More information : (TA 1123 7121) Argam Village (Site of) (1)
Presentations to this chapelry of Hunmanby occur in the archbishops'
registers until 1605. The village was clearly depopulated well before
1632 and the ruins finally removed in 1819-39. (2)
The remains are well-defined and under pasture. Published survey
(25") revised. (3)
Additional references. (4-6)
The village of Argam lay in a broad, shallow dry valley running ENE-
WSW. The surviving earthworks, which may represent a large
proportion of the whole, lie in three modern pasture fields to the
south and south-west of Argham Grange Farm. The immediately
surrounding fields have all been ploughed, with the exception of
some small paddocks.
The village consisted of a number of discrete farmsteads, represented
by tofts, each one with two or more buildings grouped round one or
more yards. Several of the farmsteads flank the main street, which
runs along the valley bottom, but others are set back from it on the
north side. These may have communicated with the main street via
small side lanes or had access to a N-S road on the west side of the
village. In addition to the farmsteads there is a scatter of
isolated buildings. The majority of the village buildings are
situated to the north of the main street. Building stone seems to be
largely absent and no wall-faces could be identified. There are no
identifiable crofts, though the back area of the village has been
sub-divided. Some possible crew-yards are visible.
The site of the church was not located, perhaps not surprisingly as
it could not be found in the seventeenth century (Authority 2,
50).
To the south and west the village is bounded by earth banks. That on
the west side, which is clearly a relatively late feature as it
blocks the village street, coincides for part of its length with the
Argam Dykes, a prehistoric earthwork associated with one of the
Rudston cursuses. The Argam Dykes themselves are reduced to slight
discontinuous scarps in this area.
No trace of ridge-and-furrow was seen during the survey.
There is no sign of a manorial complex and no village "planning"; the
surviving earthworks suggest piecemeal accretion, though the
prehistoric Argam Dykes had clearly constrained the layout of the
medieval landscape. The blocking of the village street, probably at
the time of clearance, gives a context for a radical change in the
local road pattern. Documentary and archaeological evidence both
suggest that the village was cleared to make way for a sheep walk.
A full description accompanies the 1:2500 field survey. (7)
(SE 113 714)- erroneous NGR. Argham ancient village site. Scheduled
No HU/100. (8)
The site was re-surveyed at large scale and the presence of a
manorial complex on the north side suggested. Ridge-and-furrow is
visible on a.p.s and on the ground. (9)
A different interpretation, suggesting that the settlement began as
a planned two-row village, subsequently replaced by a series of
cattle farmsteads and a manor/country house with yards and garden
before desertion for sheep, is put forward. (9a)
Further reference. (10)
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