Stock medieval settlement and part of its associated medieval open field system

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 Lancashire Lowlands sub-Province of the Northern and Western Province, an area extending from the moorlands of the western Pennines to the coastal plain with its villages and hamlets. The southern part of the sub-Province supports high densities of dispersed settlements, but there are much lower densities further north, in the Craven Lowlands, the Ribble Valley and the areas around Morecambe Bay. In the Middle Ages the larger, lowland settlements were supported by `core' arable lands, communally cultivated, with enclosed fields around them. The uplands contained sheep and cattle farms and seasonally occupied `shieling' settlements. The Craven Lowlands local region is drained both eastwards and westwards by the Aire and Ribble valleys. Now densely settled with small towns, villages, hamlets and scattered farmsteads, it had a similarly mixed pattern of settlement in the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the earthworks of isolated halls, single farmsteads, hamlets and deserted villages.

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 varied 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. They frequently included the parish church within their boundaries, and as part of the manorial system most villages included one or more manorial centres which may also survive as visible remains as well as below ground deposits. In the Northern and Western Province of England medieval villages occurred infrequently amid areas of otherwise dispersed settlement and good examples are therefore proportionally infrequent. Thus their archaeological remains are one of the most important sources for understanding rural life in the five centuries or more following the Norman Conquest. Medieval villages were supported by a communal system of agriculture based on large, unenclosed open arable fields. These large fields were subdivided into strips (known as lands) which were allocated to individual tenants. The cultivation of these strips with heavy ploughs pulled by oxen-teams produced long, wide ridges, and where it survives the resultant `ridge and furrow' is the most obvious physical indication of the open field system. Individual strips or lands were laid out in groups known as furlongs defined by terminal headlands at the plough turning points and lateral grass banks. Furlongs were in turn grouped into large open fields. Well-preserved ridge and furrow, especially in its original context adjacent to village earthworks, is both an important source of information about medieval agrarian life and a distinctive contribution to the historic landscape. It is usually now covered by hedges or walls of subsequent field enclosure. Despite being partly overlain by post-medieval buildings, a substantial proportion of the earthworks of Stock medieval settlement and its open field system survives well. It is a good example of this class of monument in the Craven Lowlands local region and will add greatly to our understanding of the wider settlement and economy during the medieval period.

Details

The monument includes the earthworks and buried remains of Stock medieval settlement together with part of its associated medieval open field system. The settlement is located on undulating ground north east of Stock Beck, while the field system spreads over Hawber Hill to the south of the village. The monument has been identified by a combination of field survey and aerial photography, the latter of which highlights crop marks indicative of buried archaeological features. Although the date of the first settlement at Stock is unknown its abandonment is thought to have coincided with the onset of climatic deterioration and the Black Death during the 14th century. The plan at Stock is unusual in that it does not exhibit a defined form, such as two rows of houses facing onto a village green as is common in many post-Conquest villages in north west England. Instead the remains at Stock appear to represent a less structured and more piecemeal development. However, Stock still contains many features familiar to medieval villages, including house platforms (or tofts), associated allotments (or crofts), enclosures or paddocks, hollow ways, wells, and a communal medieval open field system.

To the west of Stock House are the earthwork remains of a street or hollow way flanked by three house platforms with crofts and numerous small enclosures of various sizes frequently separated by narrow hollow ways. North of Stock House barn and sheep shed there is a sub-rectangular enclosure containing the earthwork remains of a house platform and croft in its northern corner. To the east of this enclosure, adjacent to a sinuous hollow way, are a group of earthworks cut into an artificial bank which have been interpreted as the remains of industrial features associated with lime burning. To the west of the sub-rectangular enclosure, aerial photographs show crop marks representing the buried remains of additional features interpreted as enclosures, some containing traces of small crofts and/or house platforms. A horseshoe-shaped earthwork considered to represent the buried remains of a kiln also lies close by. A short distance to the south, and immediately to the north of the footpath to Bracewell, are a group of earthworks cut into the hillside which are also interpreted as originally having an industrial function - possibly further remains of kilns associated with lime burning. Further south, between the path to Bracewell and a stream, there are two adjacent house platforms and three sub-rectangular crofts or small enclosures. A short distance south of Stock Cottage is another house platform with an adjacent well, while between this and Stock Green there are various earthworks interpreted as hollow ways, ditches, and two possible house platforms or small enclosures. On rising ground to the east of Stock Green there are two adjacent house platforms, a sub-rectangular enclosure, and an enclosure with a croft at its eastern end. Narrow hollow ways separate these features and also flank the eastern edge of this group of earthworks. Immediately east, and higher up the hillslope, there is a narrow belt of well-preserved ridge and furrow. Aerial photographs clearly show that buried remains of features including enclosures, hollow ways and a well lie in the area north of Stock Green and east of Stock House. To the south of the medieval village remains stands Hawber Hill, the summit of which is crowned by a square building platform. On the slopes of the hill, and partly crossed by a later bank and ditch, are the earthworks of the associated medieval communal open field system where the crops were grown. These earthworks consist of the well-preserved remains of ridge and furrow produced by oxen-drawn ploughing teams. Stock House and its barn and associated outbuildings, Stock Cottage and the barn to the north of Stock Cottage, Stock Green and its associated outbuildings, all modern walls, fenceposts, gateposts, telegraph poles, stiles, septic tanks, the surface of all farmtracks and the surfaces of all paths and access drives 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:

32843

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Lancs SMR No.3299 AP No1375/55, 57, Olivier, A, Stock, (1979)
Lancs SMR No3299 AP No1375/55, 57, Olivier,A., Stock, (1970)
In Lancs SMR No.3299, Turner, R C, Stock, (1970)
In Lancs SMR No.3299, Turner, R C, Stock, (1970)
In Lancs SMR No. 3299, Turner, R C, Stock, (1979)

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