Summary

The earthwork and buried remains of a medieval settlement at Whaddon.

Source: Historic England

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: the earthwork remains of the medieval settlement are situated in the hamlet of Whaddon, approximately 2.5 miles to the north east of Trowbridge. The monument sits on a small ridge of Oxford Clay overlooking the river Avon where it is joined by Semington Brook. The monument is situated to the east of the Church of St Mary the Virgin (Grade II*).

DESCRIPTION: the monument includes the earthworks and archaeological remains of a medieval settlement including tofts, crofts and hollow way running east to west. The site is divided by a modern track to access Whaddon Grove Farm to the east and is bordered by agricultural fields to the south which have been ploughed. A hollow way is visible running east to west across the ridge with house platforms visible to either side. The earthworks are bordered by a boundary bank to the south and east, whilst the north of the settlement slopes down to the river Avon and Semington Brook.

The scheduling boundaries include 2m protective margins around each of the features for their support and protection.

EXCLUSIONS: all fence posts, water troughs and the modern track to access Whaddon Grove Farm are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath these features is included.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Whaddon Medieval settlement is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: the earthworks of the medieval settlement survive well and contain good features such as building platforms and a hollow way displaying the occupation of the site during the medieval period;
* Documentation: the medieval site is well documented both through historical documents and aerial photography, lidar imagery and recent survey work which has contributed to our understanding of the site;
* Potential: the settlement contains the potential to provide further evidence to increase our understanding of the character and occupation medieval settlements;
* Group value: the settlement has group value with the adjacent Church of St Mary the Virgin (Grade II*) which contains medieval fabric from the C12.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Websites
Open Domesday 'Whaddon', accessed 2nd February 2017 from http://opendomesday.org/place/ST8761/whaddon/
West Wiltshire: National Archaeological Identification Survey Lowland Pilot Project Report, accessed 2 February 2017 from http://research.historicengland.org.uk/Report.aspx?i=15530&ru=%2fResults.aspx%3fp%3d1%26n%3d10%26t%3dwest%2520wiltshire%26ns%3d1
Wiltshire Community History, 'Hilperton', accessed 2nd February 2017 from https://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getcom.php?id=118
Wiltshire Historic Environment Record, Whaddon, accessed 30 March 2017 from http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wiltshireandswindonhistoricenvironmentrecord/wshermap.htm?a=d&id=9603
Wiltshire Record Society, 'The Wiltshire Tax List of 1332', accessed 2nd February 2017 from http://www.wiltshirerecordsociety.org.uk/pdfs/wrs_v45.pdf

Source: Historic England