Monument record 5485 - Wood Burcote

Wood Burcote settlement remains suggest pre-19th century village shrinkage

{1} Formerly an independent hamlet, first mentioned in 1200.

{2} Possibly included silently under the large Royal Manor of Towcester in Domesday.

{3} Wood Burcote settlement remains (SP 695468). Formerly an independent hamlet, Wood Burcote is first mentioned by name in 1200, though may have been recorded as part of the Domesday manor of Towcester. 9 people paid the 1301 Lay Subsidy and the same number paid the tax of 1525. 1673 Hearth Tax returns list 12 people. In the 1720s Bridges noted 25 families. Buildings in the modern village line the north west side of the road, a situation shown on mid 19th century maps. Earthwork remains (now mostly destroyed) show possible house sites on the south east side of the road. 13th and 14th century pottery has come from the area. [RCHM plan].

{4} Twenty-five families were living there in about 1720.

{6} Towcester was the centre of a late Saxon royal estate and this administrative function persisted into the medieval period when it served as head of the hundred. The Domesday entry recorded that Towcester was held by the king and that it comprised 7½ hides, with land for 22 ploughs. Only 12 ploughs were accounted for in 1086: two ploughs which were held in demesne, and ten ploughs which were held by 15 villeins. There were 12 acres of meadow, and a wood two leagues long and one league wide. This large entry undoubtedly included the subsidiary hamlet known from the medieval period: Wood Burcote.
The medieval taxation records of Towcester included the hamlet of Wood Burcote. In 1301 Towcester was assessed cum membris (with hamlets).
Archdeacon Sponne appears to have appreciated the difficulties incumbent upon paying the tax, for in 1447 he vested in trustees a messuage called the Tabard, plus lands in Towcester, Wood Burcote and Caldecote, from which the payment of the fifteenth was to be paid, whenever the tax was levied. A payment of £6 6s 8d for the fifteenth was made by the collectors of Sponne’s charity in 1491-2, and payments of the tax in other years were recorded in the Account Book. A number of receipts for the payment of the fifteenth in the 16th century survive.
(Ref 3.4.3)The three major fields recorded in 1700 were to the south and west of the town and would seem to have been the fields of Towcester and Burcote. Caldecote would therefore have had a separate system, as is suggested by the names recorded in 1606.

{9} The earthworks relating to the village are well preserved except where they have been disturbed by any earthworks relating to the park layout and the modern services.
The survey area lies beyond the core of the village of Wood Burcote but it is likely that some of the earthwork platforms represent the bases for houses which were situated on the fringe of the village. Certainly the platforms occupy the slightly higher ground overlooking the open fields on the slopes and valleys. There appears to be a clear demarcation between the areas of cultivation and occupation.

<1> Gover J.E.B.; Mawer A.; Stenton F.M. (Eds.), 1933, The Place-names of Northamptonshire, p.95 (unchecked) (Series). SNN5881.

<2> Ryland, W, Adkins, D, and Serjeantson, R M, 1902, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.305 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100368.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.159/Site 9 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<4> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.278 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<5> 1843, Towcester Tithe Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN12156.

<6> Taylor J.; Foard G.; Laughton J.; Steadman S.; Ballinger J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Towcester, 1.0, 3.4.3 (unchecked) (Report). SNN103132.

<7> PRO series E179, PRO E179/155/31, E179/155/132 (Document). SNN115882.

<8> PRO series E179, PRO E179/254/14 (Document). SNN115882.

<9> Simmonds C., 2011, Archaeological Earthwork Survey at Wood Burcote, Towcester, Northamptonshire, p.18 (checked) (Report). SNN108154.

<10> 1850, Northants Record Office map of Towcester c.1850 (Map). SNN12340.

<11> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, RAF VAP CPE/UK/1926, 3235-6 (Photographs). SNN104890.

Record last edited

Feb 5 2025 6:21PM