Reasons for Designation
Manorial centres were important foci of medieval rural life. Local
agricultural and village life was normally closely regulated by the lord of
the manor and thus the inhabitants of these sites had a central interest in
many aspects of rural life. Manorial sites could take many forms but the key
focus was the manor house which was often an elaborate building reflecting the
importance of the manorial lord. In addition to the manor house the complex
would have included stables and other buildings, including store rooms for
agricultural and other produce. Dovecotes used to keep doves as a food source
were also common as were fishponds. A chapel also existed at many sites either
within a room of the main manorial building or as a separate building. Chantry
chapels were built and maintained by endowment and were established for the
singing of masses for the soul of the founder. Mills were also a sign of
status, and an important form of income to the lord of the manor who usually
leased the mill and its lands to the miller.
In many areas of the country manorial complexes were located within a moat,
the moat further indicating the importance of the site but also providing an
element of defence. Elsewhere the manorial centre was located within a central
complex which included both earthwork and stone defences. Manorial complexes
provide a major insight into medieval life and all well preserved examples are
nationally important.
The earthwork and buried remains of the manorial complex known as Norton
Priory are particularly well preserved and retain significant archaeological
deposits. The diversity of the archaeological remains compliment the extensive
documentary evidence and together these provide a rare historical sequence for
the manor and an insight into its wealth and importance. Taken as a whole the
manorial complex at Norton Priory will add greatly to our understanding of the
manor and its social and economic status in the wider medieval, rural
landscape.
Details
The monument includes the earthworks and buried remains of the medieval
manorial complex of Norton. It is situated on the south bank of the River
Went, north of the nucleated medieval settlement of Norton.
Norton was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 where it is recorded
that it was owned by Ilbert de Laci. It is documented that the whole manor was
one league in length (approximately 4.8km), 11 furlongs in breadth and was
worth a total of 70 shillings. In total, there was enough land for eight
ploughs, with two of them under the direct control of the lord of the manor.
There was also a mill with an annual value of five shillings.
In the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 a chantry chapel is recorded at Norton for
the families of the Foliots and Hastings. The endowment included a house, 80
acres of arable land and closes called Bustard, Prioryard and Housegarth,
which had an annual value of five pounds. The chapel is believed to have been
situated at the top of Priory Road or Hall Lane in the area known as Priory
Garth. This part of the parish is now known as Norton Priory.
A number of title deeds dating to the 17th century document the sale and lease
of lands within the manor of Norton. A document dating to 1711 which details
the marriage settlement between William Ramsden (the lord of the manor) and
Mary Robinson provides a lot of information about the Manor House, known as
Norton Hall, and associated holdings. Included in the estate were barns,
stables, kilns, a dovecote, orchards, gardens, courtyards and two water corn
mills. On the death of Mary Ramsden in 1743 the land passed to the Master and
Fellows of St Catharine's College, Cambridge who, in 1756 obtained a private
Act of Parliament empowering it to pull down Norton Hall, at that time
described as a ruinous edifice with 35 rooms, and to use the materials to
build a farmhouse. Two farms and a bungalow now occupy the site of the hall
and the chapel. The walled gardens which were associated with the later phases
of the hall are still standing between the two farms.
The monument survives as a series of earthworks and buried remains which
extend from east to west along the south bank of the River Went. The medieval
manor house is understood to lie beneath the hall, which was described in the
18th century, and despite later disturbance medieval remains are likely to
survive beneath the present farm buildings. Immediately east of Norton Priory
Farm are the earthwork remains of a moat. A sub-rectangular platform measuring
approximately 60m by 50m is completely enclosed by a `U' shaped ditch. The
south and west arms of the moat are visible as slight depressions but those on
the north and east sides are very distinct, surviving up to a depth of 2m. The
north east corner of the moat opens out into a mill stream. This would have
allowed the stream to feed the moat and for the moat to act as an overflow
channel in times of heavy rainfall. Farm buildings overlie the south west
corner of the moat.
Approximately 150m north west of the moated site are a series of three
sub-rectangular fishponds. These run in a line from east to west approximately
5m south of the mill stream. The largest, at the eastern end, measures
approximately 60m by 20m and survives to a depth of 2m. The central pond
measures about 40m by 20m and is separated from both the western and eastern
pond by about 10m. The third pond lies on a south east to north west axis and
is approximately 24m long.
In the field to the north of the fishponds but south of the river is another
series of clearly defined earthworks. Running along the edge of both the river
and the mill stream are low banks which survive to a height of approximately
0.5m. These were probably constructed as water management features to reduce
the risk of flooding in this area. Centred at SE 54471600 is a rectangular
feature which is defined by low banks and which measures 17m north to south by
12m east to west. This is interpreted as the site of a medieval building with
the banks representing the buried remains of walls. Approximately 9m to the
west of the building platform are three sides of a second sub-rectangular
feature which is defined by a 2m wide shallow ditch. The earthworks in this
field are difficult to define on the ground as a result of subsidence caused
by mineral extraction. Although this has caused some distortion of the
earthworks the archaeological significance of the remains is clear.
In the field centred at SE 54281590 are a series of earthworks which survive
to a height of approximately 1m. These are a complex series of banks and
ditches which form a roughly rectangular shaped area. The banks indicate the
buried remains of walls but again, subsidence has made it difficult to define
the precise layout of the archaeological deposits. Approximately 50m further
west in this field are the slight earthwork and buried remains of a dovecote.
The first edition Ordnance Survey map, which dates to 1854, clearly shows the
site of the dovecote, which was still standing at this time.
In the field to the north of that which contains the dovecote and to the north
of the mill stream are a series of extensive earthworks. These represent
significant archaeological remains, some of which appear to relate to water
management features, but others may represent buried structural remains.
To the west of the dovecote is the site of Priory Mill which, as it stands, is
an early 19th century water powered corn mill. It is a Grade II Listed
Building. Although many of the above ground features relate to the latest
phase of construction the mill lies on the site of an earlier mill, which
possibly correlates to a reference in the Domesday Book. Very distinct
earthworks in the field to the north of Priory Mill indicate different phases
of water management but the course of the mill race, the mill pond and the
mill stream has been maintained. The physical relationship between the
medieval fishponds, the moat, the mill and the mill stream indicates their
original contemporaneity and interdependence.
To the west of the mill building are the earthwork remains of the mill race
and the standing remains of the mill race wall and sluice gate. The mill race
has been partly infilled but is still visible as a slight depression. The mill
race fed water from the river to the mill over a distance of approximately
400m. The mill race originally extended approximately 200m beyond the area of
protection to the west but this area has been infilled and ploughed. Any
archaeological deposits will therefore have been damaged or destroyed and so
the area has not been included in the scheduling. The level of water reaching
the mill was controlled by a sluice gate and an overflow channel which directs
water from the north east corner of the mill race to the river. The grooved
stone posts which would have held the sluice gate are still in place although
these possibly relate to a later phase of use. Steep earthworks and walling at
the eastern end of the mill race would have acted as a dam wall through which
the water supply to the mill wheel was controlled with the use of another
sluice gate. The dam wall is particularly overgrown with vegetation and its
full extent difficult to determine because of the later construction of farm
buildings. Once the water had passed through the wheel it would be directed
back to the river via the tail race which is marked on the Ordnance Survey map
as the Mill Stream. It is along this course, back to the river, that the water
was reused as part of the water management of the fishponds and the moat.
At the eastern end of the area of protection to the east of the moated site is
another series of earthworks. The earthworks include a 10m wide ditch which
survives to a depth of approximately 1m. The ditch runs from the eastern edge
of the area of protection in a westerly direction and meets the tail race. The
ditch is interpreted as a sunken track and as such would have led to a
crossing point across the tail race and possibly also the river. To the south
of the track and approximately 88m from its east end are a series of low
banks which define a rectangular feature measuring approximately 30m by 15m
and interpreted as the site of a medieval building, with the low banks
representing the buried remains of walls. The building and its associated
features front onto the sunken track which would have provided access to it.
Between the site of the building and the moat are the remains of the medieval
open field system. The surviving remains are visible as parts of two medieval
furlongs (groups of lands or cultivation strips) marked by headlands. The
cultivation strips collectively form ridge and furrow which is curved in the
shape of an elongated reverse `S'. This shape developed over the years from
the need to swing the plough team out at the end of a strip to enable it to
turn and to continue ploughing in the opposite direction. The headlands
survive to a height of 0.5m but the ridge and furrow is more degraded and
slight in appearance.
Norton Priory Farm, Priory Farm, Priory Garth, Priory Mill and associated
buildings, all modern fences, track surfaces and feeding troughs are excluded
from the scheduling, although the ground beneath all these buildings and
features is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
