Monument record 1682/4 - Kirby

Medieval village, which became depopulated between 1495 and 1587. The remains of village are visible as earthworks including hollow ways. Scheduled.

{1} SP 928 926 Manor with 2 carucates was acquired by Fineshade Priory c.1300 which still tenanted it at Dissolution; on 2nd manor Sir Rober Lytton enclosed and converted to pasture in 1495 destroying 1 house; 5 freeholders were bought out after 1517. Depopulation completed in 1587. Three large-scale surveys (a). of Kirby, dated 1584 and 1587, show the final stages: a few houses west of the Hall (taken into the gardens, 1587), the long main street NW SE empty, and the Hall and church. Bridges {16} states that former houses in a close SW of Hall were remembered: and that where the mount is now a cartload of bones was dug up about 20 years since (=Site of church?) (Very little appears on AP's).

{4} Documentary evidence indicates that the village also extended into Gretton. The remains of the village within Gretton parish have been entirely removed by ironstone mining. The greater part of the site is in good condition, but the extremities are being encroached on by modem ploughing which has destroyed a number of house sites.
The village may have originated as the daughter-hamlet of Deene and was perhaps, as its name suggests, taken over by Scandinavian settlers. It was always small: in 1086 only six people are recorded under Kirby in Domesday Book. Although mentioned in the 1316 Nomina Villarum, the village is not listed in the later medieval taxation returns and was probably included under Deene. In 1495 Sir Robert Lytton enclosed 80 acres of land and converted it to pasture; he also destroyed one house, but there were still ten able bodied men in the village in 1539. In 1570 Kirby Hall was begun for Humphrey Stafford on the site of, and incorporating, the old manor house. Two maps of 1584 and 1587 show that much of the village still remained, including the church just south west of the Hall. There were six houses near the church, another further west, and four or five other houses to the south. A single house lay at the north end of the main street. No other houses are depicted elsewhere along this street. By about 1720 all these houses had disappeared. Certainly the church, and probably houses around it, must have been removed either before or in 1685-6 when the great formal garden west of the Hall was laid out on their sites. The other houses also may have been removed then as part of the general emparking beyond the gardens.

{12} Kirby Hall is located in the parish of Gretton, some 27 miles from Northampton and just 2 miles to the north of Corby. To the west and south of the Hall are the remains of formal gardens, bounded to the south by a stream, the Kirby Brook, which flows west to east along the valley bottom. To the south of the stream the land rises gently and originally this area was partly occupied by the village of Kirby which was finally cleared in the C17th.

{17} Earthworks and masonry remains, typical of a deserted site centred to SP 9285 9257. Surveyed.

A small contemporary stone bridge and causeway on the former main road between the village and Kirby Hall, at SP 9272 9274. GP AP/61/143/8.

{18} In 1961 the ewks were set amid rig and farrow in permanent pasture. Since then the land has been converted to arable and the ewks have been encroached upon by the plough on both sides.
See annotated 25" survey.
CRO Northampton are checking the Finch -Hatton material for the quoted 16c. Large scale surveys, which are not at present available.

<1> Allison K.J.; Beresford M.W.; Hurst J.G. et al, 1966, The Deserted Villages of Northamptonshire, p.41-2 (unchecked) (Report). SNN39628.

<2> FOARD G., 1989, KIRBY HALL DMV EARTHWORKS, (unchecked) (Drawing). SNN54807.

<3> English Heritage, 1996, Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, As Amended- Kirby Hall and DMV, (unchecked) (Schedule). SNN104808.

<4> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1975, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.33 site 2 (checked) (Series). SNN77379.

<5> Ryland, W, Adkins, D, and Serjeantson, R M, 1902, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.356 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100368.

<6> 1316, Nomina Villarum, (unchecked) (Document). SNN8783.

<7> Beresford M.W., 1954, The Lost Villages of England, p.370 (unchecked) (Extract). SNN7102.

<8> 1584, Map of Kirby, (unchecked) (Map). SNN38752.

<9> 1587, Map of Gretton (NRO Map 3597), (unchecked) (Map). SNN233.

<10> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.315 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77326.

<11> CHETTLE G.H., 1947, Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Guide). SNN62500.

<12> Prentice J.; Walker C.; Parry S., 2012, Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire, p.2 (checked) (Report). SNN109199.

<13> Jamieson E., 2013, Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire: The Garden and Settlement Remains Surrounding The Elizabethan Mansion House, Archaeological Survey Report, (unchecked) (Report). SNN109686.

<14> Treswell R., 1586, Kirby (NRO FH 272/8), (unchecked) (Map). SNN46187.

<15> Treswell R., 1586, Kirby (NRO FH 272/9), (unchecked) (Map). SNN72124.

<16> Baker G., 1822-36, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p. 314-315 (Book). SNN10400.

<17> Seaman, B H, 1961, Field investigators comments, F1 BHS 7-SEP-61 (Notes). SNN112887.

<18> Seaman, B H, 1970, Field Investigator's Comments, F2 BHS 19-MAR-70 (Notes). SNN111541.

<19> Undated, DESERTED MEDIAEVAL VILLAGE, BB72/04270 (Archive). SNN113770.

<20> Undated, DESERTED MEDIAEVAL VILLAGE.SEE AO61/143/8 FOR BRIDGE/CAUSEWAY, BB72/04262 (Archive). SNN113769.

<21> Undated, STONE BRIDGE AT KIRBY DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGE AT DEENE FROM THE EAST, OS61/F143/8 (Archive). SNN113772.

<22> Undated, HOLLOW-WAY (FORMERLY MAIN STREET) WITH HALL BEYOND FROM SOUTH, BB73/01299 (Archive). SNN113771.

Record last edited

Feb 4 2025 7:16PM