Monument record 295/1 - Helmdon Manor

Earthworks of medieval manorial complex including a moated manor house, settlement and associated field system. Probably the site of the main medieval manor house of Overbury.

{1} The earthworks, which are slight and poorly preserved, are probably the site of the main medieval manor house of Overbury, with associated paddocks and ponds, together with some fragments of former housesites. The significance of the remains is topographical. They appear to be part of a neat rectangular layout, including the church and the existing houses, which forms the long S.E. extension of the modern village. Such a plan indicates that this part of the village may have been deliberately created.

The manor house site, fishponds and paddocks are bounded by an almost continuous bank and outer ditch. It is best preserved on the S. and W. where the bank is 0.5 m. high and the ditch 1 m. deep. On the E., to the S. of the church, only the bank survives and in the N.E., to the N.W. of the church, the bank is sinuous and is damaged. The site of the original manor house lies immediately E. of the present one ('a' on plan) and consists of a flat rectangular platform with low banks and ditches attached to it. To the S. there is a long narrow paddock extending the full width of the area, with slight traces of ridge-and-furrow at its W. end, and there are small paddocks further N. around the manor house. The northern part of the area is occupied by three ponds, now dry; the upper two have the fragmentary remains of dams. Until recently some 25 houses and cottages stood in the rectangular area N. of the manor house site but most of the large open spaces between them have now been built over and no earthworks remain. However, on air photographs taken in 1947 (RAF VAP CPE/ UK/1926, 3219–20) banks, scarps and ditches indicative of former houses are visible in the area to the N. of the church. On the Enclosure Map (NRO, 1758) a large building is depicted in the N. half of this area and it is clear that the largest of the banks visible on air photographs was the boundary between two closes. The limits of the rectangular area are marked by a modern hedge on a large bank, except at the N.E. corner ('b' on plan) where part of the original N. side survives as a low bank running E.

The tenurial history of Helmdon is complex and it is not clear how this southern extension of the village originated or functioned. Certainly by the early 15th century Helmdon had three manors, Overbury, Middlebury and Netherbury, of which the first and principal manor, through its association with Worcester College, Oxford, can be assigned to the site described here.

{5} Excavation and watching brief undertaken during the construction of a new access track revealed the denuded remains of the bank and ditch; the underlying bank was probably comprised of upcast from the original outer ditch. The bank had been severely truncated. The outer ditch was possibly a re-cut of the original since no tip lines were visible in the fill. Quantities of post medieval pottery were recovered.

{6} There are no extant remains of the original Manor House which, according to local traditional information, was demolished 'early in this century'. Extant earthworks representing the manorial
complex comprise a well defended homestead/manorial moat situated between two large banked and ditched enclosures, the whole situated on a slight north facing slope. The moat island is well raised having a maximum height of 1.4m above the now dry ditch which itself has a maximum depth of 0.5m; the platform is flat with no surface evidence of the former structure. The enclosures, apparently ditched fields, are also devoid of evidence of early occupation, the ditching itself being a drainage requirement. All the works are now under permanent pasture. The farm-house is a modern structure.

Aerial photos NCCAP: SP5834/1-7

{8, 9} Helmdon. At Domesday the Earl of Marton had four hides of land. In the reign of Henry V there are three distinct manors called Overbury, Netherbury and Minuicourt. These manors passed through
several intermediate possessors, and the manor of Overbury (the principal one) is now the property of the Provost and Fellows of Worcester College Oxford.

Worcester College manor house, which has just been thoroughly restored, is now a farmhouse standing west of the church where there are large enclosures bounded by slight entrenchments.

The other manor houses cannot be distinguished.

{10} There are no extant remains of the original Manor House which, according to local traditional information, was demolished 'early in this century'. Extant earthworks representing the manorial complex comprise a well defended homestead/manorial moat situated between two large banked and ditched enclosures, the whole situated on a slight north facing slope. The moat island is well raised
having a maximum height of 1.4m above the now dry ditch which itself has a maximum depth of 0.5m; the platform is flat with no surface evidence of the former structure. The enclosures, apparently
ditched fields, are also devoid of evidence of early occupation, the ditching itself being a drainage requirement. All the works are now under permanent pasture.

The farm-house is a modern structure.

Earthworks re-surveyed at 1:2500 on AM and MSD.

{11} A survey carried out in 1973 identified the shrunken village earthworks, especially around Manor Farm, where there are manorial ramparts and fishponds as well as the manor itself.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.81-83/site 4 (unchecked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.172-3 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP54SE7 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<4> Northamptonshire Archaeology, 9/106 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN15378.

<5> Holmes M., 2001, Manor Farm, Helmdon, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Recording Action June 2000, p.2 (unchecked) (Report). SNN102745.

<6> Colquhoun, FD, 1970, Field Investigator's Comments, F1 FDC 14-JUN-77 (Notes). SNN111540.

<7> 1758, Helmdon Enclosure Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN15365.

<8> Serjeantson R.M.; Ryland W. (Editors), 1906, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p. 416 (Series). SNN100369.

<9> Whellan, 1874, History, Topography & Directory of Northamptonshire, p. 481 (Book). SNN1002.

<10> Colquhoun, FD, 1977, Field Investigators Comments, F1 FDC 14-JUN-77 (Notes). SNN114135.

<11> 1974, Medieval Archaeology (18), p. 216 (Journal). SNN37093.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 7:12PM