Summary
A deserted medieval village surviving as earthworks and buried remains which partly overlies the buried remains of a probable Roman camp.
Reasons for Designation
Manless Town medieval settlement and the buried remains of the Roman camp is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival of Roman camp remains: despite being reduced by ploughing, the Roman camp will retain significant archaeological information including buried deposits illustrating the nature of occupation, artefactual evidence indicating the date of construction and the duration of use;
* Survival of medieval settlement : the earthworks of the medieval settlement survive well and contain a good range of features such as building platforms, trackways, enclosures and field systems relating to the occupation of the site and farming practices during the medieval period;
* Potential: both excavated and unexplored areas contain the potential to provide further evidence to increase understanding of the character and occupation of both the Roman camp and the medieval settlement which overlies the northern part of the camp;
* Documentation: both the Roman camp and the medieval settlement are well documented by aerial photography, excavation and field survey which have confirmed their importance; the medieval settlement is also referenced in historical documents;
* Group value: the re-occupation of the site during the medieval period provides added interest.
History
Medieval rural settlements in England were marked by great diversity in form, size and type. They typically comprise a small group of houses, gardens, yards, streets, paddocks, often with a green, a manor and a church, and with a community devoted primarily to agriculture. Villages provided some services to the local community and acted as the main focal point of ecclesiastical, and often of manorial administration within each parish. Although the sites of many of these villages have been occupied continuously down to the present day, many others declined in size or were abandoned throughout the medieval and post-medieval periods, particularly during the C14 and C15. The reasons for desertion were varied but often reflected declining economic viability, changes in land use such as enclosure or emparkment, or population fluctuations as a result of widespread epidemics such as the Black Death.
Manless Town medieval settlement is situated on the higher ridge of the north-east Cotswolds, an area where in 1851 there were low populations and frequent deserted villages, and where settlements are most thinly scattered. The landscape of this gently-tilted plateau prospered in the medieval period through the wool trade based upon the sheep pastures of its former open wolds. Villages in this area tend to lie in folds or along valley sides where water was available.
The first documentary reference to the ‘Manles Towne’ is in 1622. The site has been known by various names including Haywick, Munley Towne, Old Mondley, Longhorn Town and Keywich. A survey undertaken in 1731 by Thomas Warburton mentions a ruined site known as Old Mondley, on a field which at the time of the survey was called ‘Plumb Hay’. It was said to have been sacked in the civil wars during the reign of King John (1166-1216), possibly in 1216 when the King’s army marched from Bristol to Tewkesbury. Local tradition attributes the name of the town to the loss of all the men of the village in battle, and the subsequent abandonment of the town by the surviving women and children. However it is understood that during the reign of Edward II (1327-77), the lord of the manor purchased a charter for a weekly market and annual to be held there, suggesting that occupation continued into the C14. The date that the settlement was abandoned is not known.
The settlement is visible on aerial photographs for 1946 and 1947 as extant earthworks. An archaeological excavation of part of the site in 1962 revealed building foundations and uncovered pottery dating between the C12 and C14. An aerial photographic survey of the earthworks was also carried out in 1962; while a field survey in 1992 (pub. 1998) has provided more detailed evidence of the extent and nature of the medieval settlement.
Warburton's 1731 survey also makes reference to Manless Town having been the site of a Roman Station. Roman material was also recovered during the 1962 excavation, and the aerial survey that same year also depicts cropmarks to the west of the medieval settlement which have since been identified as a Roman camp. This was verified by partial exaction in 1962-63. Further evidence for Roman occupation in the area was discovered during the construction of a small reservoir just beyond the south-east boundary to the camp. The finds included an infant grave, a coin of Faustina II and pottery from the late first and early second centuries AD.
Details
MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENT: the settlement consists of earthworks and buried remains representing plot or croft boundaries; tofts or building platforms; and trackways or hollow ways of the medieval settlement. These are associated with a system of lynchets and field enclosures.
The site is bisected centrally by a road with archaeological remains in the fields to the east and west. The main concentration of building and croft platforms of the medieval settlement lie to the east of the current road and consist of earthworks which mostly stand over 0.5m high and buried remains. The earthworks include a number of rectangular platforms of various sizes, and ditches or linear features, possibly defining small paddocks or enclosures. They include a linear arrangement of at least three rectangular building platforms which lie in the centre of this half of the site. One of the most prominent earthwork features is a large rectangular platform with a central division, and measuring approximately 45m north-west to south-east by 10m south-west to north-east. It lies to the south of the group of platforms and overlies earlier croft boundaries. The eastern part of the settlement contains a large ditch which may represent a hollow way or later quarrying activities. The southern part of this half of the site contains a further large rectangular field platform and evidence of lynchets. Adjacent to the road is another linear feature that has been identified as a hollow way. Part of the site in this area has been overlain by dumped topsoil, although two post-medieval quarries are visible to the south.
Further platforms and earthworks are visible in the north part of the settlement which, although less well defined, possibly due to subsequent quarrying and ploughing in this area, represent further features associated with the medieval settlement.
ROMAN CAMP: underlying the medieval settlement and extending into the field to the west of the road are the buried remains of a Roman camp, identified from field investigations in the 1960s. This rectangular feature is visible on aerial photographs and linear crop marks define the east and south-east boundaries of the camp which overall measures approximately 183m wide (north to south) and 174m long (east to west). The eastern boundary is also visible on the surface as a slight change of slope running north to south. Partial excavation in the field to the west of the road uncovered evidence for a large ditch with a V-shaped profile which has been interpreted as part of the camp's defensive ditch. The footings of dry-stone walls, post-holes and pits were also located within the enclosure. The camp is considered to survive as a buried feature where it extends eastwards, beneath the medieval settlement and the road.
EXCLUSIONS: all gates and fence posts which relate to the modern field boundaries, and the surface of the modern road are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.
