| Summary : The buried remains of the deserted medieval village of Steeton which was recorded as Stiuetone in the Domesday Book. In 1476 the Rees family, who owned the village, sold it to Sir Guy Fairfax. It is thought that Steeton was depopulated, except for the Fairfax family, by about 1485. Following the depopulation of the village a large pond known as the Great Stank (see SE 54 3) was constructed along the main street of the village. The construction of this pond resulted in the destruction of a number of medieval house platforms. However, the buried remains of buildings from the village do survive on either side of the pond. |
More information : SE 532440. Steeton was mentioned in Domesday, 1332
and 1379 but it is not certain whether the village had been
depopulated before the estate was purchased by Sir Guy Fairfax
in 1476. The centre of the village was destroyed in the early
16th century by the construction of an ornamental pond
(see SE 54 SW 3).
A mound, 30 ft in radius, in the centre of the fishpond was
excavated by Beresford who found the remains of a stone building
(1) or "stone retaining course" (2) associated with iron slag and
charcoal, at a depth of 3 ft (1). The purpose of the mound was not
clear but it may have carried some ornamental feature on an
island created by building up earth, or may simply have been a
circular area of the original village level which was left
undisturbed when the pond was cut.
Trial trenching in the pond-banks revealed the floor levels of
houses which were traceable by burned material.(2) (see illustration
card for air photograph and site plan) (1). (1-2)
Surveyed at 1:2500. The remains of the village comprise a series
of earthen banks and ditches forming small irregular enclosures.
No trace of any homesteads survive. The boundary of the village is
well defined by the limits of the surrounding rig and furrow. (3)
Some reduction of earthworks due to ploughing. Published survey
(25") revised. (4)
SE 532441. Steeton, listed as a deserted Medieval village. (5)
SE 532440. Deserted village. Scheduled. (6)
The earthworks have been further reduced by weathering, ploughing
and on the west side of the main Fish Pond by a small plantation.
(The NE angle of the moat has been revised by adding slopes but
elsewhere many have been removed - see revised survey at 1:2500)(7)
The earthworks of the deserted Medieval settlement were mapped from
air photographs. More recent photography shows that most of the
settlement earthworks, and a fishpond (see SE 54 SW 3) known as the
Great Stank which was later laid out down the centre of the village,
have now been levelled. There are areas of extraction to the south
of the fishpond and in fields to the east; some fields of ridge and furrow on the west
side of the village appear to be still upstanding. (10) |