
century and is recorded as paying the highest tax in the county for the Lay
Subsidy in 1334, but by 1377 only five people paid the Poll Tax. In 1547
records show that 300 sheep grazed the pasture at Muscott and in 1576 Sir John
Spencer of Althorp bought the manor which consisted of pastures and meadow. In
the centre of the field containing the deserted medieval village lies a stone
cattle trough of the last century and this is excluded from the scheduling.
Muscott House, the listed gatehouse and all outbuildings and farm buildings on
the monument are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath the
buildings throughout the site is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

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.

Also sometimes associated with deserted settlements are moated sites
which often served as prestigious manorial settlements. Such moated
sites form a significant class of medieval monument and are important
for the understanding of the distribution of wealth and status in the
countryside. Many examples provide conditions favourable to the survival
of organic remains.
Muscott deserted medieval village has exceptionally well preserved
earthworks in which the remains of roadways, property boundaries and
houses can be clearly defined. Documentary evidence indicates that
Muscott was a long-lived settlement which was established at the time of the
Domesday Survey and occupied into the 16th century. Alongside the
village lie the earthworks of an unusual double moated site known to
have been the location of the manorial residence associated with the
village. Although a small part of the village has been excavated, the
earthworks of the moated site and village together have considerable
potential for the retention of archaeological evidence on the
development and decline of a substantial manorial settlement of the
medieval period in Northamptonshire.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Allison, K J, Beresford, M W, Hurst, J G, The Deserted Villages of Northamptonshire, (1966)
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England, , Archaeological sites of Northamptonshire, Volume III

Source: Historic England