More information : (Centred NZ 418 295) Deserted Medieval Village (site of). (NAT)
(applies to the earthworks at Embleton (see NZ 42 NW/1) and
Swainston (see below). (1)
NZ 419 294. Deserted Medieval Village of Swainston. (2)
The remains of several houses, which appear formerly to have been a considerable village, are visible near a farmhouse called Low Swainston. (3)
The medieval village of Swainston surrounding the modern Low
Swainston Farm, covers 19.71 acres, with about ten house sites clearly defined - see plan: (4). At the north-east corner of the
site are a series of regular depressions suggesting a fishpond with associated smaller ponds.
Little is known about the early history of Swainston but the VCH
states that in 1290 Gilbert Hansard granted to his son, the manor of Newton Hansard with the vills of Embleton and Swainston. Elizabeth I granted the messuage or tenement called Swainston to Thomas Calverley and Henry Anderson in 1550. Excavation of two house sites at Swainston (`K' & `J' on plan) was undertaken by J Booth between 1957 and 1960.
`K' - Half-timbered building with thatched roof and stone lower
course with pottery and occupation debris of the 14th - 15th
centuries. The paucity of finds and undefined floor level suggest use as either a house or a barn.
`J' - A 15th century house of similar construction to `K' overlying
two earlier buildings of the early 14th - 15th century. (4-9)
Earthworks visible on air photographs. (10)
The earthworks in the vicinity of Low Swainston, covering approx
10 hectares, consist in the main, of low croft boundary banks and ditches and a number of well-defined house platforms. Surveyed at 1:2,500 (see illustration). (11)
The site described by the authorities above has been mapped for the Durham Magnesian Limestone Durham NMP project. The Medieval settlement of Swainston is visible as earthworks on air photographs taken in 1951. Later photography taken in 1995 shows that the earthworks are still extant but poorly preserved. Earthworks indicate enclosures, banks, ditches, building platforms and a pond.
(12)
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