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Date: |
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Description: | PRN 51453
THE MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENT OF INGHAM ON DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE HAD SHRUNK CONSIDERABLY FROM ITS C11 SIZE ALREADY BY THE EARLY C14, PARTLY IT SEEMS FROM MONASTIC ENDOWMENTS. AFTER THE DISSOLUTION IT RECOVERED BEYOND C11 LEVELS, FLAGGED FOR A PERIOD IN THE LATER C16 AND C17, AND FILLED OUT UP TO THE C19 (MORE THAN DOUBLING IN POPULATION) AS AN OPEN VILLAGE IN CONTRAST TO ITS CLOSED NEIGHBOURS. WITH THESE VICISSITUDES THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH HAD BECOME SO RUINOUS THAT IT WAS TAKEN DOWN AND REBUILT IN 1792. THE SETTLEMENT NOW CONSISTS OF AN EAST-WEST MAIN STREET WITH THE CHURCH AT ITS EAST END, OPENING INTO A LARGER GREEN IN THE WEST WITH ROADS EXITING FROM EACH OF ITS FOUR CORNERS. WITHIN THE LARGE AND IRREGULAR ENVELOPE OF OLD ENCLOSURES THERE ARE TRACES OF EARTHWORKS IN THE VILLAGE CLOSES ON EARLY RAF VERTICAL APs. GIVEN THE SETTLEMENT'S UPS AND DOWNS, IT MAY BE THAT THIS PATTERN IS DERIVED FROM THE AMALGAMATION OF A SERIES OF SMALL NUCLEI RELATED TO THE FRAGMENTED EARLY MEDIEVAL TENURE: DOMESDAY BOOK RECORDS SEVEN MANORIAL HOLDINGS IN 1086, ONE OF THEM COMBINING TWO PRE- CONQUEST MANORS. {1}, HTM 34M
During the excavations of the village green at SK 9460 8346 a range of medieval pottery was recovered, including 22 shell-tempered late 9th to 10th century sherds. Building footings were recorded and are thought to be of late medieval to early post-medieval date. Also recovered was a large assemblage of animal bones; these unfortunately are unstratified and no date can be attributed to them. {5}
During trial trenching at SK9474 8338 a single sherd of mid-Saxon sandstone tempered ware was recovered. Trial trenching also revealed a series of ditches, dated by pottery of 9th-10th centuries, which are thought to be parts of a ditched enclosure belonging to a small farmstead. Although undated, a structure thought to be contemporary with the ditched enclosure was identified; the interpretation is tentative. It is thought that a pair of small gullies are possibly beam slots and these, together with a posthole, represent a timber structure. A trackway, again dated to the 9th-10th century, was also recorded, corresponding with a feature noted on aerial photographs of the area. {6}{7}
During trial trenching at circa SK9474 8338, a series of ditches and hollows were recorded. Several of these were aligned north/south and were thought to represent the ruts and hollows of a hollow way, or possibly some form of land division or drainage. Pits and postholes indicated occupation, possibly timber structures. The hollow way may have continued in use until the late twelfth or thirteenth century, but the lack of later medieval and post medieval deposits indicates a change in land-use, possibly in the eleventh century.{8}{9} | Subjects: | General Archaeology | Temporal: | 801 - 999 | Source: | Lincolnshire County Council | Identifier: | http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/Re... | Go to resource |
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