Medieval settlement and associated field system at Clattinger Farm

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. The Upper Avon and Thames local region has mixed characteristics, with elements of both `village' and `woodland' landscapes. It is distinguished by substantial densities of villages and hamlets associated with moderate numbers of scattered farmsteads, giving a rather dense overall pattern, but the region still carried woodland in 1086, and the Braden and Chippenham Forests reflect this.

The medieval settlement at Clattinger Farm survives as a combination of extant earthworks and buried remains and has a considerable potential for the survival of archaeological and environmental evidence. The area of ridge and furrow is a particularly well defined illustration of the strip field method of farming.

Details

The monument, which falls into three separate areas of protection, includes the partly buried earthwork remains of the medieval settlement of Clattinger together with an associated field system situated on the gravels of the Thames valley 2km east of the village of Oaksey. The surviving remains of the settlement are confined to the southern area within the monument, and take the form of house platforms, up to 0.4m high, either side of a hollow way 12m wide and 1.5m deep, running from south west to north east for a length of 90m. To the south west the hollow way divides into two branches. Both the house platforms and the hollow way have been partly covered by deposition of sediment from the Swillbrook, a small tributary of the Thames 250m to the south. Some 50m to the south east is another hollow way 4m wide and 1.5m deep. This runs from a field corner to the modern farm and represents a back lane to the settlement. It is flanked to the north by a slight bank 0.2m high and 2m wide. The definition of this feature is sharper than the remainder of the settlement reflecting its later use. Some 250m to the north of the settlement within two separate areas, is an area of ridge and furrow, the earthwork remains of strips of land farmed under the medieval strip field system. The ridges run from a small ditch to the south west for a distance of 200m to a large earthen bank 0.6m high, interpreted as a headland. The ridges are up to 0.4m high and spaced at a distance of 9.4m from summit to summit. A downcut road leading to the farm crosses them but is not included in the scheduling. Beyond the fenceline to the north the ridge and furrow has been destroyed by gravel extraction and is thefore not included in the scheduling. Clattinger is recorded as Clothangare in a Lay Subsidy Roll of 1332. All fenceposts and cattle troughs are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them 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:

34200

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Gover, J E B, Mawer, A, Stenton, F M, The Place-Names of Wiltshire, (1939), 64

End of official list entry

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