Reasons for Designation
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 last 1500 years or more.
The Cleveland Bench local region is a slightly elevated, undulating lowland
skirting the northern and western sides of the North York Moors. Settlement is
largely in the form of nucleated villages which were established in the Middle
Ages, and which bear traces of their original rectilinear planning. Shrunken
and deserted villages are common, now often marked only by an isolated, still
occupied, hall.
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 central 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.
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
contibution to the character of the historic landscape. It is usually now
covered by the hedges or walls of subsequent field enclosure. In addition to
the open fields villages often supported other agricultural activities 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.
Remains of the medieval village of Thornton-le-Street survive well and
significant evidence of the domestic and economic development of the
settlement will be preserved.
Details
The monument includes earthwork and buried remains of the medieval village of
Thornton-le-Street. Also included are some of the remains of the post-medieval
mill. The settlement existed in the 11th century when it was mentioned in the
Domesday Survey. It went into decline in the 15th century, although it was not
wholly abandoned, with a small number of houses surviving, clustered around
the church to the south east of the monument. The village earthworks occupy
gradually sloping land leading to a bluff above a bend in the Cod Beck. They
are dominated by a broad causeway extending south east to north west through
the centre of the field. This has in the past been interpreted as a Roman
road, but is now considered to be a post-medieval track running along the
former village main street to provide a firm, dry and impressive entrance to
the house known as Old Hall.
The medieval village street marked by the causeway forms a wide main route way
extending north west to south east through the centre of the village. West of
this street are an irregular series of house platforms, some fronting onto
the street, with associated enclosures and yards. To the east of the street
are the remains of further enclosures beyond which are fields where evidence
of medieval agriculture survives in the form of ridge and furrow earthworks.
To the south east of the medieval settlement remains are a series of prominent
earthen banks extending south west to north east and forming large fields
containing a number of building platforms. This area of earthworks also
extends beneath the gardens of the house known as The Pines. In the field to
the west of Old Hall are further earthwork remains of ridge and furrow and
associated field banks. To the south west of the medieval village street are
the remains of a fishpond surviving as a substantial rectangular hollow 8m
wide and 35m in length and orientated north east to south west. The west end
of the fishpond is linked to two channels, one extending south westwards the
other north westwards, which were used to manage the flow of water in the
pond. On the eastern side of the monument, adjacent to the Cod Beck, are the
remains of the mill and associated earthworks. The mill building still
survives as roofed building, is Listed Grade II and is not included in the
scheduling. The associated mill remains include, to the north of the mill, a
mill pond which provided a head of water, the canalised mill race and, south
of the mill, a tail race leading water back to the stream. There is a
prominent embankment forming the east (stream) side of the mill race. All
these features are included in the scheduling.
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these are the bungalow
known as The Pines and its driveway and patio, all fences, gates, feeding
troughs, telegraph poles, the old mill and attached house, the ruined farm
buildings to the south west of the mill, the water and pipework chambers
and inspection hatches north of the mill. The ground beneath these features
is, however, included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
