Monument record 599 - Adstone

Medieval settlement with traces of former settlement in and around the present village.

{1} Adstone was still open field in 1538 (a rental refers to tithes in the fields) but it was enclosed early. It was probably done in 1604 when Francis Harby was dealing with 116 acres 'pieces of ground in Adstone set out for him.' In 1714 it was noted 'Ashby must first be enclosed, the trees there being much older than the trees in Adstone.' Canon's Ashby was enclosed by 1547, consistent with the Adstone date of 1604.

{2} Entries in Domesday Book indicate that the area around Towcester was the focus of iron working in the years preceding the Conquest, when the annual render from the smiths of Greens Norton, Blakesley and Adstone amounted to £7, and that from the smiths of Towcester amounted to 100 shillings. The size of the payment has led to the suggestion that the fabri were iron workers rather than smiths. In 1086, however, they paid nothing.

{3} Adstone settlement remains SP 595515. The extant triangular green may originally have extended SE as far as the church. Probably house sites exist on the SW of the village, where rectangular depressions 10 m. by 6 m. exist, and possible at the NE end.

{4} Collection of photographs of buildings in the village.

<1> Hall D.N.; Britnell T., 2000?, South Northamptonshire Historic Landscape: Part III, p.8 (unchecked) (Report). SNN103302.

<2> Taylor J.; Foard G.; Laughton J.; Steadman S.; Ballinger J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Towcester, 3.4.1 (unchecked) (Report). SNN103132.

<3b> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, (RAF CPE/UK/1926, 3053-4) (Photographs). SNN104890.

<3a> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, (RAF CPE/UK/1994, 4093-4) (Photographs). SNN104890.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.5 site 1 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<4> Various, Various, Photographs of buildings in Adstone (Photographs). SNN111145.

<5> South Northamptonshire Council, 2015, Adstone Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (Policy Document). SNN112047.

Record last edited

Jan 31 2025 12:06PM