Monument record 1168 - Wicken (formerly Wick Dive and Wick Hamon)

A shifted village with medieval origins, originally two villages, namely Wyke Dyve to the north and Wyke Hamon to the south, separated by an east flowing stream. Small rectangular paddocks remain in an area devoid of houses by 1717

{1} Wicken existed as a single manor pre-Domesday but was divided into two entries: Wick Dive and Wick Hamon prior to 1086. The current Wicken was created in 1587 by joining the two villages. Wick Dive had a manor house with dove cote. The church at Wick Dive is not mentioned in Domesday but around 1130 a gift of two tithes is given to the church at Oxford Castle. The current parish church is a rebuild of the medieval one.

{2} It is likely that Wicken existed as one manor pre-Domesday but was divided into two separate entities sometime before 1086. The separate histories continue until 1449 when they came to be owned by the same family. The estates were subsequently treated as one entity in 1587 when the parishes of Wick Dive and Wick Hamon were unified by Sir John Spencer into the more familiar Wicken. In 1620 Lord Robert Spencer rebuilt the manor house, once of Wick Dive. The manor stayed within the family until 1712 when Countess Anne Spencer left all her real estate to trustees. Four years later the manor, manor house and Advowson of Wicken was sold to the London merchant Charles Hosier. The estate passed to Thomas Prowse by marriage in 1750 and his family settled there until 1810, when the manor house was let out once again. After a number of different tenants the manor was eventually bought by the Merchant Venturers in 1944.
The origins of Wick Dive can be seen in Domesday Book. In 1086, Robert D’Oyley, of the barony of Hook Norton, held one hide and one virgate in Wick. The manor and its associated capital messuage passed down the family through various deaths and marriages, eventually held by the De Plessis Family around 1242. The next identifiable holder was Guy de Dive, whose son held one fee in Wick in 1242. Presumably, it is around this time that the name of Wick Dive passed into common usage. It was held by Henry de Dive, ancestor of Guy, until between 1356-9, when it passed to Roger de Mortimer. The manor stayed with the de Mortimers until it was leased by Edmund de Mortimer to William and Margaret Lucy in 1424. In 1449, Richard and Jacquetta Woodville of Grafton purchased both the reversal and the Lucy’s life interest from Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York (Edmund de Mortimer’s nephew). In 1511 the estate was sold to John Spencer and the two separate estates unified in 1587.
Wick Hamon had its origins in Domesday. In 1086 Maino held three virgates in Wick. During Henry I’s reign Mainfelin held two hides at Wick and in 1166-7 the sheriff accounted for half a mark from Hamon, son of Mainfelin, from Wick. A chaplain was presented to the Church of St James in 1218 by William, son of Hamon. The estate became known as Wick Hamon by at least 1276 when John de Wolverton (a name the heirs of Mainfelin had acquired), held the manor. According to the Victoria County History, there appears to have been no capital messuage associated with the medieval manor of Wick Hamon, probably because until 1367 the owners were seated at Wolverton. However, a garden and a dovecote were listed after William’s death in 1248, suggesting some form of manorial complex. In 1367, all five current heirs sold their stakes in the estate to Richard Woodville of Grafton and his son John.

{3} The surviving earthworks, though minor, emphasise the dual character of the village. The names Wykes and Wickens Ambo reflect the existence of two separate manors, also known as Wyke Dyve and Wyke Hamon, throughout the medieval period from Domesday onwards. This tenurial division corresponds with the two parts of the village on either side of the east flowing stream. The north part of the village, Wyke Dyve, is laid out along a main east-west street, and the south part, Wyke Hamon, lies along a south west - north east lane.


{8} Details of the Whittlewood project in this area.

{9} Article discussing the parish boundary between Wicken and Passenham.

<1> GSB Prospection Ltd, 2006, Wicken, Northamptonshire: Geophysical Survey Report, (checked) (Report). SNN106394.

<2> WESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY, 2008, Wicken, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results, pp.1-2 (checked) (Report). SNN106395.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.171 site 3 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<4> Gover J.E.B.; Mawer A.; Stenton F.M. (Eds.), 1933, The Place-names of Northamptonshire, p.107-8 (unchecked) (Series). SNN5881.

<5> Robert Kershaw, 1717, Map of Wicken, NRO Map 3145 (Map). SNN20486.

<6> 1838 & 1841, Wicken Tithe Map, NRO map 3069 (Map). SNN21643.

<7> Ryland, W, Adkins, D, and Serjeantson, R M, 1902, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.334-349 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100368.

<8> Society for Medieval Archaeology, 2003-2013, Society for Medieval Archaeology Newsletter, Issue 32 (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN104763.

<9> Brown, O.F., 1968, A Question of Boundaries, 1/43-45 (checked) (Article). SNN109147.

<10> Hall D., 2001, The Woodland Landscapes of Southern Northamptonshire, p.33-46 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102520.

<11> Jones R.; Page M., 2006, Medieval Villages in An English Landscape: Beginnings and Ends (Book). SNN106311.

<12> Jones, R L C, 2004, Test Pit Results from Wicken (formerly Wyke Hamon and Wyke Dyve), Northamptonshire, June-July 2004 (Report). SNN111299.

<13> Jones, R L C, 2003, Test Pit Results from Wicken (formerly Wyke Hamon and Wyke Dyve), Northamptonshire, Test Pit Results from Wicken (formerly Wyke Hamon and Wyke Dyve), Northamptonshire
July-August 2003
July-August 2003 (Report). SNN111298.

<14> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, AP (RAF VAP CPE/UK/2097, 3179-80) (Photographs). SNN104890.

<15> Christopher Dyer, Richard Jones, Mark Page, 2005, The Whittlewood Project: Medieval Settlements and Landscapes in the Whittlewood Area, https://doi.org/10.5284/1000289 (Digital archive). SNN116553.

Record last edited

Feb 5 2025 6:19PM