Croxton Kerrial Manor House Excavations in Pinfold Field Geophysical surveys and excavations revealed the remains of a substantial medieval manor house at Croxton Kerrial dating from the 11th-16th centuries. Wall foundations and cobbled floors from four main areas were uncovered along with domestic artifacts like pottery and a medieval pitcher. A large cellar or pit contained animal bones, shells, and more pottery. While no definitive evidence of a manor was found, the high-status domestic site adjacent to the church is likely the location of the historic Croxton Kerrial manor house.

1. Croxton Kerrial Manor
House
Excavations in Pinfold Field

2. Brief history of Croxton Kerrial
• Founded in 8th century by Anglo Saxons
• Original site to west of existing village on
road to Branston at bottom of hill next to
the stream
• Anglo Saxon artefacts found there in 70s
during construction of sewage works
• Conquered in 870S by the Danes. Village
centre moved to present site?

3. DOMESDAY SURVEY

4. DOMESDAY SURVEY
• The king holds Crohtone. There are 24
carucates of land. In demesne there are
2 ploughs and 5 serfs; and 22 villeins
with 2 borders have 2 1/2 ploughs and
30 sokemen have 8 ploughs. There are
30 acres of meadow and 2 mills
rendering 8s

5. Holders of the Manor
• Held by Earl Algar then by his son, Earl Morcar, Earl of Northumberland
• 1086 Held by King William – no priest in Domesday, but mentioned elsewhere, Saxon
cross in south isle 0f church
• Farmed to Hugh Fitzbaldric a tenant in chief in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
• After his death manor went to Earl Meulan who fought on the losing side for Robert of
Normandy against his brother Henry the First in 1106 and lost his lands
• Henry I feoffed the manor to his nephew Stephen
• 1158 Stephen passed it to his son William Count of Boulogne who gave the site of the
abbey.
• King Henry II
• 1176 Hugh Porter - started the present church circa 1186?
• Hubert de Burgo, King Johns’ Chamberlain given Croxton by John
• 1195 Hugh Porter recovered Croxton when King Richard returned
• 1204 Geoffrey Lutterel of Bescaby and Saltby given Croxton in 1204
• Various hands including the abbey, probably ‘farmed’
• 1242 Croxton given by King John to Lord Bertram de Criol, Sherriff of Kent
• 1245 Nicholas son of Bertram, lived in the manor house died 1303
• Nicholas aged 21 succeeded to manor
• 1318 John de Criol leased the manor to Stephan de Segrave
• 1335 John de Criol sold the manor to John de Segrave
• 1336 John de Segrave gave the manor to the Abbey of Croxton
• 1538 Dissolution of the monastery, manor granted to the Earl of Rutland by Henry 8th
• The church pews are believed to be from the abbey and date from the 15th century and
earlier

6. The Manor House
• 1176 Hugh Porter granted to Abbey all his demesne of Croxton
except his mansion
• 1245 Nicholas de Criol lived in the manor house
• 1336 Manor given to Abbey
• 1519 Richard Mawburn paid £8 for the grange (manor house)
• 1559 George Pilkington ‘gent of Crowson’ held the site of the
manor or grange
• 1601 Roger and Ed Pilkington lease of grange etc and enclosing
land
• 1603 Ed Pilkington rented site of manor and watermill
• 1653 John and Ed Attwood of Knipton yeoman paid for ‘lease of
ancient grange house late in the tenure of Dorothy Yates’.
• Edward Remington was tenant of both "le Hall" and "le
Sta[ble?]" in 1685.

7. Earliest map of Croxton Village 1799

8. Resistivity- measures the electrical
resistance of the ground

9. Magnetometry – measures the
magnetism of the ground

10. Resistivity results

11. Resistivity results

12. Magnetometry results

13. Various other methods were tried in vain

14. Excavations began April 2012

15. Continued in all weathers

17. Overall plan of excavations

18. Area one
Substantial well
constructed
masonry
walls

19. Only one find – a musket ball

20. Area two – cobbled areas plus gate hinge

22. Finds : pottery 13th/14th century

23. Floor tiling – medieval?

24. Area three
• More cobbled areas

25. Finds – pottery 13th/14th century

27. Area four: Substantial masonry
walls from a large building

31. Including the pit!

33. Finds from the building

36. Medieval pitcher handle

37. Dividers – 17 century?
th

38. Including this medieval pitcher – 13/14th century

40. And lastly a small piece of wall
plaster

41. Finds from the pit
• Sheep, cattle & pig bones

43. An oyster shell

44. and more pottery

45. Is it Croxton Manor House?
• What we don’t have -
• What we do have-
• the site is adjacent to church – most
common site for a manor house
• it is a high status domestic site – the pit arch
- substantial quality masonry
• pottery finds date the building from the 11th
cto the 16th
• highly unlikely to be any other high status
medieval building in such a small village

46. What might it have looked like?

47. Reconstruction

49. Thanks
• Michael Copley – permission to carry out
geophysics and excavate
• Belvoir Estate – permission to excavate
• Alan Morris – geophysical surveys
• Gerald Botterill – use of barn for storage
• Peter Foden – archivist – for historical
information and 1799 map
• Most importantly – the diggers and recorders

50. ANY QUESTIONS?