Deserted village at Silvington

Summary

Medieval settlement, 360m south west of Cock Hill Cottages.

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 primarily devoted to farming, 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 as well as acting as the focus of ecclesiastical, and often manorial, authority within each medieval parish. Although the sites of many of these villages have been occupied continuously down to the present day, many have declined considerably in size and are now occupied by farmsteads or hamlets. This decline may have taken place gradually throughout the lifetime of the village or more rapidly, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries when many other villages were wholly deserted. The reasons for diminishing size were varied but often reflected declining economic viability or population fluctuations as a result of widespread epidemics such as the Black Death. As a consequence of their decline, large parts of these villages are frequently undisturbed by later occupation and contain well-preserved archaeological deposits. Over 3000 shrunken medieval villages are recorded nationally. 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 medieval settlement south west of Cock Hill Cottages contains the extensive preserved remains of a medieval village. It will contain archaeological deposits that will provide insight into medieval village life, subsistence and settlement.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 24 May 2016. 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.

The monument includes the remains of Shilvington medieval village, situated on level ground adjacent to Shilvington Burn. The remains of the village include sunken trackways, a number of enclosures, field banks and house platforms all preserved as earthworks. The remains are partly within a field called ‘Chapel Yard’, which suggests that the remains of the village chapel also lie within the area.

The first documentary record of Shilvington is in the Lay Subsidy of 1296 and in the mid-14th century it became part of the Ogle barony. Further documentary references from the 16th and 17th centuries indicate that the village had as many as 13 houses.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

ND 319

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:- 23311

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