Monument record 1156 - Ecton (including Little Ecton)

Ecton was formerly a much larger village comprising four roughly parallel streets running down the valley sides towards the River Nene. Earthworks are visible on both sides of the High Street.

{1} Photograph of an old map of Ecton. Unsure of the date. They came form the Northamptoshire Records Office. (Map 2115).

{2} Buildings are shown in 1759; Fieldname: Little Ecton.

{4} It appears that Ecton has formerly been more extensive. A farmhouse with several other dwellings under the name of 'Little Ecton' were situated to the east of Mr Isted's house. These were standing within the memory of some inhabitants still living (ie. Mid-C18th). This must refer to a group of eight houses set within small closes which, in the mid C18th, lay on the east side of the easternmost hollow way. These were removed later in that century when the park was laid out.

{8} Today the village of Ecton is focussed along a single High Street with further, mainly modern, housing along West Street. The village was previously far more extensive. It consisted of four roughly parallel streets running down the gently sloping valley side towards the River Nene, while to the north the area around the World’s End pub was, in the C18th, known as Little End.
Because the majority of the village area is under pasture, is part of the Hall gardens, or is built up, little evidence has been recovered as to the origins of the village. 1990 fieldwalking east of East Street produced several sherds of early middle Saxon pottery which may indicate occupation of that date. Further north, the discovery of burials and late Saxon coins in the manor garden in 1672 (?1762) shows there was activity in this area, close to the manor, well before the Conquest. Although there was only one manor in 1086, this was later divided to form at least three. The main manor was held by the Montgomery family, the Newhall Manor was held by Warden Abbey, and a third was held by the Treshams. The latter was combined with the Montgomery manor in 1574. It is fairly certain that the Montgomery Manor lay on the site of the present Hall, while Newhall was on the site of the present Manor Farm in High Street. There is also reference to a holding of the Priory of St Mary, and this may explain the reference to a courtyard at the back of The Hall called the Nun’s Court. A conjectural layout of the medieval village is shown on Fig.2a. But it has proved impossible to distinguish where the tenements belonging to each manor lay.
The process of desertion, prior to the C18th, is equally poorly documented. The decline was certainly underway by 1400, for we hear of several tenements in the village which each comprised a virgate of open field land with toft and croft rather than a messuage and croft. A toft was typically a garden from which the house had been lost. This is part of a familiar pattern throughout the country, caused by disastrous famines early in the C14th and then a succession of devastating plagues, beginning in 1348 with The Black Death and continuing for more than a hundred years. As population levels recovered in the C16th and C17th the increase at Ecton was presumably accommodated in the area that is now Ecton village, not in Middle Street or East Street. The final phase of desertion of these two streets was however as a result of C18th emparking.

{9} Settlement remains, formerly part of Ecton village, lie south and south-east of Ecton Hall, within the park. The present village of Ecton consists of little more than a single north-south running street with the church and hall to the west of it.
Earthworks suggest that Ecton once consisted of three roughly parallel streets, perhaps as a result of planning. The north ends of these streets have presumably been destroyed by the gardens of Ecton Hall. The date of abandonment of the central street is unknown.

{11} The discovery of burials and late Saxon coins in the manor garden in 1672/1762 shows there was activity in this area, close to the manor, well before the Conquest.

<1> 1703, Ecton Parish Survey (NRO Map 2115), (unchecked) (Map). SNN22606.

<2> 1759, Ecton Inclosure Award (NRO Map 2121), (unchecked) (Map). SNN22595.

<3> 1770 (circa), Plan of Part of The Estate of Ambrose Isted in Ecton (NRO Map 2120), (unchecked) (Map). SNN22532.

<4> Cole J., 1825, The History and Antiquities of Ecton, (unchecked) (Book). SNN47349.

<5> 1850 circa, Map of Ecton (NRO Map 685), (unchecked) (Map). SNN57997.

<6> 1781, Map of Ecton (NRO Map 2119), (unchecked) (Map). SNN54810.

<7> Hall, D, 1978, Ecton Parish Survey Map (Map). SNN57996.

<8> Foard G., 1993, Ecton: Its Lost Village and Landscape Park, p.335+339-40 (checked) (Article). SNN54811.

<9> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.198 Site 27 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<10> Ecton (Sotheby Collection), (unchecked) (Archive). SNN108762.

<11> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.141 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<12> Lee M., 2004, Henry Penn, Bellfounder, 1685-1729, p.41-53 (unchecked) (Article). SNN109357.

<13> Ingram R.; Dicks D., 2013, Ecton in Old Photographs, (unchecked) (Book). SNN109740.

Record last edited

Sep 12 2024 1:08PM