Details

The monument, which falls into three separate areas of protection, includes
abandoned areas of the medieval settlement of Francheville or Newtown,
situated on a low spur between tidal creeks on the northern coast of the Isle
of Wight.

The settlement was founded by the Bishops of Winchester in the mid-13th
century and constructed in a planned manner with the two main streets, Gold
Street and High Street, running parallel on an east to west axis. The streets
were lined with burgage plots, narrow strips for the use of burgesses. Much of
the pattern of the medieval town has been fossilized within later field
boundaries and a representative sample is included within the scheduling.

In the first area of protection the remains include an abandoned series of
burgage plots immediately south of High Street and an adjacent area of
medieval ridge and furrow cultivation. The plots are rectangular in plan and
measure approximately 20m by 50m with their long axes roughly north to south
and their boundaries defined by low banks and ditches, some of which have been
planted with later field hedges.

In the second area of protection the abandoned burgage plots are situated
either side of the eastern end of the former High Street, now surviving as a
field track. One of the plots to the north of the street contains a low
rectangular platform 0.3m high, 10m in length and 7m in width which is thought
to represent the location of a building. No structure is shown here on any of
the surviving post-medieval maps and the platform is likely to be medieval in
origin. A series of medieval strip fields with north to south orientated
boundary banks and ridge and furrow cultivation are situated at the eastern
end of the former street, and further smaller areas of ridge and furrow abut
its southern side.

The third area of protection includes an abandoned section of the former Gold
Street, north of which are a further series of burgage plots and a smaller
east to west orientated street which maps show had fallen into disuse by 1768.

The Bishop of Winchester's Court Roll for the year 1254-5 contains the first
documentary reference to the settlement, then recorded as the new borough of
Francheville or `Freetown'. There are known to have been 73 plots in the
borough, which was the last of the town foundations of the Bishops of
Winchester and probably replaced an earlier settlement called Stretley. There
is some evidence to suggest that by as early as 1334 the settlement was
already in economic decline and in 1377 it was attacked and burned by French
raiders. Two years later 31 households were considered eligible to pay the
Lay Subsidy. In 1559 it was recorded that there were then no `good houses'
standing, and the 1674 Hearth Tax returns indicate that there were only eleven
residences within the town, a number which remained relatively constant until
the 20th century. Nevertheless, between 1584 and 1832, when it was
disenfranchised, Newtown sent two representatives to parliament. A map of 1768
clearly shows the streets, plot boundaries and cultivation strips and both
names them and identifies ownership.

All fences, walls, feed troughs, ponds, modern services and the surfaces of
all paths and tracks are excluded from the scheduling although the ground
beneath them is included.

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

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Medieval 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.

Medieval settlement plans vary 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 paddocks.

The medieval settlement and cultivation remains at Newtown survive well as a
series of earthworks and buried deposits. Many areas have remained undisturbed
since their abandonment and the survival of archaeological deposits relating
to their occupation and use is likely to be good. These deposits will contain
important information about the dating, layout and economy of the settlement,
and together with contemporary documents relating to it, will provide a good
opportunity to understand the mechanisms behind its development, decline and
eventual abandonment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Basford, H V, The Vectis Report: A Survey of Isle of Wight Archaeology, (1980), 45-48
Basford, H V, The Vectis Report: A Survey of Isle of Wight Archaeology, (1980), 45-48
Hampshire County Council, , EUS of the Isle of Wights Historic Towns: Historic Newtown, (1997)
Other
Holyoak, V., Sketch Survey, Field Notes and key for Newtown, Isle of Wight, (1999)
Title: Ordnance Survey 6" Series, 1st Edition
Source Date: 1866
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: Plan of Harts Farm, Newtown, Isle of Wight
Source Date: 1880
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England