Long Intakes medieval dispersed settlement and associated kiln 370m south of Fell Foot

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 Cumbria-Solway sub-Province of the Northern and Western Province, an area characterised by dispersed hamlets and farmsteads, but with some larger nucleated settlements in well-defined agriculturally favoured areas, established after the Norman Conquest. Traces of seasonal settlements, or shielings, dominate the high, wet and windy uplands, where surrounding communities grazed their livestock during the summer months. The Lake District local region is characterised by a series of mountain blocks separated by deep valleys, providing great variation in local terrains. Settlement is sparse, but villages and hamlets occasionally appear in the valleys. Higher up, above the level of medieval fields enclosed by the stone walls known as head-dykes, are traces of medieval and earlier settlements in farmlands since abandoned.

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 a 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 usually 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 outlines of building foundations may still be clearly visible. Communal areas of the settlement 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 in some lowland areas. Where found their archaeological remains are one of the most inportant sources for understanding about rural life in the five or more centuries following the Norman Conquest.

Long Intakes medieval dispersed settlement 370m south of Fell Foot survives reasonably well and remains largely undisturbed by modern development. It is a good example of this class of monument and contains an associated kiln thought to have been used for drying corn.

Details

The monument includes the earthworks and buried remains of Long Intakes medieval dispersed settlement and an associated kiln located at the foot of Hollin Crag on flat ground north of Greenburn Beck 370m south of Fell Foot. It includes the remains of a building with enclosures to the north and west and a roadway to the east.

The stone-built building measures about 21m north-south by 8m east-west and appears to have been sub-divided into at least three or possibly four rooms. There are two entrances, one from the south into the south room, and the other from the east into the next room along. Leading from the east side of the building is a boulder-lined roadway which runs as far as the modern field wall on the monument's east side. This roadway appears to partly overlie traces of a small enclosure boundary bank on the building's east side. A more substantial enclosure boundary wall runs on the building's north and west sides and has an entrance adjacent to its junction with the modern field wall to the north east of the building. This wall formed part of an irregular-shaped enclosure which used Greenburn Beck as its southern boundary. To the west of this enclosure there is another irregularly-shaped enclosure bounded on the west by a sudden rise in the ground level at the foot of Hollin Crag. Built into this rise is a circular stone-built kiln with an entrance flanked by stone posts and a lintel. It is not known precisely what function the kiln served but similar kilns found in association with medieval dispersed settlements in north east Cumbria have been interpreted as corn drying kilns and a similar use cannot be ruled out here. Traces of a shallow channel of uncertain function runs from Greenburn Beck in a north east direction towards the building but fades out as the building is approached.

All modern field boundary walls and gateposts 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:

35025

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Burkett, M E, Trans Cumb and West Antiq and Arch Soc. New Ser. in Three Deserted Medieval Farmsteads In Little Langdale, Vol. LXX, (1970), 269-74

End of official list entry

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