HER 327 DESCRIPTION:-

Scheduled Monument Description:- Not Available

Lancaut is listed as the site of a deserted medieval village. {Source Work 862.}

1983 - The site was visited by J.Colombo of Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service. Deserted Medieval Village visible when walking round the site. The field is under grass, the hollow way being the most visible item. The ruined building is in the woodland under a bramble patch, and is rapidly crumbling as the bank, which it supports, is pushing it down. {Pers. comm. J. Colombo.}

Area to the north-west of the chapel shows field boundaries on hillside. Much worked stone around base of large oak. {Source Work 6308.}

The parish of Lancaut, which apparently had a church from Saxon times, was evidently once a settlement of some size. In 1306 Tidenham manor had 10 tenants at Lancaut. In 1551 the parish had c.19 communicants, and in 1563 there were five households there. There were four families living in Lancaut c.1710 and by 1750 it had only two inhabited houses. One was evidently the farmhouse standing on the north side of the road, the other Lancaut Farm. There was a cottage/fish house on the river bank south of the church - only a few stones remained in 1969. {Source Work 4600.}

1994 - The churchyard and part of the DMV were the subject of magnetic and resistivity surveys by Alistair Bartlett in 1994. The survey located a number of sub-surface disturbances or features of potential archaeological interest, both in the churchyard and the field, although the uneven topography and shallow bedrock of this site provide an uneven background to the survey, and make interpretation difficult. {Source Works 484 , 4999.}

The resistivity survey of the deserted village site in the field to the west of the church detected several approximately linear features which could indicate that traces survive of stoney banks or enclosures. There is nowhere a recognisable outline of a structure, although the possibility that disordered spreads of rubble could contribute to the observed disturbances cannot be excluded. Magnetic anomalies were also seen, although they do not relate very clearly to the resistivity response. The two strongest clusters of magnestic anomalies could perhaps represent burnt debris from industrial activity such as lime burning, if they are not geological. {Source Works 484, 4999.}

Heritage at Risk Register 2015

Small C12 chapel with later medieval extension to the west. Unroofed rubble-built structure with slow deterioration of stonework and internal plasterwork. The Forest of Dean Buildings Preservation Trust has recently taken ownership of the site. They have secured a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to repair the buildings and works are being completed {Source Work 13737.}

2015 - Repair and consolidation work undertaken by Simon Cartlidge Architect under SMC S00092430. Report consists of photographs attached as images to this record {Source Work 10426.}

2017 - A resistivity survey was undertaken by Tigergeo on 19th December 2017. There was good evidence for graves across much of the graveyard north of the church and perhaps also some small vaults. Their spacing suggests many more probably exist, their detection being dependent upon subtle lateral variations of soil resistance and variable in time.

West of the church there appeared to be two possible platforms, one perhaps a continuation of that upon which the church is built but the other has no direct association with anything extant today.

Other apparent terracing in the graveyard seemed to be due to a combination of geological basis and grave digging and may not be deliberate {Source Work 15074.}

2019 - Elements of this monument were previously recorded within the Historic England National Record of the Historic Environment. Those records, formerly held within the AMIE database, are quoted below:

Historic England UI - 1385378 - ST 59 NW 50 "A small block of Medieval or Post Medieval ridge and furrow is visible as earthworkson aerial photographs. It covers an area measuring 36.5m by 17m and is centred at ST 5367 9646.

It is situated immediately west of trhe graveyard at St James Church (see ST 59 NW 1) but is possibly associated with settlement at nearby Launcet (see ST 59 NW 4).(1)" {Source Work 4249.}

Historic England UI - 198722 - ST 59 NW 2 "(ST 5368 9647) Cross (NR) (Remains of). (1)