More information : TA 213105 centred. Enclosures and possible trackway forming part of
Healing Shrunken Medieval Village earthworks. (1)
The site lies on the north eastern side of a new housing development and has been the subject of both earthwork and geophysical survey and also of test excavation. The part that still survives is a mutilated moated site which has been set aside as public open space in the care of Heritage Lincolnshire and the Friends of Healing Moated Settlement.
When surveyed in 1995 the moated site was described as retaining intact moat ditches on the northern, western and southern sides, and that the eastern side had been heavily modified by later drainage works. These drainage works in fact also effect the eastern part of the northern moat arm as well. The western maot arm has subsequently been totally replaced by a large modern balancing pond, with much of hte upcast now forming a substantial bank down the western side of the island. The southern moat arm has also been altered during the development work. Part of it has been infilled with dumped rubble, associated ditches to the south west have been infilled and there has ben the construction of a hard standing (or possible building foundations) actually jutting out over the moat ditch. A plan in the excavation report suggests that this is for a pumping station with a rising main and storm water outfall also following the approximate line of the south moat ditch.
The island does retain standing earthworks. These include despressions interpreted as small fish ponds and raised areas thought to be building platforms. The geophysical survey also identified a number of anomalies interpreted as building remains within the area of the island and the excavation trenches were located to test some of these features. Three trenches were excavated on the island (1-3 in the report):
Trench 1 was 18m by 3m and was sited to investigate geophysical anomalies suggestive of a building. This revealed a 0.65m thick layer of clay across the whole area with an infilled ditch as one end and a single line of cobbles at the other, with no evidence of building remains.
Trench 2 was L shaped with arms 20m long and 3m wide, sited to bisect earthworks and geophysical anomalies suggestive of buildings and a hearth/kiln. Two major phases were identified here separated by a spread of dumped deposits which appeared to have been designed to raise the ground surface, containing some twelfth-fourteenth century pottery. The earlier phase included a pit and a sequence of two ditches with a pair of ditches thought to flanka track way to the east. Small quantities of pottery from these contexts were thirteenth-sixteenth century for the pit and either eleventh-thirteenth or thriteenth-fifteenth century for the various datable ditches. The later phase included a series of pad stone for a timber building with an associated floor level of crushed chalk along with a pair of paths also formed from crushed chalk. The small quantities of pottery recovered were dated to the thirteenth-sixteenth centuries.
Trench 3 was 10m by 1.5m and also sited to intersect geophysical anomalies. After excavation, the uniform nature fo the sub-soil, which was devoid of finds, was interpreted as a yard surface. The only features identified were a pair of nineteenth century land drains.
Three other trenches were excavated within the area of the new housing development, and these revealed number of structures and apparently most of the finds from the excavation. Finds overall appear to have been sparse with next to no metal work, a very small bone assemblage and less than 6kg of pottery.
The site is clearly not of national importance as a medieval settlement, being only a small fragment of the original, but even if it is re-scroded as a moated site, it is difficult to justify a case for scheduling. The moat ditch has been destroyed or heavily modified around almost the complete circuit, and even the best preserved sections are thought to have been altered and adapted since the medieval period. No part of hte outer bank still survives. The area has been heavily drained and the preservation of environmental samples taken during the excavation was found to be very poor. The western side of the island has been modified by the dumping of upcast from the balancing pond, although the rest of the island does still retain upstanding earthworks. The geophysical survey suggested that there was a multi-phased complex of structures on the island. However the trial excavations did not bear this out and uncovered suprisingly few features with very little in teh way of finds.
With reference to the class description, as a moated site Healing probably scores 25-28, which includes 9 points for the archaeological work. The threshold for Humberside was set at 30, lower than the 36 recommended nationally by AMAC. It thus appears difficult to claim that the site is of national importance. However it is of local importance and has been designated as public open space. It is in the care of Heritage Linclonshire so its preservation and good management is considered to be secure enough without the need of further designation. It is therefore proposed that no further scheduling action is taken.
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