Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of the abandoned areas
of East Stoke medieval settlement, the standing remains of a post-medieval ice
house and part of the battlefield of East Stoke. The monument is in three
areas of protection all of which lie to the west of the A46 trunk road and to
the north and south of Church Lane. The earthworks are located south west of a
large meander of the River Trent, between the church and the existing village
which is now centred on the A46 trunk road. East Stoke is first mentioned in
the Domesday Book of 1086 where it is recorded that `Stoches' belonged to
Ilbert de Laci and Berenger de Todeni and was worth a total of 25 shillings.
`East' was added to the name by 1340. East Stoke is perhaps best known as
being the site of the last pitched battle of the Wars of the Roses (16 June
1487), the victory of which finally established King Henry VII and the Tudor
dynasty. The medieval settlement remains are partly enclosed by the
battlefield area. The two opposing forces positioned themselves and commenced
battle in the fields to the immediate south of the village. During the
widening of the modern A46 a burial pit was discovered in the field to the
west of the road and opposite Foss Way Farm. The pit contained the entangled
remains of at least 11 articulated inhumation burials which are thought to
date to the time of the battle. With the exception of this evidence for the
burial of casualties there is no archaeological evidence for the battle. Stoke
Field is in the Register of Historic Battlefields.
An enclosure map of 1796 illustrates that the village, extended from the Fosse
Way, along both sides of Church Lane towards St Oswalds Church, which had been
built in the 13th and 14th centuries and functioned as the medieval parish
church. The village also extended north from the junction of Church Lane, Moor
Lane and Fosse Way and east along Moor Lane, much of which remains in
occupation today.
Enclosure of the landscape increased in intensity from the late 18th century.
Stoke Hall was built close to the church in the late 18th century and with it
an area of parkland was created. The creation of the park, which survives to
the north of Church Lane, may have contributed to the desertion of the western
parts of the village. The village of East Stoke had shrunk eastwards as far as
Humber Lane by 1887.
The eastern boundary of the monument is defined by the Fosse Way, an important
Roman road which ran diagonally across the country from Topsham in Devon to
Lincoln.
The monument survives as a series of earthworks and buried remains which
straddle both Church Lane, a sunken road which is still in use, and Humber
Lane, a remnant of a prehistoric route known as the Upper Foss. In the field
to the south of Church Lane and north of Humber Lane the ground slopes
gradually to the north east. In this area the earthworks can be divided into
four distinct areas. The northernmost section, which is marked to the south
by a large dry pond, contains a series of four terraces, approximately 10m
wide, which are cut into the natural slope of the land. A sunken trackway,
approximately 17m wide, runs at right angles to the terraces before turning
north west and terminating at the northern field boundary. Other earthworks in
this area include a narrow drainage gully which runs from the top of the field
to the pond. The earthworks in this section of the field appear to relate to a
post-medieval landscaped garden belonging to East Stoke Hall but the
relationship between some of the earthworks and those further to the south
east suggests that earlier features were incorporated into the design. One
such feature is a flat terrace approximately 7m wide which runs along the
western field boundary for the full length of the field.
To the south of the pond, and parallel to it, a series of five rectangular
tofts or enclosures define the second division of the field. The tofts are
aligned north east to south west and with the exception of two, run the full
width of the field. A long linear bank which runs north west to south east
from the pond to the southernmost field boundary cuts across the enclosures
and marks the western boundary of the two smaller tofts.
Rectangular shaped platforms, which mark the foundations of medieval
buildings, are visible in three of the enclosures adjacent to Church Lane. The
low banks defining the platforms are created by the buried remains of walls.
The size of the platforms vary in each case, the smallest measuring just 10m
by 14m and the largest approximately three times this size.
The third section of the field, south of the tofts and east of the linear
bank, comprises a network of earthworks. To the south, three rectangular
building platforms measuring up to 35m by 20m are visible. These are defined
by low banks and appear to have been slightly terraced into the slope of the
field. North of these a large oval shaped depression has been cut into the
slope. This has been interpreted as the site of post-medieval quarrying. A
second oval shaped feature adjacent to Church Lane may also be explained in
the same way.
At the southern edge of this field, adjacent to Humber Lane, is the site of a
post-medieval ice house, constructed of brick and probably dating to the 18th
century, when it would have been built to serve East Stoke Hall. The ice house
consists of a sunken chamber which is rectangular in plan with high vertical
sides reaching up to the ground surface. It is capped with an arched roof
which sits above the current ground surface. Access is gained from an entrance
which faces north.
The rest of this field contains the well preserved remains of part of the open
field system. The surviving remains are visible as parts of five medieval
furlongs (groups of lands or cultivation strips) marked by headlands. The
cultivation strips collectively form ridge and furrow which is curved in the
shape of an elongated reverse `S'. This shape developed over the years from
the need to swing the plough team out at the end of a strip to enable it to
turn and to continue ploughing in the opposite direction. The remains survive
to a height of 0.5m. Access to the fields would have been provided by a back
lane which is evident at East Stoke in the form of the flat terrace which runs
along the length of the western field boundary. Further ridge and furrow is
visible surrounding enclosures and building platforms in the protected areas
to the north of Church Lane and to the south of Humber Lane.
To the north of Church Lane the village earthworks have been slightly
distorted by the planting of trees probably at the time when the park
associated with East Stoke Hall was created. However, a number of tofts and
building platforms are evident particularly in the southern half of the area.
These are aligned north east to south west with building platforms towards the
south west but the precise layout of the tofts is difficult to determine.
Approximately 250m south east of the church a sunken trackway links with
Church Lane and runs for a short distance in a northerly direction. At the
junction of the two roads the earthworks survive to a depth of approximately
1.2m but soon shallow out. The junction is now blocked by the brick and stone
wall which runs along the north side of Church Lane. The wall defines the land
which would have once belonged to East Stoke Hall and which also acts as an
enclosure wall for `The Park'.
The third area of protection, to the south of both Humber Lane and Church
Lane, contains more village earthworks. To the east of Arden school two sides
of a rectangular enclosure are clearly visible defined by a low bank and
shallow ditch. The remains are interpreted as field boundary banks, which
define a stock enclosure. Running from the north west corner of the field to
the edge of the enclosure is a large bank to the north of which is a sunken
area. An early aerial photograph indicates this is part of a sunken trackway
which led from Humber Lane diagonally across the field. The full extent of
this trackway is difficult to determine because use of a modern farm track
through the field has distorted the evidence. Another rectangular enclosure is
visible in the north east corner of the field defined by a shallow gully
approximately 1.5m wide. The remainder of the field contains very well
preserved remains of the open field system.
As a whole, the surviving earthworks correspond very closely to the enclosure
map of 1796 to the point where the site of specific buildings are discernible
on the ground today.
All fences, gates, feeding troughs and modern metalled surfaces are excluded
from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these 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 last 1500 years or more.
This monument lies in the Trent sub-Province of the Central Province, where
the broad Trent valley swings in a great arc across midland England. Underlain
by heavy clays, it is given variety by superficial glacial and alluvial
deposits. Although treated as a single sub-Province, it has many subtle
variations. Generally, it is characterised by a great number of villages and
hamlets which cluster thickly along scarp-foot and scarp-tail zones, locations
suitable for exploiting the contrasting terrains. Throughout the sub-Province
there are very low and extremely low densities of dispersed farmsteads, some
of which are ancient, but most of which are 18th-century and later movement of
farms out of earlier villages.

Medieval villages were organised agricultural communities, sited at the centre
of a parish or township, that shared resources such as arable land, meadow and
woodland. Village plans varied enormously, but when they survive as
earthworks their most distinguishing features include roads and minor tracks,
platforms on which stood houses and other buildings such as barns, enclosed
crofts and small enclosed paddocks. They frequently include the parish church
within their boundaries, and as part of the manorial system most villages
include one or more manorial centres which may also survive as visible remains
as well as below ground deposits. In the central province of England, villages
were the most distinctive aspect of medieval life, and their archaeological
remains are one of the most important sources of understanding about rural
life in the five or more centuries following the Norman Conquest.
Medieval villages were supported by a communal system of agriculture based on
large, unenclosed open arable fields. These large fields were subdivided into
strips (known as lands) which were allocated to individual tenants. The
cultivation of these strips with heavy ploughs pulled by oxen-teams produced
long, wide ridges and the resultant `ridge and furrow' where it survives is
the most obvious physical indication of the open field system. Individual
strips or lands were laid out in groups known as furlongs defined by terminal
headlands at the plough turning-points and lateral grass baulks. Furlongs were
in turn grouped into large open fields. Well preserved ridge and furrow,
especially in its original context adjacent to village earthworks, is both an
important source of information about medieval agrarian life and a distinctive
contribution to the character of the historic landscape. It is usually now
covered by the hedges or walls of subsequent field enclosure.
In England the tradition of ice house construction began in the late 17th
century with a high point of activity in the 18th and 19th centuries. They
were built to serve the increasing number of country houses that were being
constructed at that time. Ice houses remained in use until the early 20th
century. Generally it was the wealthier landowners who constructed ice houses
for the ownership of an ice house was an important part of the social
aspirations of the period. They were constructed for the storage of ice to
provide a constant and sustainable supply which was used for domestic and
medicinal use. Game and other food may also be stored in the chamber of the
ice house so the roof and/or sides may have shelves and hooks for this
purpose.
The earthwork remains of the abandoned areas of East Stoke medieval settlement
are particularly well preserved and retain significant archaeological
deposits. The earthworks, aerial photographs and documentary evidence provide
a clear picture of the village layout and how it fitted within the wider
agricultural landscape. Taken as a whole, the medieval settlement of East
Stoke will add greatly to our knowledge and understanding of the development
of medieval settlement in the area.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Nottinghamshire, (1906), 282
Trent, , Peak Archaeological Trust, , Archaeology of the Fosse Way, (1992), 97
Oswald, A, 'Transactions of the Thoroton Society' in Some Unrecorded Earthworks In Nottinghamshire, , Vol. 43, (1939), 13
Other
Dennison, E, MPP Monument Class Description - Ice Houses, (1989)
English Heritage Battlefields Registe, Stoke Field 1487, (1995)
English Heritage Battlefields Registe, Stoke Field 1487, (1995)
Notts. Archive Ref EA 48/4, Plan of the Lordships of East Stoke and Elston in the county of, (1796)
SMR entry, (1987)

Source: Historic England