Monument record 770 - Deserted village of Foxley

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Summary

The earliest reference to the settlement is in 1190. There is no indication of its size until the early 18th century when only three houses remained. The remains are very slight and fragmentary.

Map

Type and Period (4)

Full Description

{1} Foxley gave its name to a hundred now called (Greens) Norton. The manor was later split between the parishes of Blakesley (281 acres) Litchborough (53) and Pattishall (149). It extended to 483 acres. The township was enclosed before c. 1547. Foxley was mapped from an estate map of 1819 which lists in the schedule two enclosures adjacent to Potcote as ' nether coppice, middle coppice and far coppice'. There are no trees drawn on the map nor are any shown on the 1st OS edition 2-inch surveyors drawings (1813-1816). The schedule entry must refer to former rather than contemporary woodland.

{6} Foxley was once a settlement with its own land unit and fields but its history is largely unknown. The earliest reference to Foxley as a settlement is in 1190 (PN Northants., 40). Although it is named in some national taxation records, it is always included in Cold Higham and no indication of its size can be ascertained until the early 18th century when Bridges {7} stated that there were only three houses there {8}.

The earliest map of the village, dated 1819, shows the two groups of farm buildings and the cottage on the S.W. which remains today, but it also shows two buildings within a small paddock to the S.W. of the cottage. By the late 19th century these had gone but a new farm had been erected to the N. {4} apparently on the site of older houses. The farm has since been demolished.

The remains of the village are very slight and fragmentary. From the small green on the N. side of the remaining farm traces of a hollow-way extend down the hillside, following the bed of a small stream. On the N. side of the hollow-way, but set curiously askew to it, are the remains of seven small closes, separated by low scarps and with a well-marked boundary ditch on the N.W. Two of these closes contain irregular depressions which may be the sites of former houses, but the later farm, now demolished, has destroyed any trace of earlier buildings in the N.E. closes. These earthworks are probably the remains of a row of houses and paddocks which once lay along the hollow-way, but their unusual arrangement and the fact that the close boundaries continued the line of the unusually short ridge-and-furrow to the N.W. suggest that the ridge-and-furrow once extended as far as the hollow-way and that the houses were erected on former arable land.

Some disturbed ground immediately S.E. of the existing cottage is the only other indication of houses on the site. Other earthworks lie in a large pasture field to the S. and S.W. but none of them appear to be part of the village and they may be associated with a manor house site. The main feature is a roughly triangular embanked pond with a small low island in it. The island is depicted on the 1819 map. The pond is approached from the N.E. by a narrow channel, leading from another pond now mainly filled in, higher up a small valley. A second channel leaves the main pond at its W. corner, runs down the hillside and enters a long narrow depression embanked on its W. side. This feature may also once have been a pond. On the S.E. edge of the site, a ditch with a large bank on its N.W. side runs down the hillside, along the present hedge-line, from the former pond to the N.E. as far as the stream in the valley bottom. This appears to be a water channel but its function is obscure.

On the N.W. part of the site are the fragmentary remains of ditched closes, the largest of which has traces of ridge-and-furrow within it. At their S. ends, near the present road, is a disturbed area much of which appears to be later quarrying.

{8} The village of Foxley, SP 640517 was taxed with Cold Higham. The De Foxley family held land here from the 14th century to 1617; in 1547 they kept 400 sheep. Two farms remain.

{9} Suggestions of DMV and surrounding rig and furrow round the two farms at Foxley.

{10} Minor nebulous disturbance typical of that to be seen adjacent to any centre of human activity exists north east and south west of the farms and associated cottages comprising the present day Foxley. Nothing resembling the nucleus of an early village is to be seen.


<1> Hall D.N.; Britnell T., 2000?, South Northamptonshire Historic Landscape: Part III, P.9 (Report). SNN103302.

<2> 1819, MAP, (unchecked) (Map). SNN13608.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP65SW1 (unchecked) (Index). SNN443.

<4> OS 25 INCH MAP, Northants. L16 (Map). SNN13604.

<5> Gover J.E.B.; Mawer A.; Stenton F.M. (Eds.), 1933, The Place-names of Northamptonshire, p.40 (unchecked) (Series). SNN5881.

<6> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.15/Site 3 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<7> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p. 234 (Book). SNN100366.

<8> Allison K.J.; Beresford M.W.; Hurst J.G. et al, 1966, The Deserted Villages of Northamptonshire, p. 40 (Report). SNN39628.

<9> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, AP's CPE/UK 1926/1044-5 (Photographs). SNN104890.

<10> Baird, J., 1970, Field investigators comments, F1 BHS 02-FEB-70 (Notes). SNN110341.

Sources/Archives (10)

  • <1> Report: Hall D.N.; Britnell T.. 2000?. South Northamptonshire Historic Landscape: Part III. P.9.
  • <2> Map: 1819. MAP. (unchecked).
  • <3> Index: Ordnance Survey. 1950s/1960s. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. Ordnance Survey. SP65SW1 (unchecked).
  • <4> Map: OS 25 INCH MAP. 1ST EDITION. Northants. L16.
  • <5> Series: Gover J.E.B.; Mawer A.; Stenton F.M. (Eds.). 1933. The Place-names of Northamptonshire. English Place-Name Society. 10. Cambridge University. p.40 (unchecked).
  • <6> Series: Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England. 1982. An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton. 4. HMSO. p.15/Site 3 (checked).
  • <7> Book: Bridges J.. 1791. The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire. 0. p. 234.
  • <8> Report: Allison K.J.; Beresford M.W.; Hurst J.G. et al. 1966. The Deserted Villages of Northamptonshire. Dept. of English Local History Occasional Papers. 18. Leicester University. p. 40.
  • <9> Photographs: Royal Air Force. Vertical Aerial Photography. AP's CPE/UK 1926/1044-5.
  • <10> Notes: Baird, J.. 1970. Field investigators comments. F1 BHS 02-FEB-70.

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (27)

Related Events/Activities (1)

Location

Grid reference Centred SP 6398 5174 (516m by 537m)
Civil Parish BLAKESLEY, West Northamptonshire (formerly South Northants District)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Other Statuses/References

  • NRHE HOB UID: 341622

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 8:47PM

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