Ulnaby, County Durham:An Archaeological Survey and Investigation of the Deserted Medieval Village
Author(s): Catherine Grindey, Marcus Jecock, A Oswald
In 2007, English Heritage undertook historical and archaeological research into the deserted medieval village of Ulnaby in the parish of High Coniscliffe, part of the historic area of County Durham. Detailed analytical field survey of the well-preserved earthwork remains showed that the majority relate to the tofts (peasant house plots and their accompanying yards and gardens) of a planned two-row village with a green. This had replaced an earlier village without a green. Alongside the planned village was a manorial enclosure containing a fishpond and dovecote; the manor house itself is thought to have been lost beneath modern farm buildings. The village was surrounded by open fields of broad ridge and furrow, some of which were ploughed again in the post-medieval period, but thereafter used as pasture up to the present day. After its initial planned phase, the village experienced piecemeal expansion and contraction. Possibly in 1573, but certainly by the early 17th century, the present Ulnaby Hall was built on a new site in an area formerly occupied by peasant tofts. The size of the village diminished gradually: three cottages (whose earthworks can be identified with some confidence) are documented in 1629 and the last medieval building disappeared between 1855 and 1896. A row of three farm labourers' houses, built in the late 19th century and replaced in the 20th, arguably represent the latest incarnation of the village. Ulnaby Hall and these houses are now the only occupied buildings.
- Report Number:
- 13/2008
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 41
- Keywords:
- Landscape Park Medieval Post Medieval Survey
