Thorpe Harling Medieval Settlement

Summary

The earthwork and buried remains of a medieval hamlet with hollow ways, former tofts and crofts, fishponds and water management systems.

Reasons for Designation

Thorpe Harling medieval settlement is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Period: the remains are highly representative of a small settlement dating to the early medieval period;

* Survival: for the well-preserved earthworks, depicting the form and plan of the settlement including trackways and ponds;

* Potential: for the stratified deposits which retain considerable potential to increase our understanding of the physical characteristics of the former buildings and settlement. Buried artefacts will also have the potential to increase our knowledge and understanding of the social and economic functioning of the settlement within the wider medieval landscape;

* Documentation: for the published earthwork survey, aerial photographs, lidar imagery and National Mapping Programme data which demonstrate the form of the remains;

* Diversity: for the range and complexity of surviving features, such as the hollow ways, crofts and tofts with building platforms, water management systems and fishponds, all of which indicate a plan of the settlement and retain significant stratified deposits providing details of the continuity and change in the evolution of the settlement.

History

The village or hamlet was a significant component of the rural landscape in most areas of medieval England comprising a small group of houses (known as tofts which may include house platforms surviving as earthworks), gardens (crofts or closes which are typically defined by banks and ditches), yards, streets, paddocks, often with a green, a manor and a church, and with a community devoted primarily to agriculture. Most villages were established in the C9 and C10, but modified following the Norman invasion to have planned layouts comprising tofts and crofts running back from a main road.

There were five Harlings or 'Herlinga ' entries recorded in Domesday, with a recorded population of eight, a carucate of arable land (a medieval measure about 120 acres in modern measurements), and some meadow land. Breckland valley settlements typically developed in a linear form close to the river in early medieval times. The small size of this settlement suggests that this was a hamlet or manorial cluster, rather than a village.

Subsequently the manor was known as Hackfords or Seckfords and was added by purchase to the others in West Harling in 1564. There are documentary references to a watermill in Harling Thorpe in the C15. A description in 1495 of a messuage (a dwelling with outbuildings) in Thorpe shows it as lying between Thorpe Fen to the north and field land to the south and there are references to the 'street called Thorpe' from the late C15 up to 1709, including some to messuages and hemplands (land for hemp cultivation). An account of the area in 1739 states that the Manor had long gone by that date but that it probably stood near Thorpe Farm. By 1737 a new lord, Richard Gipps, whose memorial bust is in the chancel of All Saints, had reduced the number of dwellings in West Harling through systematic purchase. As a result, the street of Thorpe virtually disappeared to be replaced by one of the three farms of the West Harling estate.

The first edition Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1887 shows “Church, remains of” on the south bank of the river to the west of Thorpe Cottages, and “burial ground” to the north of the river but the position next to the river and the later discovery of a mill wheel suggest this building was a watermill.

In 1975, the central area of the remains was scheduled as an ancient monument, under the name “remains of a medieval church and village at Thorpe”.

In 1990 an earthwork survey was carried out which depicted a detailed plan of the site. The plan showed that the settlement consisted of a central hollow way with a street of tofts and platforms backing onto the flood plain of the river. In 2011, the National Mapping Programme confirmed these findings, but also discovered a number of pronounced raised areas apparently sitting on top of the platforms, likely to be the site of former buildings. Additional platforms backing onto the flood plain were identified to the north of Thorpe Farm. To the west of Thorpe Farm an area of ridge and furrow or water management was identified.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of the abandoned medieval hamlet at Thorpe Harling, including building platforms, hollow ways and associated features.

DESCRIPTION

The site is located in a partly wooded area, roughly 6km east of Thetford, on the southern bank and flood plain of the River Thet, which divides into different channels in this area. The land lies on chalk bedrock. Most of the land is managed by Forestry England, and there is a holiday park adjacent to the site consisting of a small number of holiday cabins.

The site contains well-preserved earthworks which lie in the meadows on either side of Thorpe Farmhouse; and on the land to the north of Thorpe Farmhouse. The earthworks of three rectilinear enclosures have been recorded as banks and ditches on land north of Thorpe Farmhouse, immediately south of the river. To the east of Thorpe Farmhouse, a hollow way runs roughly from west to east and is interrupted by Thorpe Cottages. East of Thorpe Cottages are four probable toft (house platform) sites facing south onto the hollow way with associated crofts (garden enclosures) backing onto the flood plain of the Thet. To the east of these is a series of water-filled depressions, of decreasing size as they extend eastwards. These are divided by dams and are thought to be former fishponds. To the west of the cottages is what appears to be another hollow way, which joins the eastern hollow way. A broad depression or drove leads onto the flood plain. Near to the riverbank, west of the cottages is a small length of masonry, the probable remains of a water mill; this was not apparent at the time of survey although an area of rubble may mark the location.

To the west of Thorpe Farmhouse the major features are a series of parallel banks and ditches, of which the easternmost is linked to the flood plain. As they are straight, narrow and adjacent to the river, they are thought to be the remains of a water meadow management system, rather than ridge and furrow. A series of rectilinear enclosures defined by banks and ditches lie to the west of the water management system, again adjacent to the river.

Some linear earthworks have been recorded north of the river Thet and there are more extensive remains further north of the river, but these do not form part of this scheduling.

The earthworks and buried remains have a high potential to contain important deposits which, if examined scientifically, could add to our knowledge and understanding of the hamlet. Positioned close to the river, there is a good chance the features will contain waterlogged deposits, providing perfect conditions for the preservation of organic material and artefacts.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING

The monument extends along the southern bank of the river Thet from TL9418483901 in the west to TL9535584139 in the east. The scheduled area is depicted on the attached map.

EXCLUSIONS

All surfaced paths, drives, footbridges and fences are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

NF 337

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Books and journals
Cushion, B, Davison, A, Thorpe Harling in East Anglian Archaeology 2003. 'Earthworks of Norfolk', Vol. 104, (2003), 106-108

Websites
Norfolk Heritage Explorer: Harling Thorpe Deserted Medieval Settlement, accessed 30 January 2025 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF6087
Norfolk Heritage Explorer: Roman and Medieval finds from Harling, accessed 30 January 2025 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF57351-Roman-and-Medieval-finds-from-Harling&Index=2&RecordCount=1&SessionID=34ecf059-655e-4c04-b893-658e99e93605
Historic England Aerial Photo Explorer, accessed 4 February 2025 from us_7ph_gp_loc264_v_5012 - Aerial Photo | Historic England
Historic England Aerial Photo Explorer, accessed 4 February 2025 from https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/26436_043
Historic England Aerial Photo Explorer, accessed 4 February 2025 from https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/26436_048
Lidar Imagery accessed on National Library of Scotland, accessed 4 February 2025 from https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17.2&lat=52.41992&lon=0.85858&layers=257&right=LIDAR_DTM_1m

End of official list entry

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