More information : [SK 8976 9524] Moat [G.T.]. (1)
District name `Southorpe' published area centred at SK 896 952. (2)
Area centred. SK. 896 952 - `Old Graveyard'. (3)
Extensive earthworks, in pastureland centred at SK 8959 9522,
indicate the streets and fishponds of the deserted Southorpe village.
Very few steadings are evident but one building site, at SK 8962
9525, is possibly that of the church.
Village surveyed at 1:2500. Moat resurveyed. (4)
The moated site, part of Southorpe DMV, was levelled and ploughed in
July 1966. Finds included shelly ware, Md, and post-MD pottery. (5)
Survey of 6-APR-64 revised. (6)
SK 898 952. Deserted village, Southorpe. Scheduled no. LI/175. (7)
The Medieval settlement referred to by the previous authorities has
been the subject of a detailed survey and historical research.
The early documentary history of Southorpe is difficult to
disentangle from that of Northorpe (SK 89 NE 8) because they are
referred to by the simplex form of the placename i.e Torp.
Southorpe is first clearly recorded by a distinguishing name
towards the end of the 12th century when its church already
existed. The settlement does not appear in sources later than the
15th century indicting depopulation or population levels until 19th
century census returns which record the existence of outlying
farms. The church at Southorpe, dedicated to St Martin, survived
into the early 16th century. There continued to be inhabitants of
Southorpe parish, who in 1640 made formal arrangements to use and
support Northorpe church. These may have included occupiers of the
old village site and the moated manor. On early printed maps
buildings are shown within the moated enclosure, the remains of
which survived until it was levelled and ploughed in 1966.
The earthworks of the settlement are well preserved. They fall
into two distinct parts on either side of the valley, separated by
blocks of ridge and furrow but linked by a N-S hollow way that
crosses the stream at right angles. On the south facing slope lies
an extensive manorial complex, centred on an almost square moat
centred at SK 8976 9524. A slighter outer enclosure to its west
contains a chain of fishponds centred at SK 8969 9526. To the west
again, an irregular and disturbed platform contains what may be the
foundations of a stone building oriented approximately E-W which is
said to be the site of the church and graveyard. These are centred
at SK 8962 9526. Together these appear to form a manorial block
that may have extended to the rectangular close lying alongside the
hollow way on the slope down to the stream. Along the north side
of this complex, part or all of an irregular E-W hollow area may
have been a green. Beyond lie perhaps seven or eight platforms,
some with irregular hollows probably marking former yards and
buildings, arranged in a layout with a roughly rectangular core,
whose less regular periphery may indicate expansion. Alternatively
the rectangular core may represent the remains of an infilled
green. The N-S hollow way crossing the stream forms a junction at
right angles with the main street in the south part of the
settlement. Perhaps five properties fill the land between the
street and the stream. The age and function of the ditches and
hollows to the east of the moat plotted from soil marks visible on
air photographs is uncertain. (8)
The Medieval settlement and moat referred to by the previous
authority have also been mapped at 1:10,000 scale from air
photographs as part of the RCHME: Lincolnshire NMP. (9) |