More information : NZ 255 172 Earthworks (NR)
NZ 2543 1710 Moat (NR) (1)
Archdeacon Newton was once a New Town where the Archdeacon of Durham had a manor; buttresses, broken arches and fire-places may be found in many of the farm buildings in the area. The remains consist of an irregular oblong enclosure, the north and east sides of which show a series of banks dividing the area into a series of oblong spaces. The west and south west sides of the enclosure are occupied by farm buildings. (2-3)
NZ 2555 1722. The remains of this Medieval village consist of banks and ditches forming well defined rectangular enclosures mostly running east to west. The banks are on average 4 m wide and 0.6 m high and the ditches 2 m wide and 0.3m deep, with fairly large cobble stones visible within them. At the northern edge of the earthworks is a triangular plateau, circa 2 m high, which may be partially natural, with a ditch formed along its south side. At the south, there are 3 fish ponds, one of which is in use as a duck pond, the other 2 being partially rubbish filled. A well-defined trackway, 4 m wide, runs from the centre of the east side of the main earthworks in a south east direction for a distance of 240 m, where it meets a modern fence and disappears.
At NZ 2550 1737 is a bank with a modern gap, 5 m wide, cut into it and the exposed sides contain only soil and no visible formation of any kind.
At NZ 2548 1713 is a rectangular, two-storeyed building used for
storing hay, measuring 18 m by 9 m, in which are two Tudor style fireplaces and the remains of an archway built on the outside walls at each end. No surface finds made. (4)
NZ 255 172. Village (NR) (site of) (NAT) (5)
There has been some reduction of the earthworks by ploughing and infill, particularly in the vicinity of Hall Farm. F1 notes a complex of fish ponds in this area; these are now largely destroyed, but his plan suggests that there was originally a moat, as formerly published, with perhaps a single pond as part of the system. This would indicate that the remains incorporated in the farm buildings are probably those of a manor house, and also that the rest of the earthworks may represent tenant crofts attached thereto, rather than a nucleated village. Published survey (25") revised. (6)
NZ 255 173. Medieval site. Scheduled. (7)
Existing survey revised by RCHME during a project on scheduled
monuments in County Durham.
The surviving earthworks are of a shrunken village and comprise
primarily a series of field boundaries or sub-rectangular
enclosures. No scarp stands higher than 1.6 m; generally they range from 0.4 m to 1m in height. No evidence of buildings or house platforms was recorded, and the fish-ponds previously surveyed in the south-east do not survive except for one lying amongst the farm buildings and now heavily overgrown. (8)
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