Monument record 470 - Barby Nortoft

The site of a medieval settlement at Barby Nortoft. Little is known of its history, the name not being recorded until 1247. In 1834 two of the three present isolated farms already existed. The land which belonged to the settlement is shown on a map of Barby parish of 1840. The remains, now under grass, have almost all been destroyed by cultivation. To the south-east of West Nortoft Farm a large scarp survives. At its south end it appears to meet an access-way between the adjacent ridge-and-furrow. To the east of the scarp are three very low banks now almost ploughed out. Barby Nortoft is part of the Barby parish but is separated from the main part by the village and parish of Kilsby.

{1} Settlement remains (SP 557727) formerly part of the hamlet of Barby Nortoft lie in the NW corner of the parish, on a low NW-SE ridge of clay covered with glacial sand and gravel, at 115m above OD. The hamlet, together with its land, was a detached part of Barby parish but little is known of its history, the name not being recorded until 1247. In 1834 two of the three present isolated farms already existed. The land which belonged to the settlement is shown on a map of Barby parish of 1840, This suggests that the hamlet may have originated as a secondary settlement of Kilsby but its name and its association with Barby make this unlikely.

The remains, now under grass, have almost all been destroyed by cultivation and little exists on the ground. To the SE of West Nortoft Farm a large scarp up to 1.5m high curves N for a distance of some 120m. At its S end it appears to meet an access-way between the adjacent ridge-and-furrow, but the railway has partly obscured the relationship at this point. To the E of the scarp are three very low banks, projecting E from it and now almost ploughed out. A few sherds of pottery, mainly C13th or C14th have been found in the field to the SE (SP559728).


{2} Aerial photos: NCCAP:SP5572/001-2.

{7} Barby Nortoft is part of the Barby parish but is separated from the main part by the village and parish of Kilsby. Kilsby lies close to the Roman Watling Street (now the A5) which formed the 'Danelaw' boundary between the Saxons and the Danes from the late 9th century AD. Barby was probably a Saxon settlement founded in circa 500-800AD, whilst the land at Barby Nortoft was probably settled some time after in around 880-900AD by a Danish freeman (or socman). Although an alliance between the Saxon community at Barby and the Danes at Barby Nortoft might have seemed initially unlikely, a strategic marriage in about 910-920 AD between the son of the lord of Barby and the daughter of the Danish farmer appears to have led to the founding of a new settlement named 'cildesbyr' (or 'the dwelling-place of the chief's son'), halfway between Barby and Barby Nortoft. This is further suggested by place-name evidence: the name 'Barby' is attached to lands separated by Kilsby, suggesting they were once part of the same territory, and earlier than Kilsby; 'Kilsby' may be a derivation of 'cildesbyr'; three fields between Barby Nortoft and Barby and Kilsby are known as 'Thingho', 'Little Thingo' and 'Fingo'. A 'thing' or 'ting' was a word sometimes taken to mean public meeting or assembly, possibly for the resolving of disputes as might have occurred between neighbouring Saxon and Danish communities.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 114 Site 2 (checked) (Series). SNN77381.

<2> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, (unchecked) (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<3> RPS Consultants, 2001, Daventry: DIRFT Phase 2, Environmental Statement, (unchecked) (Report). SNN102487.

<4> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, A/P (RAF VAP CEP/UK/1994, 4439-40) (Photographs). SNN104890.

<5> Dably, C., 1840, Parish Map of Barby (Map). SNN10274.

<6> Gover J.E.B.; Mawer A.; Stenton F.M. (Eds.), 1933, The Place-names of Northamptonshire, p. 25 (Series). SNN5881.

<7> Hatton, G, 2010, Kilsby Village, Part 3: 880-920: the Foundation of Kilsby; Accessed 16-MAR-2011 (Website). SNN113599.

Record last edited

Jan 31 2025 2:32PM