More information : [SK 8976 9524] Moat [G.T.]. (1) District name `Southorpe' published area centred at SK 896 952. (2) Area centred. SK. 896 952 - `Old Graveyard'. (3) Extensive earthworks, in pastureland centred at SK 8959 9522, indicate the streets and fishponds of the deserted Southorpe village. Very few steadings are evident but one building site, at SK 8962 9525, is possibly that of the church. Village surveyed at 1:2500. Moat resurveyed. (4) The moated site, part of Southorpe DMV, was levelled and ploughed in July 1966. Finds included shelly ware, Md, and post-MD pottery. (5) Survey of 6-APR-64 revised. (6)
SK 898 952. Deserted village, Southorpe. Scheduled no. LI/175. (7)
The Medieval settlement referred to by the previous authorities has been the subject of a detailed survey and historical research. The early documentary history of Southorpe is difficult to disentangle from that of Northorpe (SK 89 NE 8) because they are referred to by the simplex form of the placename i.e Torp. Southorpe is first clearly recorded by a distinguishing name towards the end of the 12th century when its church already existed. The settlement does not appear in sources later than the 15th century indicting depopulation or population levels until 19th century census returns which record the existence of outlying farms. The church at Southorpe, dedicated to St Martin, survived into the early 16th century. There continued to be inhabitants of Southorpe parish, who in 1640 made formal arrangements to use and support Northorpe church. These may have included occupiers of the old village site and the moated manor. On early printed maps buildings are shown within the moated enclosure, the remains of which survived until it was levelled and ploughed in 1966.
The earthworks of the settlement are well preserved. They fall into two distinct parts on either side of the valley, separated by blocks of ridge and furrow but linked by a N-S hollow way that crosses the stream at right angles. On the south facing slope lies an extensive manorial complex, centred on an almost square moat centred at SK 8976 9524. A slighter outer enclosure to its west contains a chain of fishponds centred at SK 8969 9526. To the west again, an irregular and disturbed platform contains what may be the foundations of a stone building oriented approximately E-W which is said to be the site of the church and graveyard. These are centred at SK 8962 9526. Together these appear to form a manorial block that may have extended to the rectangular close lying alongside the hollow way on the slope down to the stream. Along the north side of this complex, part or all of an irregular E-W hollow area may have been a green. Beyond lie perhaps seven or eight platforms, some with irregular hollows probably marking former yards and buildings, arranged in a layout with a roughly rectangular core, whose less regular periphery may indicate expansion. Alternatively the rectangular core may represent the remains of an infilled green. The N-S hollow way crossing the stream forms a junction at right angles with the main street in the south part of the settlement. Perhaps five properties fill the land between the street and the stream. The age and function of the ditches and hollows to the east of the moat plotted from soil marks visible on air photographs is uncertain. (8)
The Medieval settlement and moat referred to by the previous authority have also been mapped at 1:10,000 scale from air photographs as part of the RCHME: Lincolnshire NMP. (9) |