Summary

Deserted medieval village of Marston and part of its associated field system.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 2 September 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes a deserted medieval village and part of its associated field system situated on very gently sloping ground immediately south of Marston Brook. The village with its central street, buildings, garden plots and associated fields are visible as a slight hollow way, building platforms, scarps of up to 1.2m high and depressions. The village was documented in 1155 and was depopulated at the emparkment of Marston House in the early 18th century. Limited evaluation excavations in 2009 indicated that the clearances of the 18th century and ground works in the 19th and 20th centuries which included drainage had disturbed some of the medieval stratigraphic, artefactual and palaeoenvironmetal assemblages.

The village lies within Marston House Park which is registered Grade II.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The village, comprising 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, was a significant component of the rural landscape in most areas of medieval England, much as it is today. 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 14th and 15th centuries. As a result over 2000 deserted medieval villages are recorded nationally. 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. As a consequence of their abandonment these villages are frequently undisturbed by later occupation and contain well-preserved archaeological deposits. Because they are a common and long-lived monument type in most parts of England, they provide important information on the diversity of medieval settlement patterns and farming economy between the regions and through time. Despite some disturbance by later ground works in places, the deserted medieval village of Marston and part of its associated field system will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, development, longevity, abandonment, social significance, agricultural practices, domestic arrangements and overall landscape context.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:-202876

Source: Historic England