Monument record 5046 - Great Houghton

Extensive remains of building platforms, closes, enclosures, hollow ways and roads mark village shrinkage of Great Houghton. All of the houses had been reduced in this area by the mid C19th.

{1} Shrunken village of Great Houghton. The deserted area was devoid of buildings before the mid C19th.

{2} Settlement remains (SP 792591) formerly part of Great Houghton, lay at the N end of the village, on either side of High Street, on clay at 60 m. above OD. On the E side of the street there were originally at least five embanked closes, separated from the adjacent ridge- and-furrow by a broad hollow-way, and containing traces of former buildings. Within one of these closes was a large circular mound. These have largely been destroyed by modern playing fields. To the W of the High Street were other embanked closes, all with traces of former house sites at their E ends. These too have now been destroyed and only a short length of a ditch or hollow-way survives. The remains were already devoid of buildings before the mid 19th century.


{4} Houghton is first recorded in Domesday as Hohton. Great houghton had been distinguished from Little Houghton by the 12th century. The name means 'farm, or place, on the spur of land'. History of the manors of the parish discussed.
The village plan consisted of a north-south road that split into two (forming a green) at its southern end. At the north there was a rectangular 'loop' (East Street), and east of the central main street another loop was attached.

(6) Aerial photographic assessment using contemporary and historical aerial photographs of Great Houghton, Hardingstone and Brackmills.

<1> 1839, Great Houghton Tithe Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN26219.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.84/Site 7 (checked) (Series). SNN77380.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1985, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.298/Site 10 (checked) (Series). SNN77383.

<4> HALL D.N., 1979, Great Houghton Parish Survey, 14/80-8 (checked) (Article). SNN75862.

<5> , 1972, Parish Survey Map: Great Houghton, (unchecked) (Map). SNN54814.

<6> Cox C., 1996, Brackmills Employment and Extension Site, Northamptonshire: Aerial Photographic Assessment (Archaeology), (unchecked) (Report). SNN103077.

<7> Gover J.E.B.; Mawer A.; Stenton F.M. (Eds.), 1933, The Place-names of Northamptonshire, p.149 (unchecked) (Series). SNN5881.

<8> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.370-3 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<9> Salzman L.F.(ed), 1937, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, pp.262-6 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100371.

<10> Billington V., 2000, Woad-Growing in Northamptonshire, p.59-70 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102516.

<11> Williams J.H., 1973, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (3), P. 32 (Journal). SNN896.

<12> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, RAF VAP CPE/UK/1926, 4017-8; 1994, 1188-9 (Photographs). SNN104890.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 7:45PM