Details

The monument includes the known extent of the buried and earthwork remains
of the medieval settlement at Hodnell Manor. It is situated on a hilltop
site immediately surrounding Hodnell Manor Farm, which lies close to the
main road between Banbury and Southam and the parish boundary.

The Domesday survey of 1086 records 31 tenants here, representing a
population of approximately 150 people. By 1332 there were 16 householders
contributing to taxation, although by 1428 the population had declined and
only four householders were recorded. The whole parish had been enclosed
and converted to pasture by the end of the 16th century, although it is
not certain who was responsible for the final depopulation of the
settlement. The parish include several other satellite settlements, some
of which were subsequently deserted and are the subject of separate
schedulings. The settlement at Hodnell is possibly the earliest site of
this group, and is believed to be the location of the manor.

The settlement is visible as a series of earthworks, best seen on aerial
photographs, lying around the farm, including a long and deep hollow way
orientated north east to south west, which forms the dominant earthwork of
the site. Several small east to west orientated sub-divisions represent
at least six enclosures or building sites. An irregular hollow way runs at
right angles to the main hollow way and a series of low level irregular
earthworks lying to the west of the main hollow way are believed to
represent further building remains.

Medieval ridge and furrow cultivation remains orientated in several
directions surrounded the settlement and are recorded on aerial
photographs. The majority of these have been ploughed out and only a
sample area is retained within the scheduling, to preserve the
relationship between the settlement and its surrounding field system.

All modern post and wire fences and modern surfaces 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 Inner Midlands sub-Province of the Central Province,
an area characterised by large numbers of nucleated settlements, both
surviving and deserted, many of which are thought to have been established in
Anglo-Saxon times. Most of the sub-Province's thinly scattered dispersed
settlements were created in post-medieval times, but some of the local regions
are characterised by higher proportions of dispersed dwellings and hamlets,
which probably mark the patchy survival of older landscapes.

The medieval settlement at Hodnell Manor survives well as a series of
earthworks and associated buried remains. Remains of house plots will
preserve evidence for domestic and economic activity on the site through
both the medieval and post medieval periods, giving insight into the
lifestyle of the inhabitants. The association of the village remains with thos
fields and the manor house will also preserve evidence for the economy of the
settlement and its place in the wider social and economic landscape, as
well as for horticultural and agricultural activity. The settlement at
Hodnell also benefits from being well documented. Association with the
remains of several other medieval settlements will help us to understand
the dynamics of settlement formation, and survival or desertion within the
parish.

Source: Historic England