Monument record 952 - Watford

Earthworks of the shrunken medieval village of Watford, and Catesby or Cumberford which was abandoned by 1740.

{1} Village earthworks may represent another settlement (possibly that of Cumberford (SN:969) or Catesby (SN:970)), deserted by 1740 and some garden remains. Aerial photos NCCAP: SP6069/001+003-11+015-22.

{3} The modern parish of Watford contains the land of at least two deserted settlements, Silsworth and an unnamed and unlocated settlement, as well as that of the village of Watford itself and part of the land of a fourth settlement, Murcott. The sites of Silsworth and Murcott are known with certainty. The village of Watford has extensive settlement remains, bearing witness to an earlier form of the village; there are also remains of a garden perhaps constructed in the 18th century.
The earthworks may be interpreted as two separate settlements, related to two road systems, though it is difficult to find documentary support for this theory. Watford is first mentioned in Domesday Book where it is listed as a single two-hide manor with a recorded population of 27. However, this entry must refer not only to Watford itself, but also to the now deserted village of Silsworth, perhaps to the part of the hamlet of Murcott lying within the parish and to at least one other settlement. Thus the 1086 population figures have little value, and the later national taxation records are similarly limited in their usefulness. By the early 18th century Bridges noted that there were 35 houses in Watford, apparently in the present village, but he also records four other places in the parish. These include Murcott and Silsworth, but in addition there was Catesby, ‘an enclosed manor with no houses’ and Cumberford, ‘a depopulated village on an enclosed manor now reduced to one house’. One of these is likely to be the deserted settlement in the west of the parish, but the other is either lost or part of the earthworks described here.

{5} Watford is a small shrunken settlement retaining many trees in parkland of the manor house, Watford Court, which was demolished c.1972. There is still much grassland with steep ridge and furrow earthworks.

<1> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.585 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<2> 1740, Map of Watford Park?, (unchecked) (Map). SNN14507.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.189, 191 site 4 (checked) (Series). SNN77381.

<4> Morton J., 1712, The Natural History of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Book). SNN10113.

<5> HALL D.N., 1989, The Rural Settlements of Medieval England: Field Systems and Township Structure, (unchecked) (Report). SNN106634.

<6> Ryland, W, Adkins, D, and Serjeantson, R M, 1902, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.355 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100368.

<7> Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2011, Watford Park, C18 Garden Remains Overlying The Shrunken Medieval Village of Watford and Associated Ridge and Furrow Cultivation, (unchecked) (Schedule). SNN107298.

<8> Billington V., 2000, Woad-Growing in Northamptonshire, p.59-70 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102516.

<9> Hall, D, 1978, Watford Parish Map (Map). SNN115240.

<10> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, A/P (RAF VAP 543/RAF/2337 0377-9) (Photographs). SNN104890.

<11> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, A/P (CUAP AW 168 75 76 AWQ18 19) (Photographs). SNN104890.

<12> 1840, Watford Tithe Map (Map). SNN14710.

<13> RCHME, Undated, RCHME Inventory: Northamptonshire II (Central), 889276, 890749 (Archive). SNN112900.

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 8:50PM