More information : (SP 130224) The DMV of Lower Harford derived its name from
the ford beside which it lay, and the tradition that it was the
earliest village in the parish is supported by the name
Naunton - "new farmstead". The Mylen Weg, "Mill Way" of a charter
of AD 743 is probably the track running from Stanborough Lane to
Lower Harford and is thought to imply the existence of a mill
there. There was a mill further down the river (at SP 138223) in
AD963. In 1086 the village supported a large number of ploughs
but was largely deserted by 1341 and by 1381 was no longer
distinguished from Naunton. (1-6)
Situated on the West bank of the river Windrush, and centred at
SP 13052240, the DMV of Lower Harford consists of some eleven
building platforms and associated enclosures linked by a system
of hollow ways. The building foundations are in the main
vestigial, though in places do reach a height of 0.4m. Extensive
ridge and furrow can be seen running along both sides of the
river, extending outwards from the S end of the village and
centred at SP 13202215. There is no ground evidence for a ?
water-mill in area SP 138233, where the Windrush adopts a sinuous
and sluggish course.
A probably modern pond bay, now overgrown and disused can
be seen at SP 13682213.
Surveyed at 1:2500. (7)
SP 130 225. Lower Harford listed in a review of deserted medieval villages in Gloucestershire. (8)
"The Rev. F W Potto-Hicks tells me that Harford by Bourton, SP 130 225, was formerly a village." (9)
"In the early 14th Century at Aylworth [SP 12 SW 3] and Harford many tenants left their holdings and left them vacant and uncultivated." (10)
The deserted Medieval settlement of Lower Harford referred to above (1-11) is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs taken in 1964. The site extends over an area that measures circa 285m long by up to 130m wide and is orientated roughly north-west / south-east. It includes a number of house platforms that are concentrated in the southern half of the site and flank a hollow way that extends roughly WNW / ESE, between SP 1309 2231 and SP 1305 2242. Possible house platforms are also clustered around SP 1294 2249. The hollow way continues for 76m to the north-west to meet one of several perpendicular bank and / or ditch features that may define plots within the settlement. A water meadow bed is situated to the north of the settlement, around SP 1299 2254. (12) |