Monument record 264 - Sulgrave

The village is first mentioned in 1086, in the Domesday Book. Medieval settlement remains survive in three places.

{1} 42 people paid the 1301 lay subsidy; 101 paid the 1377 poll tax; 42 paid the 1525 lay subsidy; 78 paid the 1673 hearth tax; and 414 lived in the parish in 1801.
The plan of the village today is a rough figure-of-eight, with the church and ringwork in the centre of the S.W. loop and the manor house at the N.E. end of the N.E. loop. In the absence of any map earlier than the 19th century it is difficult to interpret this layout. One possible explanation is that the original village lay around the church and ringwork and later expanded N.E. along the two parallel streets by gradual growth or planned development. However, the existence of earthworks on the northernmost of these two streets, together with the fact that the N.E. end of the loop did not exist as a throughroad in the early 19th century (1st ed. 1 in. OS map, 1834), suggests that the village was once a single street and that the S.E. parts of the loops were originally a back lane which has become partly built up.
Settlement remains, survive in three places in Sulgrave village. The remains, and the plan of the village, are difficult to interpret since no pre-C19th maps exist and no period of depopulation is recorded in the tax records. It is possible that the village was once a single street to which the lanes to the SE were added. At SP 555454 are the remains of closes, presumably gardens of former houses fronting the street. Rough ground and stone walling at SP 556452 may be former house sites or the remains of a manorial complex close to the ringwork [SP 54 NE 6] Further building platforms exist at SP 559455. [RCHM plan].

{2} Earliest map to show the village.

{3} Sulgrave is first mentioned in 1086 Domesday as a single manor (held by Ghilo, along with Culworth and Weedon Lois) with a recorded population of 27

{4} Sulgrave was enclosed by Parliamentary Act in 1760. There is no map with the Award of 1761 (NRO Enclosure Enrolment Vol. C p.1).

{11} At the north est part of the village earthworks are ploughed out and yielded C13/14th pottery.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.141/Site 4 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1834, First Edition Ordnance Survey 1 Inch Map Series (Sheet 52), (unchecked) (Map). SNN281.

<3> Ryland, W, Adkins, D, and Serjeantson, R M, 1902, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.345 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100368.

<4> Hall D.N.; Britnell T., 2000?, South Northamptonshire Historic Landscape: Part III, p.15 (unchecked) (Report). SNN103302.

<5> Baker G., 1830, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.519-20 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77327.

<6> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.129-30 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<7> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.421 (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<8> 1987, Northamptonshire Archaeology Unit: Report for 1987, (unchecked) (Report). SNN55128.

<9> Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, p.185-196 (unchecked) (Extract). SNN32494.

<10> Wilson D.M. (Editor), 1976, The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England, (unchecked) (Book). SNN107011.

<11> HALL D.N., 1978, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (8), 8/22 (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN60830.

<12> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, Air Photographs (RAF CPE/UK/1926, 1216-8; CPE/UK/1994, 1028-30, 1097-9) (Photographs). SNN104890.

Record last edited

Jan 31 2025 2:28PM