| Summary : The medieval borough of Ewias Lacy. The Domesday book records a small itinerant population at Roger de Lacy's lands in Ewias, but it was not until after the construction of the castle that a new borough was founded. Exactly when is not known, but a documentary source from 1232 first mentions it as 'Nova Villa in Ewias Lacy'. Although the intention was probably to establish a market and finances for the castle, there is likely to have been competition with the existing centre at Clodock. In circa 1234 a burgage is first mentioned at the new town, and by 1310 the town was said to have 100 burgesses (possibly a nominal amount for the borough). Accounts survive for various years between 1492 and 1504, although it did not function as a market centre by 1500. In 1540 a reference to 'Longa Villa in Ewias Lacy' indicates the settlement spread out for some distance along the road, and after this it became known as 'Longtown'. Earthworks can be seen in many parts of the village and surrounding fields. Adjoining the south of the castle is an earthwork enclosure believed to be the defensive enclosure around the medieval borough. It contains the core area of the medieval town, now largely covered by later houses and gardens. The church occupies a raised area outside the old entrance to the castle and at the head of the former market place to the south. Earthworks to the north of the castle may represent an enclosure similar to that to the south. Excavations in the area have recovered 12th and 13th century pottery and structural remains. To the north-east and south of the castle further earthworks represent tenement strips, house platforms, and possible crofts, believed to be medieval in date due to the regular lay out consistent with a planned town. Further south lie yet more enclosures and ridge and furrow earthworks. It is clear from earthwork and geophysical surveys that the entire castle and borough complex was superimposed on an earlier layout of pre-medieval fields. |
More information : SO 322291 Ewyas Lacy, Longtown, A shrunken settlement consisting of a large enclosure with a low boundary bank extending NW from its SE side. House sites are visible on the NE side of the road "as far as the inn". (1)
Ewias Lacy, Longtown. The village appears to be associated in every sense with Longtown Castle (SO 32 NW 1), perhaps accompanying the "new castle" of the 1186 Pipe Roll.
There were reckoned to be 100 burgages in 1310. (2)
In the field centred SO 32312895 there are about 8 crofts and at least 4 house platforms flanking the remains of a hollow way, the predecessor to the modern road. To the N and E of the Court House, centred at SO 32242910, traces of two more crofts are visible. Surveyed at 1:2500. (3)
The remains of numerous conjoined crofts described by the previous authorities were seen centred at SO 3232 2890 with further more fragmented enclosures stretching to the south-east from the Medieval Motte and Bailey (SO32NW 1) to SO 3262 2852, forming a strip 430m x 90m. The enclosures are all rectilinear and defined by a single bank. Towards of the south-eastern end, beyond the croft boundaries are three fields of ridge and furrow centred at SO 3267 2866 which are presumed to be associated with the settlement. To the north-east of the motte and bailey centred at SO 3119 2998 are the fragmented traces of further banked rectilinear enclosures which may be the remains of more crofts associated with the medieval settlement. The remains were seen as earthworks and mapped from aerial photographs. (4)
The earthworks of the medieval borough of Ewias Lacy can be seen in many parts of the present village and its surrounding fields. Adjoining the south of the castle's outer court is a sub-rectangular enclosure defined by banks and scarps. This encloses the core of the medieval town - including the church and the market place - and is generally regarded as the defensive enclosure around the medieval borough. A linear bank running from the north-eastern corner of the castle's eastern bailey is the only surviving fragment of what were once more extensive earthworks in this area of Longtown. Although the earthworks have been destroyed by development during recent decades, archaeological excavations have revealed clear evidence for medieval settlement to the north of the castle.
The best earthwork remains of the medieval borough lie south of, and outside, the suggested borough defences. Adjacent to the Outdoor Education Centre, at SO 32312895, scarps and low banks define seven narrow conjoined crofts, each of similar size and plan, leading back from the edge of a hollow-way which skirts the present road. A terminal bank just inside a modern hedge line delimits their eastern extent. At least four of the strips have building platforms next to the hollow-way, while a recent rectangular enclosure is situated within one. At SO 32602855, in the field opposite the Crown Inn, there is a further series of earthworks. They consist of low banks and scarps forming enclosures between the road and a substantial back scarp which lies at the junction between level ground on the ridge and ground sloping down to the River Monnow. Numerous small building platforms are dotted irregularly amongst the enclosures. Narrow ridge and furrow covers large areas of the field and cuts across some of the earthworks described.
The remains of Longtown medieval borough were surveyed, at 1:2500 and 1:1000, by English Heritage in January-March 2003. For full details and plans see Archaeological Investigation Report Series AI/26/2003 (6).
Part of the site lies within a scheduled area. (7) |