Monument record 3949 - Medieval & Post Medieval Road (Weekley to Geddington)

Earthworks of a hollow way, 14 metres wide and up to 2 metres deep, extending northeast of Weekley church for a distance of 600 metres to join a road near Keepers Lodge in Boughton Park. The hollow way is thought to be the original route through Weekley, abandoned when Boughton Park was extended in the 17th century.

{1} The present main road for Weekley runs north to the church and terminates in a small open space or green. There has been no through road to the north since at least the early C18th, but north-east of the church and just within Boughton Park, a broad hollow way runs north-east from the existing green. At first it is well marked, up to 14m wide and 2m deep, but after about 150m it fades out and splits into two. One branch, only 6m wide x 0.5m deep, runs eastwards for about 100m until it disappears on the edge of ridge and furrow. The other branch continues the line of the original hollow way northwards across the park, but only as a very broad, open depression. It can be traced for some 600m until it meets the present A43 road at the bend near the Keeper's Lodge (SP891816). This hollow way is undoubtedly the original north-south road between Weekley and Geddington, taken out of use by the western extension of the parkland in the C17th, and replaced by the course of the present A43. It is possible that the hollow way represents the mysterious 'trench' recorded by Bridges in the C18th, when thought to be Roman.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.153 (checked) (Series). SNN77380.

<2> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.344 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77326.

<3> The Surtees Society, 1887, The Family Memoirs of the Rev W Stukeley 3, p. 66 (Series). SNN6128.

Record last edited

Jun 1 2023 12:19PM