Monument record 745 - Silverstone

Prior to the 19th-century and later changes, Silverstone consisted of three distinct parts. To the east, around the church, lay a compact settlement at a cross-roads. To the west was a single long street, now known as West End, and to the south lay another street, known as Cattle End. No explanation for this unusual settlement pattern can be suggested, except that it might be the result of piecemeal forest-edge development.

{1} Towcester was the centre of a late Saxon royal estate and this administrative function persisted into the medieval period when it served as head of the hundred. The Domesday entry recorded that Towcester was held by the king and that it comprised 7½ hides, with land for 22 ploughs. Only 12 ploughs were accounted for in 1086: two ploughs which were held in demesne, and ten ploughs which were held by 15 villeins. There were 12 acres of meadow, and a wood two leagues long and one league wide. This large entry undoubtedly included the subsidiary hamlets known from the medieval period, with possibly a small fee in Silverstone which was dependant on Towcester in the 13th century.
(Ref 3.7.1) Villagers from woodland settlements in the Whittlewood forest near Towcester doubtless exploited the local resources, as they did in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when Silverstone was home to ‘tree-fellers and hewers, sawyers and hurdlers, spoke-choppers and faggoters, lath-renders, rake and ladder makers ..’

{2} Before the C19th Silverstone consisted of three distinct parts. To the east around the church lay a compact settlement at a cross-roads. To the west was a single long street now known as West End. To the south lay another street, known as Cattle End. No explanation for this can be suggested, except that it might be the result of piecemeal forest-edge development.

{4} Details of the Whittlewood project;

{6} Settlement extended along the High Street before 1200 and also spread to other areas in the centre of the village. West End too appears to have developed at this time. A settlement may have developed at Cattle End in the 12th century, but a date after 1200 is more likely. Cattle End appears to have its origins in clearance of woodland; it was an assart settlement. Test-pitting showed significant numbers of medieval pottery sherds at West End and around the crossroads, with much fewer sherds at Cattle End.

<1> Taylor J.; Foard G.; Laughton J.; Steadman S.; Ballinger J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Towcester, 1.0, 3.7.1 (unchecked) (Report). SNN103132.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.134 (part checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<3> Marsden F., 1997, An Archaeological Assessment in Connection With A Proposed Development at Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit, p.6 (checked) (Report). SNN62109.

<4> Society for Medieval Archaeology, 2003-2013, Society for Medieval Archaeology Newsletter, Issue 32 (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN104763.

<5> Hall D., 2001, The Woodland Landscapes of Southern Northamptonshire, p.33-46 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102520.

<6> Jones, R. and Page, M., 2003, Medieval settlements and landscapes in the Whittlewood Area: Interim Report 2003-4 (Article). SNN111295.

<7> Jones R.; Page M., 2006, Medieval Villages in An English Landscape: Beginnings and Ends (Book). SNN106311.

<8> Christopher Dyer, Richard Jones, Mark Page, 2005, The Whittlewood Project: Medieval Settlements and Landscapes in the Whittlewood Area, https://doi.org/10.5284/1000289 (Digital archive). SNN116553.

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 8:46PM