Medieval settlement remains 230m north west and 140m west of the junction of Main Street and Hothorpe Road

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1018836
Date first listed:: 31-Dec-1987

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1018836
Date first listed:: 31-Dec-1987
Date of most recent amendment:: 19-Mar-1999

Location

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

County:: Leicestershire
District:: Harborough (District Authority)
Parish:: Theddingworth
National Grid Reference:: SP 66561 85671, SP 66636 85916

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 last 1500 years or more. This monument lies in the East Midlands sub-Province of the Central Province, an area characterised in the Middle Ages by large numbers of nucleated settlements. The sites of many of these settlements are now occupied by modern villages, but others have been partially or wholly deserted and are marked by earthwork remains. Most of these settlements were first documented in the 11th century, in Domesday Book. The southern part of the sub-Province has greater variety of settlement, with dispersed farmsteads and hamlets intermixed with the villages. Whilst some of the dispersed settlements are post-medieval, others may represent much older farming landscapes. The Soar Valley and Nene Plateau local region comprises the low hill country of the Soar Valley and, to the south east, a low plateau dissected by the tributaries of the Nene and Welland. Nucleated villages and hamlets dominate the region, but gaps are found within the pattern in Rockingham Forest, in Rutland and in High Leicestershire where they are linked to the location of woodland in and before the 11th century.

Medieval villages were organised agricultural communities, sited at the centre of a parish or township, that shared resources such as arable land, meadow and woodland. Village plans vary enormously, but when they survive as earthworks their most distinguishing features include roads and minor tracks, platforms on which stood houses and other buildings such as barns, enclosed crofts and small enclosed paddocks. In the central province of England, villages were the most distinctive aspect of medieval life, and their archaeological remains are one of the most important sources of understanding about rural life in the five or more centuries following the Norman Conquest.

The remains of the areas of abandoned medieval habitation at Theddingworth survive particularly well in the form of a series of substantial earthworks. Both areas have remained largely under pasture with little significant disturbance with the result that the preservation of buried deposits will also be good, and will provide important information about the economy, form and dating of the settlement. As a result of the survival of extensive historical documentation relating to the site and archaeological survey the remains are very well understood and will provide an important insight into the processes underlying the shifting and abandonment of areas of habitation to form the layout of the modern village.

Details

The monument includes the abandoned areas of the medieval village of Tediworde and lies within two areas of protection, 230m north west and 140m west of the junction of Main Street and Hothorpe Road.

In the first area of protection the remains consist of earthworks and buried features located in relation to a hollow way or main throughfare through the settlement. The hollow way survives as a linear depression a maximum of 10m in width and 0.8m in depth which runs on a NNW-SSE axis for approximately 220m before being truncated by a modern property boundary. The location of a series of buildings adjacent to the eastern side of the hollow way are marked by a number of house platforms which are visible as low rectangular mounds. Gardens and paddocks associated with the buildings are represented by rectangular strip enclosures a maximum of 70m in length, the long axes of which are approximately orientated east-west. The eastern boundary of these enclosures is marked by a shallow trackway up to 5m in width and 0.5m in depth which runs parallel with the hollow way for its entire length and continues up the hill. The location of a rectangular building covering an area approximately 18m by 25m is defined by a series of low linear banks immediately east of the southern end of the trackway. A small pond situated on the south western side of the hollow way is delineated by a sub-circular depression approximately 10m in diameter and 0.9m in depth. Immediately north of the pond is a large rectangular paddock covering an area approximately 50m by 60m. On the northern side of the paddock are at least two further house platforms and a 50m length of trackway orientated on a north east-south west axis.

In the second area of protection the remains consist of earthworks and buried features delineating a hollow way, a series of gardens or agricultural enclosures and the locations of buildings. The hollow way consists of a linear depression a maximum of 75m in length, 8m in width and 1m in depth orientated on a north east-south west axis. A broad trackway curves from its southern side, with a series of faint linear banks possibly marking the location of buildings in the area to the east adjacent to the road. A pair of parallel ditches abutting the northern side of the hollow way define a rectangular enclosure 20m in width and 55m in length. A rectangular raised platform covering an area approximately 70m by 50m abuts the south western side of the enclosure. The platform is roughly divided into three, each part probably marking an individual plot. A short length of sunken trackway up to 5m in width delineates the south eastern side of the platform.

At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086 the settlement of Tediworde had 41 inhabitants and was in the ownership of Hugo Lupus, Earl of Chester. By 1564 40 families were recorded as being in the village. Documents suggest that William Brocas, the lord of the Manor from 1576 until his death in 1601 was responsible for the first enclosures. Brocas gradually increased his holdings so that by 1576 he owned more than four fifths of the village. In about 1582 he reached agreement with the remaining seven freeholders to enclose 140 acres into seven separate closes. By 1691 around 240 acres had been enclosed. An enclosure map of 1696 shows the village as it then was in some detail. The first area had largely been converted to pasture by this time and was known as Home Close. However, a large house is clearly depicted in the area immediately east of what is now the cemetery. The owner of the house was listed as Daniell Robins, and the hearth tax returns for 1666 name a John Robins as having seven hearths, more than any other occupier in the village. Both documents probably refer to the same building. The 1696 enclosure map shows the second area to have included at least 13 houses at this time, and also clearly depicts the hollow way on its north eastern side.

All fences and feed troughs are excluded from the scheduling, although 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:: 30252
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Nichols, J, The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicestershire, (1800)
Page, W , The Victoria History of the County of Leicester, (1964)
Other
Farnham, G.F., Leicestershire Medieval Village Notes, 1933,
Hartley, R F, (1988)
Hunting Aviation, 1:10000, (1970)
Title: Enclosure plan of the Lordships of Theddingworth and Hoothorpe Source Date: 1696 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:

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.