| Summary : The remains of Alnham medieval village, located on the margin of the Cheviot Hills. Alnham was part of the barony of Alnwick and was held by the Vesci family from the time of the Norman Conquest. In 1297 it passed to the Bishop of Durham and in 1309 the barony was sold to Henry de Percy, in whose family the land has remained ever since. In 1352, after the Black Death, there were 34 holdings, of which half were waste. In 1586 there were 29 tenants. The decay of the village was linked to a policy of leasing the tenement lands to a single tenant during the 17th and 18th centuries. The village is situated on uneven ground which slopes down from south to north, and lies on the south of a small tributary of the River Aln; the layout of the village appears to have been dictated by the stream courses and originally extended to the north and east of the present village remains. The remains survive as a series of earthworks between 0.3 metres and 0.5 metres high and comprise, from east to west: a toft with an enclosure and two house sites, a small hill surrounded by a bank identified as a close on a plan of 1619, and a group of three houses and an enclosure. A hollow way crosses the village from south west to north east and is waterlogged in places. The areas of the settlement have been sited on two artificially levelled areas and it has been suggested that the remains at the west end of the village pre-date those to the east. They are separated from an area of degraded ridge and furrow cultivation by a steep slope which has been artificially enhanced. The original medieval settlement was probably larger and focussed on the church, which has Anglo-Saxon origins. Scheduled. |
More information : Alnham, sometime called Yarwell, was formerly a fairly
large town, though now a place of no consequence. It was anciently
the lordship and estate of William de Vesey, 37 Henry III. (1)
In 1242 Alnham was a member of the Barony of Willian de Vesci and in
1289 the vill of 'Alneham' with a capital messuage is mentioned.
In 1352 after the Black Death there were 34 holdings (18 bondage
tenements and 16 cottages) out of which half were waste (6 bondage
tenement and 11 cottages)
In 1586 there were 29 tenants.
The township of Alnham had a population of 124 in 1801,
146 in 1831 and 95 in 1931.
The old pronunciation of Alnham was Yeldom. (2)
Two areas close to the church at Alnham show traces of depopulation.
Area centred NT 99081090. The surface area of the north west corner
of the pasture field immediately south of the church is very disturbed
and contains fragmentary banks of earth and stones, generally of
indeterminate shape, but some of which form enclosures suggestive of
the steadings of buildings. Here, too are traces of an old roadway
which extend south westwards from the direction of the church. A well
defined bank, 3.5 metres wide and of 1.8 metres maximum height marks
the limit of the disturbed area to the south-east.
At NT 99271095 in the field east of the church a rectangular
enclosure is formed by fragmentary banks of earth and stone. There is an internal dividing bank which suggests that this was a block of 2
cottages. Around the enclosure is a scatter of large undressed stones
and according to Mr Sordy, farmer of Alnham House the south west
corner of this field has always been difficult to cultivate owing to
the large number of stones it contained. The area is now under thick
long grass and could not satisfactorily be investigated.
No significant field names appear to have survived and the reason for
the depopulation was not ascertained. (3)
Noted - DMV at Alnham.
(Nothing visible on available APs) (4)
The areas of disturbed ground at NT 99081090 & NT 99271095 resp are
consistant with minor depopulation, but the remains are fragmentary.
Surveyed at 1:2500. (5)
NT 993109. Plan shows layout of Alnham circa 1610-1625. Original held
by Duke of Northumberland Estates Office, Alnwick Castle, Alnwick.
(6)
The main centre of Alnham according to authority 6 was in the area to
the east of the church, but no ground evidence of this survives apart
from small areas of rig and furrow surrounding it's former extent. It
is possible that the present day Pennylaws Farm and Castle Farm
perpetuate the sites of earlier crofts and marked the former east-most extent of the village.
The remains noted by authority 3 at NT 99271025 are most probably of
three blocks of cottages shown on Robertsons plan of 1726 (6a) and
which are not evident on the plan of 1610-1625 and which were thought
to be still standing and occupied approximately 100 years ago. (6b)
Investigation of the remains at NT 99041089 'a', and NT 99131088 'b'
revealed the sites of 8 possible steadings, associated fields,
enclosure banks, and a trackway, the layout of these obviously
dictated by the stream courses in this vicinity.
Authority 6 shows a croft at 'b' and numerous boundary features in
this area, the remains of which are still evident and coherent, and
which are bounded to the south and west by rig and furrow.
From their older appearance and non-depiction on map 6 the remains at
'a' probably predate those at 'b' and their position in close
association with known occupation of this area in the 14th and 15th
centuries (sites NT 91 SE 7 & 8) suggests they may be of a
contemporary date.
Surveyed at 1:2500. (7)
NT 991109: A small area of the Deserted Medieval Village of
Alnham has been scheduled. This is the area to the south of the
church and vicarage and includes earthworks of three crofts and a substantial boundary bank. (8)
NT 991 109. On the N side of Alnham Castle and between the castle
and the stream are the remains of about seven buildings and a
number of enclosing banks, representing part of the medieval
township of Alnham. The buildings fall into two groups. That to
the E (Authority 7's "b") consists of two small rectangular
buildings [NT 9910/2 and 3] and a possible longhouse [NT 9910/4].
The smaller buildings are 7.0-9.4m long and 4.4-4.9m wide; they have
no visible entrances or internal features. Building [4] is 21.4m
long and 3.0m wide within walls c 1.3m thick; it has four chambers
but no entrances are visible.
The second group of buildings, on the W side of a small tributary
stream, (Authority 7's "a") consists of three rectangular buildings
[NT 9910/5-7] and a square platform [NT 9910/8]. These are generally
less well preserved than the buildings of the first group. They
vary from 7m to 11m in length and are 1.5-4.0m wide within walls
spread to 2.9m thick. None of these buildings have visible
entrances or internal features. The square platform is approximately
5.5m across and up to 0.3m high and contains some stone.
To the N of the stream are two further buildings [NT 9910/9 and 10].
One of them, in the field to the E of the church (at NT 9928 1092),
is a rectangular building 14.6m long and about 4m wide; the walls
of this building have less turf cover than the others, suggesting
the possibility of more recent abandonment (see Authority 7).
The township is divided by a number of massive banks and lynchets
[NT 9910/11-15]. The largest is up to 1.5m high.
Further details are contained in the project archive. (9)
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