Medieval settlement remains at Chesterton Green

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 Inner Midlands sub-Province of the Central Province, an area characterised by large numbers of nucleated settlements, both surviving and deserted, many of which are thought to have been established in Anglo-Saxon times. Most of the sub-Province's thinly scattered dispersed settlements were created in post-medieval times, but some of the local regions are characterised by higher proportions of dispersed dwellings and hamlets, which probably mark the patchy survival of older landscapes. The medieval settlement remains at Chesterton Green survive well as earthwork and buried features. Remains of houses and outbuildings as well as gardens and allotments, will demonstrate the size and status of this part of the medieval settlement, and will include evidence for the occupations of the people who lived there. Buried artefacts will provide dating evidence for the development and decline of the settlement, as well as information about the daily life and wealth of the inhabitants. Buried environmental evidence will illustrate the diet and health of the population as well providing information about the medieval agricultural regime and the surrounding natural environment. The remains of the field system, roads and boundaries will provide evidence for the wider landscape setting, communication network and rural environment surrounding the settlement.

Details

The monument includes the surviving buried and earthwork remains of the medieval settlement at Chesterton Green. The modern settlement at Chesterton Green is believed to lie close to the site of the medieval settlement mentioned in a document of 1344 as `le Grenesyde'. The remains of at least three building platforms and a causewayed road junction with raised camber running in two directions are visible in the field to the north of Green Farm. Aerial photographs, taken between 1940 and 1970, demonstrate that further extensive settlement remains formerly survived in the larger arable field to the west, including a series of enclosures and building platforms and a chain of at least three fishponds stretching out towards the Hog Brook. These remains have since been reduced by cultivation and are not included in the scheduling, except for a 15 metre sample on the eastern edge of the field included in order to preserve the relationship between the earthwork site and the wider settlement remains. All modern post and wire fences 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:

35106

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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