Monument record 1301/3 - Furnells Manor (The Eastern Manor, C14th/15th)

Part of wider Raunds Furnells excavation. A new manor house was built towards the end of the 14th century on the former churchyard after the demolition of the earlier, western manor (HER No 1301/38), and church (HER No 1301/2).

{4} A radical transformation of the whole manorial site occurred towards the end of the C14th. The western manor was abandoned and the building razed to the ground. The medieval church, which may have been redundant for some time, was similarly levelled. At the same time the minor boundary ditch systems were abandoned.

The eastern manor house was built on the former churchyard, over the levelled foundations of the medieval church. In its final form this building was 30m long, comprising the standard division into a central open hall, with a parlour/solar to the east, and a service wing to the west (including an adjacent dovecote).

The circular dovecote, 9m in diameter, was erected to the north-west of the manor house. It was connected to the manor house by means of a walled yard area. A limestone wall 0.6m wide abutted the dovecote to the north-west, and probably formed a boundary between the domestic yard to the east and the agricultural area to the west. A length of 5.0m survived, and probably once continued beyond this. Remnants of two walls and a spread of stone rubble lying to the west of the dovecote clearly denote the presence of a further stone building. These marginanl buildings were not fully excavated a little can be said about their nature. The range was probably about 9m x 6m, and its position close to the dovecote might suggest that it too served an agricultural function, perhaps a barn or byre.

A detached kitchen range lay 30m north of the manor house. The western room was a kitchen/bakehouse and the eastern room was a malting/drying room. A circular chamber abutting the western end of the building may have served as a vat stand.

{17} Newly calbrated radiocarbon date from Furnells manor, sample 2, falls most probably around the mid 14th or late 14th/early 15th century, which accords well with the published date of the east manor site.

{4, 18, 19} In the late 14th century the whole of the Furnells complex was reorganised. The church was levelled and a new manor was constructed on its site, followed by the demolition of the stone manor. The new manor incorporated a service wing and detached kitchen range as well as a detached dovecote. The use of this manor seems to have been fairly short, as by the 15th century it was abandoned. In the late 15th century its gutted remains were briefly converted into a smith with two small hearths then sealed by a stone floor. Subsequent to this is a possible last phase of agricultural use before being flattened by the end of the 15th century.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.191-2 Site 29 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> Parry S., 1993, Raunds Area Survey Report, p.206 (checked) (Draft). SNN1175.

<3> BODDINGTON A., 1979, CBA GROUP 9 NEWSLETTER, 9/53-4 (Note). SNN57846.

<4> Audouy M.; Chapman A., 2009, Raunds, The Origin and Growth of A Midland Village, AD 450-1500 (Excavations in North Raunds 1997-87), p.100-107 (part checked) (Report). SNN106414.

<5> Audouy M.; Chapman A., 2009, Raunds, The Origin and Growth of A Midland Village, AD 450-1500 (Part 3: Finds), (unchecked) (Report). SNN106415.

<6> Kerr, W.J.B., 1922, Higham Ferrers and Its Ducal and Royal Castle and Park Part 2, (unchecked) (Book). SNN108294.

<7> Chapman P., 2009, Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Land at 22 Rotton Row, Raunds, Northamptonshire April 2009, (part checked) (Report). SNN106457.

<8> 1977, Raunds Furnells: Small Find Catalogue, (checked) (Catalogue). SNN57378.

<9> Northamptonshire County Council, 1979, Raunds 1979, Fig.1 (checked) (Interim Report). SNN68985.

<10> 1987, Northamptonshire Archaeology Unit: Report for 1987, (unchecked) (Report). SNN55128.

<11> , 1983, Raunds, Furnells, A Revised Chronology, (unchecked) (Report). SNN75153.

<12> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1983, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1982, p.176 Raunds (checked) (Article). SNN24591.

<13> Parry S. et al, 2006, Raunds Area Survey: An Archaeological Study of The Landscape of Raunds, Northamptonshire 1985-94, (unchecked) (Book). SNN105780.

<14> Cadman G., 1982, Raunds: Excavations 1981/2, an Interim Note, p.95 (checked) (Article). SNN104574.

<15> Northamptonshire County Council, 1979, Raunds 1979, (checked) (Interim Report). SNN68985.

<16> BODDINGTON A., 1979, Excavations At Raunds 1977-78: An Interim Account (Article). SNN57847.

<17> McKerracher, M, 2022, Radiocarbon dating archaeobotanical remains from North Raunds, p. 1 (Digital archive). SNN115663.

<18> Stocker, D, 2006, England's Landscapes: The East Midlands, p. 221-2 (Book). SNN116286.

<19> BODDINGTON A.; ET AL, 1996, Raunds Furnells: The Anglo-Saxon church and churchyard (Report). SNN69684.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 8:01PM