Monument Type(s):

• DESERTED SETTLEMENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

Possible site of Apley deserted settlement of medieval date.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA5590 - 1995 evaluation at Apley Castle by University of Bristol Archaeological Service (Ref: UBAS ACP 95A)

Description

Apley was presumably one of Wellington's five Domesday berewicks. Twelve tenants were named in 1384, but the settlement afterwards shrank. No record of its open fields is known and in 1672 only the big house (PRN 00696) paid hearth tax. <1>

In 1995 an evaluation was carried out on the area to be affected by a proposed housing and farm building conversion development just to the north of PRN 00696, Apley Castle, and within the area in which the deserted settlement of Apley may have lain. A documentary assessment is included in the report. This notes the early history of Apley, which was recorded as a berewick of Wellington in the Domesday Book, but was a manor by the 13th century: a freeholder was recorded in 1282. The township of Apley presented at the Great Court in 1345 and 1481. There is little documentary evidence for the scale of settlement, but twelve tenants are recorded in 1384. There is no archaeological or historical evidence for the precise location of the small community at Apley. If the supposed motte [PRN 03835] has been correctly identifed, then it might be expected to be close to the centre of the small township settlement. In this case, the settlement would be in the vicinity of what is now Home Farm, rather than around the 14th century castle site. ->

-> There is conflicting evidence about the survival of open fields. It seems that much of the township had reverted to single ownership by the late middle ages, and the open fields may have disappeared by this stage. Another reference, however, records inclosure sometime before 1676. ->

-> Six trenches were excavated, but no significant archaeological deposits relating to the settlement were encountered and no evidence was found for the settlement of Apley. There were, however, some possible indications of former ridge and furrow within and just west of the walled garden [PRN 08469], and two 13th-14th century potsherds were found in association with a buried soil within the walled garden. These finds suggest that the settlement does not lie within or immediately west of the walled garden. <2>

<00> Shropshire County Council SMR, SMR Sheets Collection, SMR Sheet for PRN SA 03885 (Card index). SSA20723.

<01> Baugh G C (ed), 1985, Victoria County History Volume XI: Telford, p210 (Volume). SSA2707.

<02> Horton Mark C, 1995, Apley Castle Park: Archaeological Evaluation of Development Site (Archaeological fieldwork report). SSA2728.

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.