Monument record 4203 - East Farndon

A Shrunken Medieval village and possible Anglo-Saxon settlement surviving as earthworks including hollow ways, house platforms and ridge and furrow cultivation. The settlement is recorded in the Domesday survey as Ferendone or Faredone. Later Saxon pottery has been found. The common fields were enclosed in 1780. Partly scheduled.

{2} Scheduled Monument description: The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of part of the medieval settlement at East Farndon, within two areas of protection. The settlement is located on a spur of high ground rising to the south east near the parish church, whilst on either side of the village the land falls steeply away to the west, north and east. The settlement is recorded in the Domesday survey, and possible Roman settlement remains, as well as some later Saxon pottery sherds have been recorded in the area. The common fields of the parish were enclosed during 1780, and surviving medieval ridge and furrow cultivation remains, on the steepest slopes surrounding the village, suggest that at some time during the history of the settlement a high population placed pressure on the available arable land. The first area of protection lies to the north of the present day village, in fields to the north east of Home Farm adjacent to the Harborough Road. It includes the earthwork and buried remains of at least three enclosures defined by shallow ditches or hollow ways, measuring up to 3m wide and 1.5m deep. The eastern end of the enclosures, aligned along the road include a number of building platforms, measuring up to 0.75m high. These are believed to include the remains of several houses, including their outbuildings. All of the enclosures include evidence of small scale quarrying, perhaps for building materials, and also have traces of ridge and furrow cultivation remains. The northernmost boundary ditch, aligned approximately east to west, measures up to 1.5m deep and 3m wide. It runs from the Harborough Road, up the slope between the enclosures and may have formed an extension to the original back lane of the settlement. The second area of protection lies to the south west of the modern settlement in fields to the south west of East Farndon Hall, and includes the earthwork and buried remains of at least three enclosures, also aligned along the main street. The enclosures are defined by shallow boundary ditches or hollow ways and include a number of low earthen platforms, which are believed to be the remains of houses and outbuildings. The buildings were arranged within the enclosures along a crest of high ground, parallel to the course of the main street. To the west of the settlement remains, lying behind the house sites, on the edge of the high ground, are the remains of a deeply hollowed back lane or boundary ditch, measuring up to 2.5m deep and 6.5m wide and defined on either side by low external banks. To the south east of the second area of protection, is an area of heavily disturbed earthworks created by gravel extraction and including a modern pond and landscaping. The quarrying has removed any remains which formerly survived and the area is therefore not included in the scheduling. Lying between the two areas of protection, defining the rear of the settlement on its western side, are further traces of the back hollow way or boundary ditch, which suggest that the feature was originally continuous. These remains are however, very slight and have been affected by later building, landscaping and agriculture and are also not included in the scheduling. All modern surfaces and post and wire fences are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included.

{3} SP 717851. Earthworks, formerly part of East Farndon, lie to the W. of the main street. Large hollow-way runs N-S along ridge above valley. Size of the feature (up to 2 m deep) has prompted theories that it was a defensive earthworks attributed to the Early Medieval or Civil War periods. Between this and the main street are traces of closes and possible building sites, now much damaged by quarrying. Further closes originally lay immediately N of the village. [RCHM plan].

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1830s, First Edition Ordnance Survey 1 Inch Map Series (Sheet 43), (unchecked) (Map). SNN39469.

<2> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 1986, DOE Scheduled Ancient Monuments: Northamptonshire (Parts 5-8) (Schedule). SNN104787.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton (Series). SNN77381.

<4> Morton J., 1712, The Natural History of Northamptonshire, p. 546 (Book). SNN10113.

<5> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p. 30 (Book). SNN77326.

<6> Nichols J., 1798, The History and Antiquities of The County of Leicester (v.2 pt.2 The Hundred of Gartree), p. 701 (Series). SNN59592.

<7> Whellan, 1874, History, Topography & Directory of Northamptonshire, p. 829 (Book). SNN1002.

<8> Serjeantson, R M & Adkins, R W D, 1906, A History of the County of Northampton, p. 256 (Book). SNN111061.

<9> 1889, The Archaeological Journal (46), p. 209 (Journal). SNN13625.

<10> RCHME, Undated, RCHME Inventory: Northamptonshire II (Central), 889486 (Archive). SNN112900.

Record last edited

Feb 7 2025 2:57PM