Medieval farmstead 390m south of Lodge Sike 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 evolved gradually during the past 1500 years or more. This monument lies in the Northern Pennines sub-Province of the Northern and Western Province, an area characterised from the Middle Ages by dispersed settlements, with some nucleations in more favoured areas. The sub-Province is formed by discontinuous high moorland landscapes; agricultural settlement has been episodic, in response to the economic fortunes of adjacent sub-Provinces. Other settlements have been associated with the extraction of stone and other minerals.

In some areas of medieval England settlement was dispersed across the landscape rather than nucleated into villages. Such dispersed settlement in an area, usually a township or parish, is defined by the lack of a single (or principal) nucleated settlement focus such as a village and the presence instead of small settlement units (small hamlets or farmsteads) spread across the area. These small settlements normally have a degree of interconnection with their close neighbours, for example, in relation to shared common land or road systems. Dispersed settlements varied enormously from region to region, but where they survive as earthworks their distinguishing features include roads and other minor tracks, platforms on which stood houses and other buildings such as barns, enclosed crofts and small enclosed paddocks. In areas where stone was used for building, the outline of building foundations may still be clearly visible. Communal areas of the settlements frequently include features such as bakehouses, pinfolds and ponds. Areas of dispersed medieval settlement are found in both the South Eastern Province and the Northern and Western Province of England. They are found in upland and also some lowland areas. Where found, 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 medieval farmstead 390m south of Lodge Sike is well-preserved and will add to the sum of knowledge relating to medieval land use and settlement in the North Pennines.

Details

The monument includes a medieval farmstead on the west bank of Marl Beck, slightly south of a stile in the east wall of Elphatory Allotment. The farmstead consists of the remains of a long building with a garth on one side, just west of the modern allotment wall; the fragmentary remains of two small buildings; and a fourth building partly underlying the modern allotment wall. The long building measures 16m by 7.5m and its walls consist of earth and stone banks 1.5m to 2m wide and up to 0.5m high. The walls of the garth are also earth and stone banks up to 2m wide and survive to a height of 0.4m. Two short lengths of similar banks run westwards from the north west and south west corners of the garth and may originally have formed part of a wider field system connected with the farmstead. The small buildings measure 5m by 7m and 8m by 9m, and have similar walls to the larger building. The building under the allotment wall measures 12m by 10m, and protrudes on both sides of the wall. A short stretch of track leads up from the public footpath by the stream, to this building. The modern allotment wall is excluded from the monument, although the ground beneath it is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

34362

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Coggins, D, Upper Teesdale the archaeology of a North Pennine Valley in Upper Teesdale The Archaeology Of A North Pennine Valley, Vol. 150, (1986), 95

End of official list entry

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