Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of the medieval
settlement of Upper Shuckburgh, and an area of ridge and furrow
cultivation remains, which lie within two separate areas of protection.
The village settlement is located upon south and south east facing slopes of
a rolling upland wold landscape, on fertile soil and close to a number of
springs. The remains at Upper Shuckburgh are associated with the remains
of the medieval settlement at Lower Shuckburgh, about 1.4km to the
north west, which is the subject of a separate scheduling.
The settlement is first recorded in the Domesday survey together with the
adjacent settlement of Lower Shuckburgh. However, by the 1390s there is
evidence of deserted house sites within the village on land owned by the
Priory of Wroxall. The settlement survived but underwent several phases of
depopulation and reorganisation culminating in its emparkment during the 17th
century. The first area of protection lies to the south of Shuckburgh
Park. It includes the earthwork remains of a linear settlement located in
a shallow natural gully either side of a hollow way which formed a wide
main street. The earthworks are most prominent to the south of the street
where a number of enclosures can be seen aligned east to west along the
hollow way. At the western end, occupying the most prominent plot is a
large earthwork enclosure at least 40m wide and 50m long, with several
bank and ditch subdivisions. To the east of this a second hollow way
branches south from the main street and runs towards the fields of the
settlement. To the east of this second hollow way are least six further
enclosures defined by shallow banks and ditches, including a number of
building platforms lying next to the main street. A discontinuous bank
running parallel with the main street separates the building platforms
from their enclosures to the south. The enclosures are delineated by
linear banks orientated north to south and are believed to represent the
allotments associated with the buildings. Some of these earthworks may
represent closes depicted on an estate plan of the late 18th or 19th
century which records the last phases of the village at Upper Shuckburgh,
although the majority of buildings and closes went out of use earlier and
are not shown on the map. The plan also suggests that the village once
extended further east beneath the site of the complex of buildings at
Home Farm, which is not included in the scheduling. Across the main
street, on the northern slopes, are the remains of at least three other
building platforms represented by sub-rectangular depressions terraced
into the hillside. These are believed to be the sites of outbuildings or
service buildings associated with the houses to the south.
The second area of protection lies to the east of Home Farm and is
aligned along the modern estate roads. At least four regular enclosures
approximately 20m wide by 50m in length, occupy the rising ground to the
north of the estate drive, immediately west of Back Lodge. The enclosures
continue to the east of the lodge following the estate road, which turns
towards the north. Here at least five further enclosures, aligned
approximately north to south and measuring between 10m and 20m wide and
approximately 50m in length occupy the western side of the road. On the
eastern side of the road are the remains of at least five further
enclosures of similar dimensions. The settlement remains on the eastern
side of the road are defined in the north and the south by streams and
are enclosed on three sides by a boundary bank. Of these the northernmost
enclosure includes the remains of two linear fishponds aligned along the
edge of the road, and a large quarry adjacent to the rear boundary bank.
The regular nature of the remains in the second area suggests that they
may represent part of a planned settlement.
Although some of the remains in the second area have been reduced by later
landscaping, there are still substantial earthwork remains. Those remains
lying to the east of the modern road are also waterlogged and can be
expected to preserve organic deposits. There are slight earthworks lying
to the west along the road as far as Home Farm. However, these remains
have been more significantly altered by landscaping and are not included
in the scheduling. A substantial part of the medieval open field system
for the entire township survives as medieval ridge and furrow cultivation
remains, a sample of which is included in the scheduling.
All post and wire fencing and the modern park pale 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 of Upper Shuckburgh to the south and east of
Shuckburgh Park and the remains of its open field system survive as a
series of well-preserved earthworks and associated buried deposits. The
remains of house plots will preserve valuable 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 those of its open fields, and the
manor house and church will also preserve evidence for the economy of the
settlement and its place in the wider medieval landscape. Waterlogging in
parts of the site will preserve organic remains such as artefacts made from
wood, cloth and leather. Preservation of plant remains will provide valuable
information about the natural environment and climate at the time the village
was occupied, as well as for horticultural and agricultural activity in the
area. All of these features contribute to our understanding of the way in
which medieval settlements functioned as components of a wider social and
economic landscape. The settlement at Upper Shuckburgh also benefits from
being well-documented which, taken with the surviving archaeological
evidence, will help our understanding of its development. The association
with the remains of the medieval settlement at Lower Shuckburgh will
help us to understand the dynamics of settlement formation, and survival
or desertion within a particular parish.

Source: Historic England