Summary : Deserted medieval village surviving as earthworks. Detailed analytical field survey of the well-preserved remains showed that the majority relate to the tofts and crofts (peasant house plots and their accompanying yards and gardens) of a planned two-row village with a green. This had replaced an earlier village without a green. Alongside the planned village was a manorial enclosure containing a fishpond and dovecote; the manor house itself is thought to have been lost beneath modern farm buildings. The village was surrounded by open fields of broad ridge and furrow, some of which were ploughed again in the post-medieval period, but thereafter used as pasture up to the present day. After its initial planned phase, the village experienced piecemeal expansion and contraction. Possibly in 1573, but certainly by the early 17th century, the present Ulnaby Hall (NZ 21 NW 20) was built on a new site in an area formerly occupied by peasant tofts. The size of the village diminished gradually: three cottages (whose earthworks can be identified with some confidence) are documented in 1629 and the last medieval building disappeared between 1855 and 1896. A row of three farm labourers' houses, built in the late 19th century and replaced in the 20th, arguably represent the latest incarnation of the village. Ulnaby Hall and these houses are now the only occupied buildings. |
More information : "Near Ulnaby farmhouse (refers to Ulnaby Hall - NZ 21 NW 20) are some low, straggling mounds which are evidently the remains of an older village". (1) NZ 22731719. Remains of a deserted Medieval village are situated in a field known as "Schoolhouse Field" and according to local tradition there was a schoolhouse and a church there but they were burnt down by the Scots at some unknown period (2a). The remains extend 340.0m east to west and circa 300.0m north to south and consist of turf-covered banks, averaging 4.0m in width and 0.4m in height, and ditches of similar dimensions. The banks form rectangular enclosures running north to south and are bounded on the south by Ulnaby Beck and on the north by a well-defined trackway. A similar trackway, still used as such, runs 100m eastwards, then 80m south eastwards from the south east corner of Ulnaby Hall outbuildings.
(NZ 22711717 to NZ 22871712). Inside the main enclosures are smaller ones, probably the remains of cottages, with a large number of stones visible in their banks. In one, at NZ 22741721, are distinct traces of rough cement or plaster flooring. (2)
NZ 227172. Deserted Medieval village of Ulnaby. (3-4)
Minor changes only. Published survey (25") correct. (5)
(NZ 227172) Medieval village of Ulnaby (NR) (site of) (NAT). (6)
NZ 2271 1724. Deserted medieval village of Ulnaby. Scheduled RSM No 20961. (7)
(NZ 2273 1719). In 2007, English Heritage undertook historical and archaeological research into the deserted medieval village of Ulnaby in the parish of High Coniscliffe, part of the historic area of County Durham. Detailed Level 3 analytical field survey of the well-preserved earthwork remains showed that the majority relate to the tofts and crofts (peasant house plots and their accompanying yards and gardens) of a planned two-row village with a green. This had replaced an earlier village without a green. Alongside the planned village is a manorial enclosure containing a fishpond and dovecote; the manor house itself is thought to have been lost beneath modern farm buildings. The village site is surrounded by open fields of broad ridge and furrow, some of which were ploughed again in the post-medieval period, but thereafter used as pasture up to the present day. After its initial planned phase, the village experienced piecemeal expansion and contraction. Possibly in 1573, but certainly by the early 17th century, the present Ulnaby Hall (NZ 21 NW 20) was built on a new site in an area formerly occupied by peasant tofts. The size of the village diminished gradually: three cottages (whose earthworks can be identified with some confidence) are documented in 1629 and the last medieval building disappeared between 1855 and 1896. A row of three farm labourers' houses, built in the late 19th century and replaced in the 20th, arguably represent the latest incarnation of the village. Ulnaby Hall and these houses are now the only occupied buildings.
An English Heritage Research Department Report on the site (8a), including full description, interpretation, plans and photographs was produced and is available through English Heritage's public archive, the National Monuments Record.
There is no evidence for the Norman chapel mentioned by authority 2a (based seemingly on a reference in authority 1). Indeed, it is likely that this is a confused reference to the chapel now used as a barn which exists at Walworth deserted medieval village (NZ 21 NW 38), 2km to the north. (8)
Time Team evaluated the earthworks in 2008 (9) |