Monument record 3472/0/21 - Possible Medieval Settlement Features (Morphed Aerial Archaeology Interpretation)

Earthwork: Non-destructive fieldwork

{1} NCCAP: SP8253/011, SP8254/007-8+011-12.

{4} The surviving earthworks in the old parkland east and south of the hall complement the documented history, but also present problems of interpretation because the remains are partly overlaid by later features connected with the landscaping of the area. Some of the village earthworks were even incorporated into the scheme of landscaping.
A series of mounds lie to the south of the lake, within Horton park. An area of c.3ha is covered by a series of irregular low mounds and shallow ditches, forming no coherent pattern. Though some of the features may result from indeterminate digging many of the mounds appear to have been deliberately constructed. The area was part of Curtis’s Meadow on maps of 1622 and 1728. No date or function can be assigned to the mounds. Local tradition claims that they date from the mid C18th when Lord Halifax had a private militia which carried out military exercises in the area.

<1> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Photographs). SNN104822.

<2> 1622, Map of Horton Lordship (Gunning Collection), (unchecked) (Map). SNN44682.

<3> 1728, Map of Horton Manor (Gunning Collection), (unchecked) (Map). SNN59363.

<4> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.68-70 Site 21 (checked) (Series). SNN77380.

Record last edited

Jun 5 2014 10:45AM