Monument record 4287/6 - Medieval crofts (Crofts 6-9), Faxton

A group of four crofts, Crofts 6-9, located on the north-western edge of the village were excavated in 1967.

{1} The overall impression from excavation is that this area was of poorer dwellings than the croft excavated to the south east (4287/4). Its date of desertion was earlier as well, but was a gradual process.

{4} An account of the excavation of crofts 6-9 assembled from handwritten notes, an interim report and an article in Current Archaeology. The crofts were located at the north-western edge of the village along 'North Street'. There was no evidence of housing on the 1746 map {5}. The field had been ploughed just prior to excavation and had disturbed the ephemeral remains of the houses. A uniform sequence of events was recorded beginning with buildings constructed from clay and timber progressing to stone construction, although it was not obvious whether the phases were contemporary from croft to croft.
Overall, the excavations revealed the fragmentary evidence of the dwellings, the byres and the stables for carts and draught animals such as horses (and presumably oxen) and outlined the boundaries of the crofts. The impression of the excavator was that this was a poorer area of dwellings in contrast to Croft 29. Its desertion date was earlier than the majority of houses in 'East Street', but it was associated with the gradual ebb and flow of population rather than a catastrophic event.

<1> Butler L., 1968, Faxton Medieval Village, 6/163-4 (checked) (Article). SNN26726.

<2> Wilson D.M.; Gillian Hurst D. (Editors), 1968, Medieval Britain in 1967 (12), 12/203 (checked) (Notes). SNN55155.

<3> Brown A.E. (Ed.), 1967, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1966/67 (Medieval), 2/23-4 (checked) (Article). SNN26725.

<4> Butler, L, and Gerrard, C, 2020, Faxton: Excavations in a deserted Northamptonshire village 1966–68, p. 93-116 (Monograph). SNN112494.

<5> 1746, Map of Faxton (Possible Inclosure Map) (Map). SNN26677.

Record last edited

Aug 31 2023 2:19PM