Monument record 27 - Chacombe

At Domesday, in 1086, Chacombe was held by the Bishop of Lincoln. It was a sizeable village and had three mills. In the late 12th century an Augustinian priory was founded on the western side of the village. Earthworks of diches and ponds along the north and west sides of the priory grounds suggest that the whole medieval priory precinct was bounded by a water-filled ditch or fishpond. Earthworks of a medieval manor lie in a field known as Berry Close to the east of the church and other earthworks of former settlement also survive.

{1} Brass rubbings of …. Fox (1545); a shield to Michael Fox (1545); Michael Fox (1545).

{2} There is no evidence in any of the surviving medieval or post medieval taxation records of a decline in the size of the village at any time.

{3} CEAWA (Saxon personal name) COMBE (Valley on hillside or a 'sheltered place') This indicates a Saxon settlement c.600AD, previous settlements would have been on more open gound with palisades surrounding a camp, not in a sheltered place open to marauding tribes, but farming. I can find no evidence of the early Saxons in Chacombe.

<1> Brass Rubbings at Ashmolean Museum, (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN41806.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.26 site 4 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<3> Bowes J.P., 1997, Archaeology Survey Of Chacombe and Environs, (checked) (Report). SNN101068.

<4> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.597 (unchecked) (Book). SNN100366.

<5> Baker G., 1822-36, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.594 (unchecked) (Book). SNN10400.

<6> Serjeantson R.M.; Ryland W. (Editors), 1906, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Series). SNN100369.

Record last edited

Sep 4 2026 2:03PM