Monument record 3980/2 - Possible Saxon Royal Manor

Conjectural area of Saxon royal manor/settlement.

{1} There would appear to have been a direct and very important association between Desborough and Rothwell in the Saxon period. In 1086 the manor of Rothwell was held by the crown as the centre of a major estate with numerous dependencies, including half a virgate in Desborough. Rothwell was also an hundredal manor while its church is interpreted as an 'old minster' whose parochia may originally have extended over the whole royal estate. Such estate grouping and association with a 'burh' place-name appears to be a significant one repeated in a number of locations across the county.
In the polyfocal model of early-middle Saxon estate centres the association of Desborough with Rothwell, as the late Saxon estate centre, raises important questions regarding the origins of Rothwell as a settlement.
At a time when dispersed settlement was the norm, in the early- middle Saxon period, Rothwell, if it had such early origins, may have been the 'home farm' of the estate while Desborough was, as its 'burh' place-name and burials may indicate, the princely residence. Alternatively the estate centre may have transferred to Rothwell at a later date, together with the ecclesiastical function. Despite the severe limitations on the archaeological potential of Desborough and remaining uncertainty over the location of the later Saxon royal manor in Rothwell, the archaeological investigation of the manorial and ecclesiastical origins of the two settlements must have a high priority in view of the rarity of such sites.

<1> Foard G, 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Rothwell (Medieval and Post Medieval), (checked) (Digital archive). SNN100514.

Record last edited

Jan 11 2010 3:21PM