Monument Type(s):

• TOWN (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

An area of tenements probably laid out by the Lord of the Manor in the 12th or 13th century as a commercial venture - the characteristically long, narrow plots can still be traced today.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA6665 - 2012 trial trenches on land off Abbots Way, Hodnet, Shropshire by Castlering Archaeology

Description

In the mid 13th century Odo de Hodnet, the Lord of the Manor, was granted the right to hold a weekly market and annual fair at Hodnet. It is likely that this provided the stimulus for the planned extension of the village to the north and east of the castle. <1>

The area to the east of the main street is occupied by a regular pattern of narrow, parallel property plots set at a right angle to the main street with gardens running back to a common linear boundary. This pattern is characteristic of medieval tenements or burgages, and is indicative of planned settlement, as is the location of the planned area in relation to the Norman castle. Many such planned settlements originated in the 12th and 13th centuries <2>

A programme of archaeological evaluation, consisting of the excavation of 4 evaluation trenches to inform a planning decision in respect of an application for residential development on land off Abbots Way, Hodnet, was undertaken in 2012, to the east of Unicorn Court. The trenches revealed no evidence of medieval activity on the site. <3>

<01> English Heritage, 2001, Scheduling Papers (Revised Scheduling, 09/03/2001) (Scheduled Monument notification). SSA20345.

<02> Tavener Nick, 2001, Walford House, Drayton Road, Hodnet - a Report on a Watching Brief (Watching brief report). SSA20728.

<03> Frost Pat, 2012, Land off Abbots Way, Hodnet, Shropshire: archaeological evaluation February 2012 (Excavation report). SSA23978.

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.