Monument record 364 - Edgcote

Medieval village partially depopulated in 1502, followed by deliberate clearance before 1788.

{2} By 1801 the parish had a population of 66. There was partial depopulation here in 1502 due to enclosure when nine houses were destroyed. In 1547 500 sheep were maintained. The land was wholly enclosed before c 1720. The mansion was built in the village in 1752, and before 1788 the village was demolished. Two new farms and seven cottages were rebuilt outside the park, leaving the church and rectory isolated.

{3} 95 paid 1377 Poll Tax; in 1502 9 houses were destroyed; 500 sheep were grazing at Edgecote in 1547. The rather fragmentary remains of the village support the evidence from documents and suggest that the village was a relatively large one with some abandonment at an early date followed by deliberate clearance in the 18th century.

{4}18 families were still resident in 1720;,

{5} Leadam (1897, 303) records enclosures of 120 acres made in 1502. Further enclosure had occurred between 1596 and 1625 when the lord, William Chauncy, was fined 40s for enclosing and converting to pasture 60 acres of arable (NRO YZ 8730).
No pre-OS First Edition 1:10560 scale map survives for Edgcote therefore the settlement core, buildings and their associated closes, have been mapped from the 1880s OS.

{6} 1st recorded by Domesday in 1086 as a 2-hide manor & population of 25

{7} Edgcote is mentioned by name

{8} 1710 map does not show any village details;

{9} In 1301 57 people paid Lay Subsidy

{10} Paid 71 shillings in tax in 1334, one of the largest amounts in the county for villages later to be deserted

{11} In 1524 16 taxpayers recorded still in village

{12} Between 1761 and 1788 the village was demolished by the Lord of the Manor, to make way for the landscaped park to the west of the house; two new farms and seven cottages were erected elsewhere in the parish;

{14} There has been extensive cultivation and landscaping in the area of Edgcote, and although there are isolated surface irregularities/disturbances, no surveyable earthworks associated with desertion could be identified. Local historical tradition notes the original village "around the church";

{15} The medieval village site of Edgcote was not scheduled.

The site includes the earthworks and buried archaeological remains of the medieval village of Edgcote, located to the west and north-west of Edgcote House on a Middle Lias Clay plateau above the River Cherwell valley.
Edgcote village was first recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as a two-hide manor with a population of 25. The village was evidently quite prosperous and quite large, paying 71 shillings in tax in 1334; 95 individuals paid Poll Tax in 1377. The village, however, was partially deserted by 1502 when 120 acres of arable land were enclosed and converted into pasture necessitating the demolition of 9 houses. Nevertheless, 16 taxpayers were resident in the village in 1524. By 1547, 500 sheep were grazing on the manor before the parish was wholly enclosed by the early-C18. Bridges, writing in approximately 1720, noted that 18 families were still living here but between 1761-1788 the rest of the village was demolished when Richard Chauncy, who rebuilt Edgcote House between 1747-1752, created a landscaped park. Two new farms and 7 cottages were rebuilt beyond the park, leaving the main house, church and rectory isolated. The principal carriage drive to Chipping Warden was constructed through the site of the village. A moated enclosure noted on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map of 1884, lying on the north side of the River Cherwell, may have been associated with the medieval village but has been levelled; the land is under cultivation. The westernmost area of the village has also been ploughed and levelled; buried archaeological features pertaining to the destroyed earthworks may survive, attested by the retrieval of pottery dating from the C12-C18. The area of surviving earthworks is used for horse paddocks subdivided by post and wire fences. Two small copses have been planted to the west of the drive, and some lightly constructed, timber livestock shelters have been erected.

Slight earthworks are apparent in an area to the north-west of the road to the house, opposite the Rectory and Church. A section of hollow way and the possible remains of tofts (houses) and crofts (gardens) are apparent, but the RCHME Survey suggests that this area, bounded to the west by a post and rail fence, may have been the site of the mid-C18 demolition resulting in the loss of definition to the earthworks. In the paddocks on either side of the former carriage drive, now a gated bridleway leading to Chipping Warden, the earthworks are better preserved. To the west of the drive, a series of tofts and crofts are defined by banks surviving up to 1m high, increasingly eroded towards the river; aerial photographs indicate the survival of slight ridge and furrow to the rear (west) of the crofts. On the east side of the drive is a hollow way which becomes increasingly slight nearer to the river. Two enclosures, probably representing tofts and crofts, lie on the high ground to the east of the hollow way. Further to the east, beyond another post and rail fence and narrow tree-lined strip, another hollow way survives to c.1.5m depth and leads north-east before subdividing into two or three branches and petering out further down the valley side.

{16} Earthworks of the DMV are visible to the W of Edgcote House, with rig and furrow beyond. The bounds of the village E of the house are harder to trace.

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP54NW2 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<2> Allison K.J.; Beresford M.W.; Hurst J.G. et al, 1966, The Deserted Villages of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Report). SNN39628.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.47 site 1 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<4> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.117 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<5> Hall D.N.; Britnell T., 2000?, South Northamptonshire Historic Landscape: Part III, p.11 (unchecked) (Report). SNN103302.

<6> Ryland, W, Adkins, D, and Serjeantson, R M, 1902, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.310 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100368.

<7> 1316, Nomina Villarum, (unchecked) (Document). SNN8783.

<8> 1710, MAP, (unchecked) (Map). SNN47321.

<9> PRO series E179, PRO E179/155/31 (Document). SNN115882.

<10> PRO series E179, E179/155/3 (Document). SNN115882.

<11> PRO series E179, PRO E179/254/14 (Document). SNN115882.

<12> Baker G., 1830, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.405 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77327.

<13> Various, Various, Photographs of buildings in Edgcote (Photographs). SNN111539.

<14> Colquhoun, FD, 1970, Field Investigator's Comments, F1 FDC 12-JAN-77 (Notes). SNN111540.

<15> English Heritage, Designation Advice Report, Site of medieval village of Edgcote (Report). SNN113190.

<16> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, 58/RAF/1567 F22 fr.0107-9 21-SEP-54 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

Record last edited

Apr 25 2025 3:50PM