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.
This monument lies in the Cheshire Plain sub-Province of the Northern and
Western Province, a gently rolling plain of red marl covered by ice-carried
clays, sands and gravels. It is diversified by occasional sandstone
escarpments, notably the Central Cheshire Ridge east of the Dee valley. It has
lower densities of nucleated settlements than surrounding areas, and high
concentrations of dispersed farmsteads and small hamlets. In the Wirral and
the lower Dee and Weaver valleys, the settlement mix is different, with low
and medium densities of dispersed farmsteads intermixed with more frequent
villages. Domesday Book records a thin scatter of settlement in the Wirral,
the Dee lowlands and the central and southern plain in 1086, with much
woodland.
The Cheshire Plain local region is marked by an enormous range of settlement
forms, such as market towns, villages and scattered farmsteads. There are
numerous small hamlets bearing the name `green', associated with areas of
common grazing land, as well as moated sites. All these types of settlement
are known to have medieval roots, though it is not yet clear which represent
the oldest forms.
Details
The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of the abandoned areas
of Smerrill medieval settlement. The monument is situated on a narrow terrace
to the south of Rowlow Brook which runs north west to south east through a
steep, V-shaped valley.
The monument survives as a series of well preserved earthworks which follow
the upper edge of the valley scarp. The settlement is laid out on a linear
arrangement along a central track which runs south east to north west. At its
eastern end the track turns to the south and follows the field boundary until
it meets with the existing road linking the villages of Elton and Middleton.
Tradition suggests that the northern end of the track originally continued
beyond the area of protection, along the edge of the valley scarp and round to
the north east where it eventually met with the access road to Lowfields Farm.
The track is no longer visible beyond the area of protection.
Earthworks either side of the central track define a series of rectangular
crofts or enclosures laid out at right angles to the track. The crofts are
defined by linear, grass covered banks which represent the buried remains of
walls. The banks survive up to a height of approximately 1m and short sections
of walling are visible in a few exposed places.
Most of the crofts contain at least one raised, rectangular platform which is
defined by grass covered banks. These represent the sites of medieval
buildings which, in most cases, lie adjacent, and parallel, to the track. The
buildings vary in size but in many cases doorways and internal partition walls
can be identified from the earthworks. The two largest and most clearly
defined building platforms lie at the eastern end of the settlement. The
easternmost building platform is positioned at right angles to the central
track and shows evidence of at least two internal walls. The largest of the
platforms suggests the building was L-shaped in plan with one section fronting
onto the track and the other laid out at right angles to it. These remains
survive to a height of up to 1.5m. The name of the adjacent farm, Smerrill
Grange, suggests there may have been a monastic farm or grange here. There
is, however, little historical information to support this. The history of
the medieval settlement also appears unrecorded.
All modern field boundaries are excluded from the scheduling although the
ground beneath them is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
29973
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Other
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.
End of official list entry
