Monument Type(s):

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

Summary

Earthwork remains of a deserted settlement of medieval date at Pickthorn.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA1880 - 1979 survey by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA8230 - 2017 WB at Pickthorn Farm, Chorely, Bridgnorth, Shropshire by DW Archaeology (Ref: 17/00793/FUL)

Description

A deserted settlement at Pickthorn contained within a single modern field. It was an independent manor in 1086 but was probably originally a township of the Saxon manor of Stottesdon. There were eight tenements herein 1571, but gradually reduced to a single farm. <1a>

Field has been drained and ploughed. Farmer reported that when the pond in the field was cleared out there was a definite causeway through the middle with clay on either side. Pottery, mostly post medieval from two fields... <4>

The site ..was bulldozed in 1971 and many of the details visible on the air photograph are no longer visible, what remains has been distorted and is now under grass. The main holloway...runs N/S for c 100m, turning W at its S end for about 30m, where it ends at a pond in front of the present farm. Near the bend it is joined by another holloway at a higher level, which runs eastwards for 75m to the edge of the field. On the N side of this field is a building platform 7m x 4m, and there are other possible, but less distinctive sites to the S. At the north end of the main holloway on its W side, there is a ditched mound 26m long, 6m wide and 0.3m high, orientated E/W. Twenty metres N/W of it is a raised area 14m N/S by 6m transversely. and 0.4m high, which stands on the lip of another possible hollow way running N/S along the edge of the field. OS FI 1979 or <5>

GIS extent altered based upon original plot of earthworks on SMR map, in addition to some earthworks visible to the SW of Pickthorn Farm visible on LiDAR imagery that may be related to the deserted settlement. <7><8>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Medium score as one of 58 DMVs. <9>

No features associated with the medieval settlement were identified in a watching brief in 2017 on land to the immediate W of this site. Includes a copy of AP reproduced by <1a>. <10>

<00> Shropshire County Council SMR, Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards, SMR Card for PRN SA 01290 (Card index). SSA20722.

<01a> Rowley R T, 1972, The Shropshire Landscape, p108-109 inc AP (Monograph). SSA928.

<01> Ordnance Survey, 1977, Ordnance Survey Record Card SO68SE9 (Card index). SSA5255.

<02> Cambridge University Collection of Air Photos (CUCAP), 1966-Dec-20, CUCAP AQJ37 to AQJ38 (2 Photos) (Oblique aerial photograph). SSA17373.

<03> Ordnance Survey, 1977, Ordnance Survey Record Card SO68SE9, Photo (Card index). SSA5255.

<04> Page P S, 1977, Deserted Villages in Shropshire, p32-33 (Gazetteer). SSA264.

<05> Lange J B, 1985, Deserted Villages in Shropshire (Monograph). SSA3385.

<06> Shropshire County Council, 1975, Correspondence, 1975 (Correspondence). SSA5254.

<07> Carey Giles, 2014 onwards, Comments by Giles Carey, HER compiler in HER database, 09/10/2015 (SMR comment). SSA26784.

<08> Environment Agency, 2014, LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) Hillshade Model (Geospatial data). SSA24735.

<09> Horton Wendy B, 1990/ 1991, MPP Evaluation File (TEXT). SSA20084.

<09> Horton Wendy B, 1990/ 1991, MPP Evaluation File (TEXT). SSA20084.

<10> Williams D, 2017, Pickthorn Farm, Chorely, Bridgnorth, Shropshire: an archaeological watching brief (Watching brief report). SSA29431.

Sources

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