Monument record 5432 - Maidford

Maidford settlement remains suggest possible aggregate village.

{1} Surviving records give no evidence of any marked reduction of population and it is unlikely that village earthworks represent an extensive area of settlement. Domesday records 18 people including a priest; 32 people paid the 1301 Lay Subsidy, and 63 people over 14 years old paid the 1377 Poll Tax; 47 households paid the 1673 Hearth Tax; Bridges records 49 houses in the village in the early 18th century. The present village consists of a main street running north-west to south-east across the valley of a small stream, with the church and manor house to its north-east side, and with a rectangular arrangement of lanes on the south-west side. It is not clear whether these lanes represent a deliberately planned addition to an earlier single-street village.

{2} Maidford is first mentioned in Domesday, where it is listed as a manor with a recorded population of 18, including a priest.

{4} In 1301 32 people paid Lay Subsidy.

{5} In 1377 63 people over the age of 14 paid Poll Tax.

{6} The Hearth Tax of 1673 was paid by 47 householders.

{7} Bridges recorded that there were 49 houses in Maidford in about 1720.

{8} As well as woods and coppices already enclosed, two new enclosures were made in 1585 called Duncrofte and Efeley End (NRO deed in X5265). The remainder of the parish was enclosed in 1788 by Parliamentary act (Award Enclosure Enrolment Vol. G p.469 (1779)), for which no plan survives. The enclosure process was studied in detail and a plan reconstructed by Stephen Hollowell. The settlement was mapped from OS first edition 1:10560.

{10} Notes on William Judge of Maidford;

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.97 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> Ryland, W, Adkins, D, and Serjeantson, R M, 1902, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.331+372 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100368.

<3> Thorn F.; Thorn C., 1979, Domesday Book: A Survey of The Counties of England, (unchecked) (Series). SNN1170.

<4> PRO series E179, PRO E179/155/31 (Document). SNN115882.

<5> PRO series E179, PRO E179/155/27 (Document). SNN115882.

<6> PRO series E179, PRO E179/254/14 (Document). SNN115882.

<7> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.247 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<8> Hall D.N.; Britnell T., 2000?, South Northamptonshire Historic Landscape: Part III, p.13 (part checked) (Report). SNN103302.

<9> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, A/P (RAF VAP CPE/UK/1926, 3050-1; CPE/UK/1994, 4166-7) (Photographs). SNN104890.

<10> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, DR/25/179/7 (Archive). SNN115.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 7:46PM