Monument record 2600/3/1 - Earthworks of village green and houses, formerly part of the hamlet of Southorpe

Possible former green of the hamlet of Southorpe. Fieldwalking of arable fields has found sites of former buildings marked by spreads of limestone rubble as well as medieval and post-medieval finds

{1} Settlement remains (centred TL 077907) formerly part of the hamlet of Southorpe, lie along both sides of a lane, immediately S of the present village. The two hamlets, very close to the main village, Eaglethorpe to the N and Southorpe to the S, perhaps originated, as their names and positions suggest, as daughter-hamlets of the original Saxon village of Warmington.
Southorpe may have developed around the small triangular 'green' which still exists (TL 07909066) and then spread W and NE along either side of the lane. No records of the population of Southorpe, or of the date of its abandonment, survive but on the evidence of the pottery found on the house-sites now under cultivation, the shrinkage began in the post-medieval period. By 1775 about one-third of the house sites had already been abandoned and the rest except for two farms had disappeared by 1834. The reasons for the decline and desertion of Southorpe are not known. The remains consist mainly of slight, and ofter indeterminate, earthworks lying on both sides of a lane and around the former 'green'; most of the earthworks can be identified as house-sites. In other places where the fields are now under arable crops, the sites of former buildings are marked by spreads of limestone rubble, brick and cobble; a few sherds of medieval pottery and larger quantities of post-medieval wares have been found.

{5} Settlement remains (TL 077907) formerly part of the hamlet of Southorpe. Additional information concerning the abandonment of the site has now come to light. A plan of the parish of 1622 shows that Southorpe was then almost exactly the same as it was in 1775. This shows that no desertion occurred between these two dates although some had taken place before 1622. The major depopulation was in the early C19th.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1975, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 108/site 19 (Series). SNN77379.

<2> 1622, Map of Warmington, (unchecked) (Map). SNN5671.

<3> 1775, Warmington Enclosure Map (NRO 2854), (unchecked) (Map). SNN5643.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1824, First Edition Ordnance Survey 1 Inch Map Series (Sheet 44), (unchecked) (Map). SNN42154.

<5> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.194/Site 19 (unchecked) (Series). SNN77382.

<6> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, A/P (RAF VAP CPE/UK/2109 4383-5, 4401-4) (Photographs). SNN104890.

<7> RCHME, Undated, RCHME Inventory: Northamptonshire I (North-East), 890436 (Archive). SNN113295.

Record last edited

Nov 17 2022 1:26PM