An Archaeology of the East Midlands, Class 5. Radcliffe Autumn 2014

An Archaeology of the
East Midlands
Class 5: The Medieval Countryside of the
East Midlands.
Tutor: Keith Challis
east-midlands-archaeology.blogspot.co.uk

Recap: Last Week
• Viking Origins
• Scandinavian Settlement in the East
Midlands
• Discussion – Repton and the Vikings
• Techniques: Geophysical Survey

Class Summary
• 850-1100 Shaping the Landscape
• Themes in the Medieval Landscape
• Laxton – a Village and its Landscape
• Coffee Break
• Field Archaeology. Reading the
Landscape

Learning Outcomes
• Identify some of the key themes in the archaeology of
medieval rural settlement in the Midlands
• Understand some of the factors affecting settlement form
and agricultural landscapes
• Recognise some of the physical evidence for medieval
(and other) past landscapes which survive to the present
and how archaeologists deal with these

850-1100 Shaping the Landscape
• By 870s almost total
Danish control of East
Midlands
• Administered and
defenced from the Five
Boroughs
• From late 10th Century
Saxon Reconquest of
Midlands
• 11th Century unified
Anglo-Danish Kingdom

• Wholesale changes in landholding and
landscape – but why?
Middle Saxon
•Large “multiple” estates
•Dispersed settlement based on
farmstead
•Infield/Outfield agriculture (?)
•Minster Churches
Late Saxon/Saxo-Norman
•Small estates based on the manor
•Nucleated settlement in villages
•Development of open fields
•Parochial system and churches
•Castles
•Feudal land holding

• What causes the changes…?
• Scandinavian settlement..?
• Norman influence..?
• Population growth (competition or
resources..?
• Climate change..?
• Fashion..?

Catholme
South Leverton

Section 2: Themes in the
Medieval Landscape

Themes in the Medieval Landscape
• What are The Key Themes?

• 850-1300
• The Manor
• Nucleation of
settlement
• Open fields
• The Parish
• Feudal System
• Castles
• 1300-1485
• Population decline
• Climate
deterioration
• Economic troubles
• Settlement
desertion
• Feudal collapse

• Rural Settlement
• In E Mids predominance of
nucleated settlement.
• Excavation evidence for origins rare
and equivocal
• Eg. Barton Blount – tofts and crofts
from 11th century
• Re-imaging of nucleated
settlements in 13th century into
regulated plan forms (eg
Rockingham 1270s)
• But – areas of distinctive
dispersed settlement, eg
Charnwood, North Derbyshire,
Sherwood, The Coal Measures

• Rural Settlement
• The Manor (manorium) basic unit of
lordly landholding
• Fundamental to feudal land holding,
but with pre-conquest origins
• Manors may include one or many
settlement in any form – the manor
and the village are not equal
• Excavations of manorial
complexes show use of sites
bridging conquest (eg at Goltho)
• Some manorial sites become sites
for castles
• Abandoned manorial complexes
may be confused with deserted
villages

• Agriculture
• Champion landscape of
communal open fields cropped
under two or three year rotation
• Evidence suggests pre-
Conquest origin but little
archaeology
• Some documents (eg Southwell
AD956) but most are post-
Conquest
• Open fields and nucleated
settlements appear to be part of
a single system of rural
landscape organisation

• Agriculture
• Areas with no open
fields poorly
understood
• Possibly infield/outfield
systems in uplands
• Extensive Assarting in
Sherwood and other
forest areas

• Feudal
Duffield Reconstructed
Appurtenances
• Castles
• Early post-Conquest castles at
Nottingham, Lincoln, Leicester,
Duffield
• Networks of smaller earthwork
castles – eg along Trent and
associated with major estate
centres
• Some short-lived castles
associated with Anarchy (1135-
54 eg Derby)

• Feudal
Appurtenances
• Deer Parks, Gardens,
Mills, Warrens, Fish-
Ponds
• All significant features
with persistent impact
on landscape and
significant earthwork
Speed 1610.
remains

Laxton

Laxton
Open Field Farming Survives

Mark Pierce’s Map of 1625

Laxton Top Lane
• Excavation of two tofts vacant since 1635
• Mid-Late Saxon pottery (York, Maxey,
Stamford and Lincoln)
• Abundant 13th-14th Century pottery
• Nothing post c1500
• Pre conquest occupation
• 13th century regulated plan
• Later medieval abandonment

Old Infants’ School Laxton Old Vicarage
Isolated
pits/ditches
with 13th/14th
century
pottery

Laxton
Two phase castle

Laxton
• Pre-conquest Anglo-Scandinavian
settlement (?dispersed/nucleated)
• At conquest granted to Geoffrey
Alselin, an absent landlord
• c1090s Alselin’s death and manor
to Robert de Caux by marriage
• Caput of de Caux barony: first
castle build near to former
manorial site
• c1100 de Caux appointed “Keeper
of Sherwood Forest”
• Second castle built to
accommodate this role and regular
royal visitors
• Original village form replaced by a
regulated plan two row village in
late 12th /early 13th century
• Development of Open Field at
same time (Mill 1189/West 1232)
• Freed from forest law in 1227 –
agriculture expansion and
population growth
• 1230s manor to de Everinghams

Laxton
Adam de Everingham (died 1336) and his wives
• Original village form replaced by a
regulated plan two row village in late
12th /early 13th century
• Development of Open Field at same
time (Mill 1189/West 1232)
• Freed from forest law in 1227 –
agriculture expansion and population
growth
• 1230s manor to de Everinghams
• 1286 Robert imprisoned and loss of
office but further expansion and town
like wealth
• 14th century IPM show decline in
Demense – castle abandoned
• Pre and post Black Death decline and
abandonment of tofts

• Coffee Break

Section 4: Field Archaeology
Reading the Landscape

Field Archaeology
Hoskins
Crawford

• Earthworks
• Artefacts
• Field shapes and boundaries
• Vegetation
• Rivers and waterways
• Tracks, roads and routeways
• Settlement plans
• Standing buildings
• Place names……
Fieldwork
Evidence

Earthworks
• Earthworks are amongst the most commonly studied
sources of information for non-invasive fieldwork.
• Can provide a great deal of information on the past use
and development of the landscape.
• But, need care to differentiate between naturally created
landforms (e.g. glacial moraines), modern land use (e.g.
road quarry pits) and cultural archaeological earthworks.
• Also, differentiating between archaeological site types
based solely on earthwork remains can be risky – some
monuments will be evidenced by the same earthwork
appearance. For example, a circular mound could
plausibly relate to a prehistoric barrow, a medieval
defensive earthwork, a windmill mound, a post-medieval
viewing platform or a 20th century military gun
emplacement.

Earthworks
• The identification and interpretation
of earthworks requires an
understanding of all types of
archaeological monuments, as well
as those resulting from other non-archaeological
practices.
• There are useful books to help in the
interpretation (e.g. Aston 1985,
Bowden 1999, Muir 2000, Ordnance
Survey 1963…..).
• Another important consideration is
that although areas of earthworks
may appear homogenous on the
ground today, they may in fact date
from a range of periods and
functions.
• ‘ The present view is like looking at
the stars – in one view many ages
are seen.’ (Aston 1985, 15).
After: Williamson 2002, p24

Earthworks
• As well as interpretation of date and function
based on morphological description, it is
also sometimes possible to construct
relative chronologies by analysing the
stratigraphic relationship between different
features.
• Vertical stratigraphy relies on the clear and
accurate identification of discrete earthwork
features, as well as their chronological
interrelationships.
• Horizontal stratigraphy is often less clearly
perceptible, in that it relies on there being
well defined differences between, for
example, the core nucleus of a settlement
site and later adjacent elements of a
different form, scale or angle.
• Deciphering the detailed relationships
between earthworks in this manner often
requires the use of site survey or aerial
After: Bowden 1999, fig 35 photography.

Field shapes and boundaries
• The shape of a field or property boundary
can be determined by a range of factors, for
example:
– Agricultural regime
– Topography
– Economy
– Soil quality
– Social hierarchy + control
• In many cases the shape of a field can lead
to a preliminary interpretation of date. For
example, complex coaxial networks are
often prehistoric, small irregular fields were
often created through the piecemeal
assarting of woodland or intake of common
land…
• Other forms of enclosures should be
considered – e.g. park boundaries.
After: Muir 2002, map 3.7 east-midlands-archaeology.blogspot.co.uk

Hedges and Walls
• As well as the shape of the fields themselves, the
form, composition and construction of their boundaries
can provide important information.
• The availability of resources and suitability of the soils
dictates a considerable amount of the regional
variation in the distribution, although lots of other
contributing factors.
• Hedges are able to not only act as barriers in the
landscape but also to provide a regular supply of
wood.
• Drystone walling can be established in areas where
hedges would not survive due to poor soils and
exposure to wind.
• Should also consider boundary features can be aimed
at defining a border rather than an enclosure, for
example Offa’s Dyke or Hadrian’s Wall.

• The ecologist Max Hooper suggested in the 1960s that the
character and plant diversity of a hedge could be used to
provide information on the date of the boundary.
• He came up with a simplified equation that claimed that
the age could be calculated by counting the number of
species within a 30-yard length of a hedge and multiplying
this figure by 100 (e.g. 5 species = 500 years old) (the
‘Hooper hypothesis’).
• Based on assumption that hedges acquire new species
over time at a gradual but fairly constant rate.
• But, the technique only provides a margin of error of 200
years either way (therefore the example above could date
from 1300-1700 AD).
• And there are a number of significant problems with the
theory behind the approach itself. For example, records
show that many hedges were planted as multi-species
boundaries at the outset. Also, species can be lost from
hedges over time – for example Elms can displace existing
species and even eventually create a single species
hedge.
• But not completely useless – can look at species
composition to understand past landscapes (‘indicator
species’ can show woodland edge hedges). Need to
consider regional/local context.
Dating
Hedges?

Dating
Walls?
‘Wall-to-Wall History’
Richard Hodges
examination of Roystone
Grange in Derbyshire
included the creation of a
typology of drystone
walling, checked through
construction method,
association with other
cultural features or
excavation.
1 2
3 4 5

Ecology and
Vegetation
• ‘Plants and animals do not enter into the
story merely as part of the environment,
as scenery in the theatre of landscape.
They are actors in the play; each has its
own character, which needs to be
understood.’ (Rackham, 2000).
• As this quote from Rackham suggests, a
thorough understanding of ecology
allows a deep understanding of the
nature and development of a landscape.
• Factors to consider are the distribution,
nature and species composition of:
woodland/wood-pasture, indicators of
tree management, fields and their
boundaries, grassland, heathland, moors
and water bodies.
• An excellent reference for understanding
historical ecology is Oliver Rackham’s
‘History of the Countryside’.
After: Rackham 2000 east-midlands-archaeology.blogspot.co.uk

Ecology and Vegetation
• Calculating the age of ancient trees is
problematic, especially since they are
often hollow so the oldest wood is not
available for dendrochronology or C-14
dating.
• A crude formula for calculating age is that
free-standing timber trees (especially
oaks) gain approximately 2cm of
circumference each year of growth.
• But also have to take account of a wide
range of factors, such as competition with
other plants, species, climate and effects
of management strategies such as
pollarding (reduces growth rate).
After: Muir 2001

Vegetation
changes as
archaeological
indicators

Structures and Buildings
• Standing buildings / structures
• Partially extant structures (e.g.
foundations)
• Footprints and earthworks (e.g.
hut platforms)

Surface finds • On ploughed arable land there is often a good chance of
finding artefacts. Pasture is obviously not usually suited.
• The distribution of the finds can then be used to give an
impression of the subsurface archaeology. Isolated
artefacts likely to result from domestic refuse material
scattered as manure, dense concentrations suggest
potential occupation?
• The ideal conditions are following rainfall and in winter
when the vegetation/crop is low and have not started
growing.
• Factors to consider include:
– Method of collection (systematic or random)?
– Positioning of artefacts?
– What type of artefacts are likely to survive local soil
conditions?
– Crop type and growth.
– Depth of ploughing and time since ploughing
– Colour of soil
– Degree of movement from original location (i.e. not in
situ finds but by how much?)
• It is important to remember that the presence of artefacts
within topsoil or on the ground surface almost certainly
means that the archaeology is being eroded.

Sketch
Mapping
• Sketch mapping of archaeological
remains identified during fieldwork
is an important skill.
• Features should be represented
with care, at least to an
approximate scale (pacing).
• Maps should be well annotated
and include a title, description,
orientation, scale bar, and a key if
required.
• English Heritage drawing
conventions should be used
wherever possible.
After Muir 2001

Position and Orientation
• Accurate positioning of identified
archaeology is also essential –
although the level of accuracy will
differ depending on the purpose and
level of the survey.
• A central grid reference obtained
from a handheld GPS is adequate
for recording the basic location of a
site (or multiple points for a large
area).
• Alternatively, the position can be
recorded onto a paper map through
pacing/taping from field boundaries.
• A compass is essential for proper
orientation of a site and any features
within it.

Field Notes
• A detailed field description is essential and should include
all of the details listed in the relevant English Heritage
survey level written description information. Text should
be linked into sketch maps and photographs wherever
possible.
• These notes can be made on an annotated plan, in a
notebook or into a voice recorder – but should be clearly
legible / audible and copied up as soon as you return from
the field.
• Other important considerations are the landscape context
of the site (e.g. intervisibility), preservation condition /
erosion, visible chronology, etc.

Ground Photography • Ground photography is primarily used to
record the appearance or
interrelationships of specific features
within a site, or to record the broader
landscape context.
• Factors to consider are the time of
day/year, the weather, and the quality of
the camera.
• The viewpoint should be carefully
selected to maximise the information
obtained (for record shots especially).
Elevated positions are often useful for
clarifying the overall pattern in large
areas.
• Wherever possible use a measured
ranging rod for scale – and always align
the rod in the same manner for your
photographs (e.g. red to the left). If no rod
is available then improvisation is
necessary (e.g. a person, a trowel, etc).
• Photographs need to be accompanied by
notes – recording what they refer to and
where they were taken. At its simplest
level this can be recording the position
and orientation of a photograph on a
sketch map.

Further Study
Assignment 5: Medieval Nottingham
•Take a look at Maurice Barley’s seminal 1969 historical
summary of Nottingham and the more recent taster paper
by David Knight et al on excavations revealing the origins
of the town. You might like to supplement this with your
own reading – local studies libraries are bursting with
Nottingham material.
•We will discuss Nottingham as an example of the
development of a great Midland’s town in the Middle Ages
– come prepared!

An Archaeology of the East Midlands, Class 5. Radcliffe Autumn 2014

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