Details

The monument, which falls into two areas of protection, includes a complex of
medieval settlement remains surviving as earthworks representing buildings,
enclosures and fishponds situated in a valley on the east side of the Isle of
Wight. A stream known as Monktonmead Brook separates the two parts of the
monument.

On the east side of Monktonmead Brook are the rectangular platforms of at
least two homesteads and the banks of small crofts and other enclosures. To
the west of the Brook and about 120m to the south west of the homesteads and
crofts are a series of fishponds. These include a main pond and a group of
five smaller rectangular ponds nearby to the south west. The main pond is a
straight sided excavated depression with a pond bay on its east side.

Approximately 20m to the south west of the main pond is a group of ponds which
vary in size from about 4m wide and 24m long to about 12m wide and 26m long.
This group is surrounded by a deep supply ditch, and their depth is increased
by banks of excavated material. To the south west of the group are the banks
of further enclosures.

Ashey was granted to the Abbey of Wherwell, near Andover, before 1228. In 1291
it was valued at the considerable sum of 41 pounds 6 shillings 2 pence. The
estate extended to the coast, and the passage from Ryde to Portsmouth was one
of its sources of income. Poll tax returns suggest that the medieval
settlement of East Ashey was depopulated in the late 15th century. Ashey
remained with Wherwell until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540.

All post and wire fences, telegraph poles and supports are excluded from the
scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included.

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

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Medieval rural settlements in England were marked by great regional diversity
in form, size and type, and the protection of their archaeological remains
needs to take these differences into account. To do this, England has been
divided into three broad Provinces on the basis of each area's distinctive
mixture of nucleated and dispersed settlements. These can be further divided
into sub-Provinces and local regions, possessing characteristics which have
gradually evolved during the past 1500 years or more.
This monument lies in the East Wessex sub-Province of the south-eastern
Province, an area in which settlement characteristics are shaped by strong
contrasts in terrain. This is seen in the division between the chalk Downs,
where chains of nucleated settlements concentrate in the valleys, and the
Hampshire Basin, still dominated by the woodlands and open commons of the
ancient New Forest, where nucleated sites are largely absent. Along the
coastal strip extending into Sussex are more nucleations, while in Hampshire
some coastal areas and inland valleys are marked by high densities of
dispersed settlement, much of it post-medieval.
The Isle of Wight local region is divided into two parts by a narrow west to
east ridge of downland. The low-lying area to the north is mainly clays, while
to the south clays and sands form the wide vale of the Yar. The settlement
pattern is unusually complex: areas with villages and hamlets intermingle with
zones dominated by scatters of farmsteads and tracts of unsettled downland.

The medieval settlement 100m south east and 350m north east of East Ashey
Manor Farm survives well and is one of the few examples of manorial
settlements recorded on the Isle of Wight. There is documentary evidence for
the site, and evidence of its economy is provided by the presence of fishponds
associated with the settlement.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Beresford, M, Lost Villages of England, (1954), 354
Beresford, M, Lost Villages of England, (1954), 354
Beresford, M, Lost Villages of England, (1954), 354
Doubleday, AH, The Victoria History of the County of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, (1912), 180
Sherwin, G A, 'Proceedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Society' in Proceedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Society, , Vol. 2, (1936), 614
Other
O S Field Inspector, O S record card SZ 58 NE 22, (1955)
OS Field Inspector, OS record card SZ 58 NE 22, (1955)
OS Field Inspector, SZ 58 NE 22, (1955)

Source: Historic England