Medieval settlement remains at Sevenhampton

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1017799
Date first listed:: 08-Dec-1997

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1017799
Date first listed:: 08-Dec-1997

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Swindon (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Highworth
National Grid Reference:: SU 20797 90243, SU 21048 90374

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 past 1500 years or more. The South Midlands local region is large, and capable of further subdivision. Strongly banded from south west to north east, it comprises a broad succession of clay vales and limestone or marlstone ridges, complicated by local drifts which create many subtle variations in terrain. The region is in general dominated by nucleated villages of medieval origin, with isolated farmsteads, mostly of post-medieval date, set in the spaces between them. Depopulated village sites are common, and moated sites are present on the claylands.

The medieval settlement remains at Sevenhampton are well preserved and will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument, which lies in two areas, includes medieval settlement remains at Sevenhampton, located in fields which surround the parish church. The monument is situated south of the present village on the south west facing slope and bottom of a valley.

The greater part of the monument lies around the church, the precinct of which is enclosed by a well defined ha-ha. North east of the church, on the steepest ground, are eight rectangular house platforms, bounded by three hollow ways. Immediately north of the church are two rectangular depressions, possibly the site of an earlier church. South east of the church is a group of six rectangular plots defined by ditches. This part of the settlement is bounded by a bank and slight ditch, which separates the plots from a block of well preserved ridge and furrow cultivation remains, extending from the north east corner of the churchyard across a large area.

The settlement earthworks extend into the fields west of Roves Lane. The western boundary is formed by the River Cole, and earthworks are traceable northwards along the river as far as the buildings of Sevenhampton Farm. A north-south aligned hollow way is located west of Keepers Cottage, and a series of low banks divide the area into plots. The hollow way continues northwards into the paddock south of Greystones, where a distinctive rectangular house platform is visible. Further features including another hollow way are visible in the small paddock adjacent to Roves Lane.

St James' Church, churchyard and churchyard wall are totally excluded from the scheduling. All fenceposts, gateposts, troughs and stiles are also excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: 28967
Legacy System:: RSM

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.