Monument record 459 - Fawsley

Deserted settlement in Fawlsey Park. The settlement was recorded in Domesday and depopulated from the early 15th century, probably to create pasture for sheep. Two areas of slight earthworks have been identified, southwest of Fawlsey Park and to the east of the Church. Fishponds and ridge and furrow also survive as earthworks.

{1} Fawsley was a Domesday village and by 1377 had a population of 90. By 1524 there were just 7 tax-payers, and in 1547 there were 2,500 sheep pastured there. Circa 1729 there were still 4 houses "dispersed in the fields"; a mansion and the church remain within a park. In 1964 the site was in poor condition, and there are no surveyable remains. The former extent of settlement is suggested by the absence of ridge and furrow.

{4} It has been suggested that Daventry may have played an economic role in the royal manor of Fawsley in the late Saxon period, serving as the place at which the rents and renders were collected by the king’s reeve. Daventry occupied a central location within this suggested administrative unit and had good communications with the surrounding vills. This network of communications had been laid out by 1086 and it determined the street pattern of the medieval town.

{5} This is an almost wholly deserted settlement with some earthwork survival and the majority of the site, although lacking earthworks, possibly still in a reasonable state of preservation. The site of the late Saxon royal manor has not been located but may lie beneath the medieval manor house which still stands. The site would not be is worthy of study as a royal estate centre examining its origins and development into a village in the Saxon period and for the process of depopulation, associated as it is with an exceptional wider area of historic landscape. It is possible that evidence relating to commercial activity, including the location and character of any market place may be recovered in such investigation but there is no clear justification for investigation of the site to study the marketing functions in their own right. Possibly not taken forward to Stage 2 survey and assessment.

{8} Rig and furrow in Fawsley Park give a tolerable idea of the bounds of the village, but little is visible in the way of earthworks.

{9} No surveyable remains of the village, though a large fishpond at SP 5643 5694 is probably contemporary. Surveyed at 1:2500.

{10} No change to field report of 12.2.70.

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP55NE3 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.88-90 (unchecked) (Series). SNN77381.

<3> Allison K.J.; Beresford M.W.; Hurst J.G. et al, 1966, The Deserted Villages of Northamptonshire, 11 p.39 (unchecked) (Report). SNN39628.

<4> Ballinger J.; Foard G., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Daventry (Medieval/Post Medieval/ Industrial), Section 3.7 Communications (checked) (Digital archive). SNN100501.

<5> Taylor J.; Foard G.; Ballinger J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Overview, Appendix 2 (unchecked) (Report). SNN103118.

<6> Wilson R., 1993, A Brief History of Fawsley Church and Park, (unchecked) (Booklet). SNN57145.

<7> Gordan P. (Editor), 1999, Politics And Society: The Journals of Lady Knightley of Fawsley 1885 to 1913, (unchecked) (Book). SNN100002.

<8> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, (RAF CPE/UK/1926 4054-5 16-JAN-47) (Photographs). SNN104890.

<9> Baird, J., 1970, Field investigators comments, F1 JB 12-FEB-70 (Notes). SNN110341.

<10> Allanson, C D, 1976, Field Investigator's Comments, F2 CDA 29-OCT-76 (Notes). SNN112955.

<11> RCHME, Undated, RCHME Inventory: Northamptonshire II (Central), 889505 (Figure 69 on page 89. Inscription: Pottery scatter (Archive). SNN112900.

<12> Historic England, Undated, FAWSLEY DESERTED MEDIAEVAL VILLAGE (FISHPOND AT SP 5643 5694) RIG AND FURROW VISIBLE IN FAWSLEY PARK, BB76/08385 (Archive). SNN114063.

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 8:41PM