ENN107499 - Kirby Hall Earthwork Survey, 2013

In 2013, the Assessment Team (West) undertook an analytical survey of the earthwork remains surrounding Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire. This work included a detailed examination of the abandoned medieval village of Kirby, which demonstrated the complex nature of the settlement remains. Earthwork evidence for a manorial centre was identified on the south-eastern side of the Gretton Brook, and probably represents the administrative centre of a second medieval estate at Kirby. The survey work also revealed a fluctuating story of settlement expansion, contraction and movement of focus, with the village finally abandoned when the formal gardens of the Hall were laid out, probably in the late 16th century. These gardens were expanded in the late 17th century over an area of former open fields to the south of Kirby Hall. The slight earthwork remains of this formal garden, known as the Wilderness, were identified on the ground and from aerial photographs. The archaeological evidence indicates that the Wilderness was set out in a formal and highly structured way, comprising a series of regular compartments divided by a network of paths. Later developments to the garden layout during the 18th century were also recorded, indicating a degree of modest investment and a move towards a more naturalistic scheme.