Details

The monument includes extensive earthwork and buried remains of the medieval
village of Dalton upon Tees, including a moated site, a set of fishponds and
parts of the surrounding medieval field system. It is located on elevated
ground on the south bank of the River Tees, in fields around the present
village. The monument is divided into three separate areas of protection. One
area occupies the fields between the current village and the River Tees and
contains the remains of the moated site and the core of the settlement. The
second area occupies a field to the east of the current village and contains
remains of the field system. The third area occupies two fields south of the
Northallerton Road and contains the fishponds and further remains of the field
system.
In the medieval period Dalton upon Tees was a settlement included within the
township of Croft and as such lay within the Bishopric of the Palatinate of
Durham. The form of the surviving village remains indicate that it was a
planned village built after the `Harrying of the North' in 1069-70 when a
rebellion by the native population against the Norman invasion was suppressed
with great ferocity causing widespread devastation throughout the land.
Throughout the region regular planned settlements were built to replace
existing ones and it is likely that this was the case at Dalton upon Tees. The
settlement was located 3km south of a major river crossing at Croft and lay
just to the north of the main routeway heading south from the river crossing.
Little is currently known about the history of the settlement, which in 1221
was known as Dalton super Tese. By the 14th century Dalton upon Tees, in
common with other villages in the area suffered a decline in fortune due to
bad harvests, disease and raids by the Scots, although the exact date and
pattern of desertion is currently uncertain.
The current village lies to the south of the core of the medieval settlement.
It is mostly post-medieval in date and appears to have developed around a
green straddling the north-south routeway. It is not yet known how the current
village developed from the earlier medieval settlement.
The medieval settlement took the form of a north to south aligned row of
buildings fronting onto a wide sunken street lying to the east, which
functioned as a village green. The buildings stood within regular enclosures
known as tofts. These had larger enclosures called crofts extending to the
rear, the whole being known as a tenement. The tofts contained dwellings and
other buildings in a small enclosure or yard with the croft to the rear being
used for domestic horticulture and stock keeping. Remains of these buildings
survive as a series of earthworks forming rectangular building platforms,
measuring up to 10m by 4m. The boundaries of the tofts and crofts survive as
low earthen banks up to 0.5m high. The row of tenements extends for
approximately 150m. This form of settlement has a very regular layout typical
of the planned medieval settlement.
The medieval village street is up to 20m wide and the eastern side is defined
by an upward rising sharp slope. The moated site lies 40m to the east of
the street. This includes a raised platform measuring 25m sq surrounded
by a water filled ditch. The encircling ditch is 4m wide along the sides and
widens out at the corners. The entrance to the central area was via a causeway
on the western side. The moated site lay on the edge of the village and
probably supported one of the more prestigious dwellings in the settlement.
Such moated sites were usually occupied by high status families and their
location can be evidence of wealthy citizens moving to a more prominent
position away from the main settlement.
To the east and south east of the moat and to the west of the crofts are some
remains of the medieval field system. These take the form of blocks of linear,
parallel earthworks known as ridge and furrow. Within these areas, as well as
the ridge and furrow, are surviving features such as tracks, headlands and
balks which divided the fields into sections.
In the second area to the south east of the current village there are further
blocks of ridge and furrow. The earthworks are well defined with prominent
rounded profiles with a span between the ridges of up to 6m. The blocks of
ridge and furrow are divided by wide sunken trackways which allowed access
through the fields. These are up to 5m wide and 1.5m deep.
The complex of fishponds are similar to a moated site in form. At the core of
the complex is a rectangular platform measuring 15m by 16m surrounded by a
ditch 3m wide. There is a narrow causeway on the western side of the ditch
which allowed access to the platform. Immediately to the north east and
connected by a slight channel there is a depression measuring 14m sq which is
the remains of a second pond or feeder tank for the main ditch. To the north
of this there is shallow elongated depression aligned south east to north
west. It is thought that this functioned as a settling pond which regulated
the water supply to the main fish ponds to the south via a channel controlled
by sluices. The whole complex is enclosed by earthen banks forming a wide
enclosure. Elsewhere within the enclosure there may have been other structures
associated with fish processing. The ditched platform was partly excavated in
1971. These works showed that the surface of the platform had been roughly
surfaced, but no structures were found. Pieces of pottery recovered from the
excavations showed that the platform was constructed in the early 14th
century. The excavations also showed that the entrance causeway was revetted
by stone on the north side. Following this it was concluded that, due to the
absence of structural remains on the platform and the nature of the ponds, the
site may have been a small complex of fishponds. The central platform could
have supported small timber structures associated with the fishponds which
have left little trace. Elsewhere it has been suggested that similar moated
platforms provided secure locations for the rearing of fowl or similar
activities which required an efficient boundary such as a moat to keep vermin
away.
To the west and north of the fishponds and in the field to the south there are
further areas of ridge and furrow earthworks. At the north of the field in
which the fishponds lie there are low earthwork banks which are the remains of
divisions within the fields.
A number of features are excluded from the monument; these include all fences,
gates, signs, telegraph poles, the surface of tracks, yards and hard
standings, however the ground beneath these features 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

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.
The Yorkshire Dales local region is broadly an extension of the lowlands into
the hill mass of the Pennines, but increasing environmental constraints have
ensured that each dale has developed particular and often wholly local
characteristics. The villages and hamlets on the valley side terraces of the
lower and middle dales appear to be of medieval foundation, while the
surrounding farmstead sites vary greatly in date, from early medieval to 19th
century.

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 included the parish church within
their boundaries, and as part of the manorial system most villages included
one or more manorial centres which may survive also as visible remains as well
as below ground deposits. In the northern province of England, villages were
the most distinctive aspect of rural 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.
At Dalton upon Tees, in addition to the main settlement, there is also a
moated site. Moated sites consist of wide ditches, often or seasonally water-
filled, partly or completely enclosing one or more islands of dry ground on
which stood domestic or religious buildings. In some cases the islands were
used for horticulture. The majority of moated sites served as prestigious
aristocratic and seigneurial residences with the provision of a moat intended
as a status symbol rather than a practical military defence. The peak period
for the construction of moats was between about 1250 and 1350 but they were
built throughout the medieval period and exhibit a high level of diversity in
form and size.
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 landes) 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 landes were laid out in groups known as furlongs defined by terminal
headlands at the plough turning-points and lateral grass balks. 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 addition to field systems other medieval agricultural activities were
practised such as fishponds. These were artificial pools of slow moving water
in which fish were bred and stored in order to provide a constant supply of
fresh fish for consumption and trade. Fishponds were maintained by a water
management system to regulate water flow. In addition to the ponds there
would be buildings for use by fishermen for storing equipment or fish curing.
The tradition of constructing and using fishponds in England began during the
medieval period and peaked in the 12th century. Large and complex systems were
often associated with the wealthy sectors of society such as monastic
institutions and the aristocracy. Small and simple examples are commonly found
at villages throughout England.
The medieval settlement of Dalton upon Tees retains important archaeological
remains, both earthwork and buried. The extensive and well-preserved
archaeological remains of the village demonstrate clearly the formal planned
settlement introduced by the Normans in the years after the Conquest.
Significant evidence of the social and economic history of the settlement
and its ultimate decline and abandonment will be preserved.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Cale, K J, Survey Report of Yorkshire, (1991)
Grifiths, M, Deserted Medieval Villages of the Lower Tees Valley, (1991)
Le Patourel, H.E J, 'Monograph Series No 5' in The Moated Sites of Yorkshire, (1973), 118
Le Patourel, H.E J, 'Monograph Series No 5' in The Moated Sites of Yorkshire, (1973), 118
Other
ANY 140 04, (1980)
ANY 140 04/05, (1984)
ANY140 04/05, (1984)

Source: Historic England