Monument record 890/0/6 - Medieval Toft With House & Two Barns

Excavations were carried out in 1958 prior to destruction of the site by farming. Three enclosures on the southern boundary were investigated. In one of these, buildings of 12th/13th-century date were discovered.

{1} Three enclosures on the southern boundary of Muscott were available for excavation. Trial trenches in two of these produced no significant evidence. Within the third three buildings of C12th to C13th were revealed.
The main building was a three-roomed structure 50ft x 25ft. The walls, of sandstone blocks, survived in places to a height of 2.5ft. A clay floor was covered by a thin occupation layer. A central hearth occupied the main chamber. There were many signs of fire in the building, including a large quantity of charcoal probably representing the remains of a thatched roof. A broken bone tablet bearing an ecclesiastical Latin text was discovered in the surround of the hearth.
The foundations of the second building were partly destroyed. It was c.40ft x 20ft and had a central row of postholes. A double row of stakeholes on the opposite side of the postholes suggested that the building had a raised wooden floor. There was no occupation layer.
The third building was only 22ft x 16ft. Modern levelling of the medieval boundary ditch had almost totally destroyed this building, and part of the second building.
Pottery and other small finds indicate that the site was occupied from the late C12th to the end of the C13th or beginning of the C14th.

{2} Finds of medieval pot sherds.

{3} Excavation in 1958 by P.Savage resulting from plough threat. Three closes were examined. Two trenches proved blank but the third revealed three buildings with occupation dating from the late C12th to the late C13th/earlyC14th.

{4} Location of excavation is shown on Fig.119. Excavations were carried out within three closes, two of which produced no significant evidence. The third contained three buildings of C12th to C13th date. The main building had three large rooms with walls of sandstone blocks and a central hearth in the main chamber. The second was long and rectangular, perhaps with a raised wooden floor. The third was also rectangular, but much smaller.

{5} A stone-built house with a hearth and two timber barns.

{6} Cropmarks include linear ditches; shown on NCCAP: SP6263/040-41+46-49.

EXCN REPORT 13/11/1958 (4);

<1> HURST J.G., 1959, Medieval Britain in 1958, p.322 (checked) (Notes). SNN14108.

<2> 1958, Deserted Medieval Village Research Group (Vol.6), p.7-8 (unchecked) (Annual Report). SNN33708.

<3> 1958, Chronicle and Echo, (unchecked) (Journal). SNN14111.

<4> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.155-6 (checked) (Series). SNN77381.

<5> English Heritage, 1993, English Heritage Scheduling Notification, (part checked) (Report). SNN48078.

<6> FOARD G., 1980, Oral Report to SMR, (unchecked) (Oral Report). SNN108652.

Record last edited

Mar 4 2024 2:22PM