Cold Weston deserted medieval village

Summary

Deserted medieval village of Cold Weston 565m south-east of Cold Weston Court.

Reasons for Designation

The village, comprising a small group of houses, gardens, yards, streets, paddocks, often with a green, a manor and a church, and with a community devoted primarily to agriculture, was a significant component of the rural landscape in most areas of medieval England, much as it is today. Villages provided some services to the local community and acted as the main focal point of ecclesiastical, and often of manorial, administration within each parish. Although the sites of many of these villages have been occupied continuously down to the present day, many others declined in size or were abandoned throughout the medieval and post-medieval periods, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. As a result over 2000 deserted medieval villages are recorded nationally. The reasons for desertion were varied but often reflected declining economic viability, changes in land use such as enclosure or emparkment, or population fluctuations as a result of widespread epidemics such as the Black Death. As a consequence of their abandonment these villages are frequently undisturbed by later occupation and contain well-preserved archaeological deposits. Because they are a common and long-lived monument type in most parts of England, they provide important information on the diversity of medieval settlement patterns and farming economy between the regions and through time. The deserted medieval village of Cold Weston 565m south-east of Cold Weston Court survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, development, social, religious, economic and political significance, agricultural practices, domestic arrangements, abandonment and overall landscape context

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 17 June 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records. As such they do not yet have the full descriptions of their modernised counterparts available. Please contact us if you would like further information.

This monument includes the deserted medieval village of Cold Weston situated on a relatively steep north west facing slope between two watercourses: a tributary to the Cleo Brook to the north and the Strand Brook to the south. The village survives as a complex and extensive series of clearly defined earthworks, stone building foundations and low walls marking property boundaries which are varied in nature and include hollow ways of up to 4m deep, house platforms up to 1.3m high, a probable mill and its related mill pond, race and leat, a two celled standing roofed and predominantly 12th century church, paddocks, ridge and furrow of between 4m to 5m wide and a fishpond. The village and surrounding fields cover an area of approximately 16.5ha. Documentary evidence suggests that desertion occurred early in the first half of the 14th century although the village was known to be in decline well before the Black Death in 1341. There is surviving documentary evidence for the period of occupation.

Further earthworks extend beyond the currently scheduled area but these are not included because they have not been formally assessed.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

SA 358

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape 111306 and 875142
HER 01264 and 10811

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