Details

The monument includes a deserted medieval farmstead and associated earthworks
situated within the base of a dry valley 300m north west of Chalkhill Farm, in
an area of the Cotswold Hills.
The deserted medieval farmstead, generally known as the Chalk Hill medieval
site, is bounded by a circuit of field banks 3m-5m wide and c.0.4m-0.6m high.
These enclose a sub-rectangular area 70m from north to south and 100m from
east to west. Within the central and eastern areas of this there are two
smaller rectilinear enclosures. The eastern example has banks 4m wide and
c.0.5m high; it is orientated from east to west and has dimensions of 30m by
5m. The western example is orientated from north to south and has banks of a
similar size enclosing an area of 20m by 8m.
The area between the two enclosures includes additional linear features
c.0.04m high which are likely to have been walls or field banks. To the south
of the western enclosure is a mound c.0.8m high and 10m in diameter which may
represent a windmill mound.
The eastern enclosure was partially excavated in 1957. It was found to have an
interior 9m long and 4.2m wide and drystone walls varying in width between
0.9m and 1.6m. The walls were composed of thin slabs of Stonesfield slate
which was available locally. The west wall survived to a height of 20 stone
courses and the eastern wall to a height of 18 stone courses. The remains of a
base of a window 0.45m long were identified in the eastern wall. The structure
was situated upon a clay base and there were two layers of pitched stone
foundations with a floor of paved flagstones above.
Finds from the site include sherds of 12th or 13th century pottery, animal
bones, 13th century glazed ridge tiles and stone roofing tiles.
Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts and gates relating to the
field boundaries, although the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Farmsteads, normally occupied by only one or two families and comprising small
groups of buildings with attached yards, gardens and enclosures, were a
characteristic feature of the medieval rural landscape. They occur throughout
the country, the intensity of their distribution determined by local
topography and the nature of the agricultural system prevalent within the
region. In some areas of dispersed settlement they were the predominant
settlement form; elsewhere they existed alongside, or were components of, more
nucleated settlement patterns. The sites of many farmsteads have been
occupied down to the present day but others were abandoned as a result of, for
example, declining economic viability, enclosure or emparkment, or epidemics
like the Black Death. In the northern border areas, recurring cross-border
raids and military activities also disrupted agricultural life and led to
abandonments. Farmsteads are a common and long-lived monument type; the
archaeological deposits on those which were abandoned are often well-preserved
and provide important information on regional and national settlement patterns
and farming economies, and on changes in these through time.

The deserted medieval farmstead 300m north west of Chalkhill Farm survives
well and is known from partial excavation to contain archaeological and
environmental evidence. Such evidence will provide an indication of the status
of the site's occupants, their economy and the landscape in which they lived.
The site's low-level setting and the proximity of a stream nearby may ensure
the survival of waterlogged and organic remains.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Baldwyn, and O`Neil, A Medieval Site At Chalk Hill, Temple Guiting, Gloucester 1957, (1958)
Baldwyn, and O`Neil, A Medieval Site At Chalk Hill, Temple Guiting, Gloucester 1957, (1958)
Baldwyn, and O`Neil, A Medieval Site At Chalk Hill, Temple Guiting, Gloucester 1957, (1958)
Baldwyn, and O`Neil, A Medieval Site At Chalk Hill, Temple Guiting, Gloucester 1957, (1958)
Baldwyn, and O`Neil, A Medieval Site At Chalk Hill, Temple Guiting, Gloucester 1957, (1958)
Baldwyn, and O`Neil, A Medieval Site At Chalk Hill, Temple Guiting, Gloucester 1957, (1958)
Baldwyn, and O`Neil, A Medieval Site At Chalk Hill, Temple Guiting, Gloucester 1957, (1958)
Field banks enclosing farmstead,

Source: Historic England