Monument record 1232 - Furtho

Earthwork remains of a deserted settlement. Furtho is first mentioned in Domesday. The village was enclosed and depopulated c.1600. The surviving earthworks mainly represent a hollow road and post-medieval garden features including a pond.

{1} Furtho is recorded in Domesday Book with a population of 15. Bridges recorded 1 family in the village in 1720 and the 1841 census records 16 people. It was owned by the de Furtho family from 13th to 17th century. About 1600 Edward Furtho enclosed and depopulated the the village, diverting the main road and erecting a new church. C.1720 "the remains of a former village" were visible.

{4} The medieval parish of Furtho included land to the north and south now in Cosgrove and Old Stratford. First mentioned in Domesday Book when it was divided into three small holdings with a total recorded population of 15. However, one of these manors may have been the deserted hamlet which lies to the south in the part of Old Stratford formerly in Furtho parish. Named in the Nomina Villarum of 1316. No indication of its later medieval population is available as it was always taxed with Cosgrove except in 1525 when three people paid the lay subsidy. In 1547 200 sheep were maintained on the manor. By 1720 'only one house, with the church' survived.

Apart from one of the medieval fishponds, now dry, and part of the post-medieval garden, no earthworks have survived the extensive modern agricultural improvements. However, from air photographs taken before destruction, more recent air photographs and the modern OS 1:2500 plan it is possible to reconstruct a plan of the earthworks as they existed in 1947.

{13} Distinct bounds of the village, and ground features, visible round the church and manor farm, and extending westwards.

{14} Surviving earthworks of the village comprise a hollow road and fish ponds, only one of which is water filled.

<1> Allison K.J.; Beresford M.W.; Hurst J.G. et al, 1966, The Deserted Villages of Northamptonshire, p.40 (checked) (Report). SNN39628.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP74SE4 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<3> Ryland, W, Adkins, D, and Serjeantson, R M, 1902, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.15 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100368.

<4> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.119/Site 9 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<5> OS 25 INCH MAP, (unchecked) (Map). SNN28049.

<6> 1316, Nomina Villarum, (unchecked) (Document). SNN8783.

<7> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.296 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<8> 1835, Map of Furtho, (unchecked) (Map). SNN28038.

<9> 1850, Furtho Tithe Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN28039.

<10> PRO series E179, PRO E179/155/130 (Document). SNN115882.

<11> 2002, Various correspondence from Edmund Arnold's charity (Furtho), (unchecked) (Correspondence). SNN102285.

<12> Hall D., 2001, The Woodland Landscapes of Southern Northamptonshire, p.33-46 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102520.

<13> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, RAF CPE/UK/1926 2245, 2246 16.1.47 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<14> Seaman, BH, 1969, Field investigators comments, 21/OCT (Notes). SNN111907.

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 8:54PM