More information : Name centred NZ 3560 1411. West Hartburn [NAT]. (1)
West Hartburne is an extinct village and the name is almost forgotten. It included Goosepool, Foster-house and Gingerbread House. Two rows of cottages with a central well remained in 1823 (2)
and according to tradition the chapel and burial-ground stood at Long Newton or Goosepool. (3)
Area centred NZ 3579 1412. The remains of this depopulated village consist of turf-covered banks and ditches forming small rectangular platforms, 0.3 m - 0.5 m high, and open or closed rectangular and sub-rectangular enclosures. Two sunken ways run to the north and south of the modern road. The earthworks are visible on airphotographs (a). No traces of the `two rows of cottages' or of the chapel were found. See ground photographs: AO 53/106/2 view of the earthworks. (4)
Earthworks surveyed at 1/2500. (5)
NZ 358 142. Excavations by Pallister and Still between 1962 and 1969 revealed 3 two-roomed long houses, 2 other buildings, a paved causeway and a sunken roadway. The first long house excavated was 72 ft by 42 ft, with two building periods from 13th to 16th century and contained a post-hole and a chimney or corn-kiln. The second measured 41 ft by 17 ft and contained a circular fireplace, covered at a later date by a clay floor and interior post-holes. The third measured 65 ft by 18 ft and had a central hearth in the living room and a byre floored of rough paving with 2 drains. There was a timber partition screen and evidence of a cross-passage and the heavy rubble footings indicated a wooden super-structure. Two further buildings were revealed by trial trenches. Finds included a silver penny of Bishop Ruthal (1509-23), a silver sixpence of 1570, a small silver brooch, iron, lead and bronze articles, imported stoneware and 13th to 16th century pottery. The paved stone causeway, 4ft wide, was found running down the centre of the village. Excavation of the sunken roadway revealed no paving or drainage ditches but there was evidence of repaired ruts and potholes and general use as a village rubbish dump was shown by finds of bones, pottery and iron work, including a 14th century dagger and an unusual prick spur. (6-10)
Little change since previous report, but published survey (25") revised in the light of the plans produced by Still and Pallister.
(11)
Existing survey revised by the RCHME during a project on scheduled monuments in County Durham.
The deserted Medieval village of West Hartburn is first recorded c.1200 (12a), and is now under permanent pasture. The surviving remains are located to the south of Mill Lane; those shown on the OS map to the north are now completely levelled by ploughing. The surviving earthworks - still standing up to 1 m high - consist of the crofts and tofts of the village laid off a hollowed way aligned SW-NE and parallel to the modern road. Three houses can still be seen located adjacent to or within their crofts, labelled A-D on plan and still standing up to 0.8 m high (A/B was excavated in 1962 (6); and C was excavated in 1965 (8)). To the north of the hollowed way the remains of further excavations (6; located on the north side of The hollow way adjacent to house A) could be discovered by field examination.
The hollow way, once W of the village earthworks, turns abruptly
south forming a field boundary. Fragmentary ridge-and-furrow
cultivation survives in most of the fields to the south of the
village ranging fromm 5.5 m to 6.5 m in width. The most prominent
ridges amongst the village earthworks - immediately west of house D - still survive to a height of 0.7 m.
At the NE end of the village are the scarps of a dry pond, up to
1 m deep, and linked to two drains. Adjacent to the west edge of the pond a further trackway joins the main hollowed way at right angles from the south. (12)
NZ 3580 1412. Deserted medieval village of West Hartburn, 100m NE of Foster House. Scheduled RSM No 20874. (13)
A medieval settlement is visible as earthworks on air photographs and lidar, at NZ 3580 1417. The settlement consists of a hollow way through the centre of the settlement, aligned north-east to south-west. There are a number of crofts and tofts aligned either side of this hollow way. House platforms and crew yards are also visible. Areas of terraced ground can be seen to the north-east of the settlement site, their function is uncertain. There appears to be later post medieval additions to the settlement including a stack stand, an enclosure and sod-cast field boundaries. All the features to the north-west of the hollow way have been levelled on the latest 2018 lidar, though the features to the south-east are still extant. (14-15)
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