Monument record 3484 - Uncertain Pre Medieval Activity

A complex of ancient enclosures west of Salcey Lawn at SP794521. The embanked enclosures predate the coppices mapped in 1787 and 1825.

{1} A complex of ancient enclosures west of Salcey Lawn at SP794521. The embanked enclosures predate the coppices mapped in 1787 and 1825. A block of four enclosures defines an approximate rectangle of 800m x 400m. To the north and east linear banks extend out beyond the present forest. The eastern one includes an arm now the riding between Great and Little Straights Coppices.
NCC aerial photographs show cropmarks in Salcey Lawn that complete the south-east corner of the main block, and also continue eastwards across the Lawn joining the bank and riding between Great and Little Straights Coppice.
The pattern of enclosures does not resemble any known Roman enclosure or field system, being much too extensive and massive. The creators of the coppices, although they ignored most of the early banks, were aware of them; the older banks became used as a raised causeway.
The enclosures are probably best interpreted as clearings reserved for deer, being in effect an earlier form of Salcey Lawn. If so, it is possible that the complex would have included an early lodge site. A date in the late Saxon or early Norman period is possible. Woodland was already used for hunting by 1066.

<1> Hall D.N., 1996, Salcey Forest, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Interpretation Survey 1996, p.9-10+12 (checked) (Report). SNN62534.

<2> Hall D.N., 2001, Northamptonshire Woodland Survey Archive, (part checked) (Digital archive). SNN109590.

<2> Hall D., 2001, The Woodland Landscapes of Southern Northamptonshire, p.33-46 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102520.

Record last edited

Nov 13 2018 2:38PM