| Summary : The earthwork remains of part of the deserted Medieval village of Gainsthorpe. What now survives is an isolated fragment in a landscape that has been subject to intensive modern arable cultivation. The fragment is probably not central to the village, which seems to have lain 200-300 metres to the north, but comprises a possible manorial complex or courtyard farm, with a fishpond and two dovecotes, and about 30 other longhouses and barns with associated tofts and crofts. Fragments of ridge and furrow open fields are interspersed with the settlement remains, hinting at a fairly dispersed layout. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book, a windmill and chapel were recorded in 1208, and the name was last mentioned in 1383. References of 1697 and 1699 indicate that the settlement was deserted by that date, but that the whole site was then well preserved as earthworks, with about 200 houses apparently visible, laid out along as many as six streets. The extant settlement is laid out along two streets that run perpendicular to Ermine Street (some 500 metres to the east), hinting at continuity from the Roman pattern of land use. The site is regarded as one of the best preserved deserted Medieval villages in England. Although no accounts of excavations exist, the earthwork remains of some of the buildings preserve evidence of possible excavation trenches of a type that would be consistent with a date for archaeological excavation in the 1950s. The site is in the care of English Heritage. |
More information : (Name SE 95390113). Hamlet of Gainsthorpe (GT) (Site of). (1)
(Area SE 95400112 (5). Deserted village of Gainsthorpe. Mentioned in 1086 (2-3).
Scheduled. (4)
The village foundations are south of the stream and those of the chapel of 1208 are a little distance up the opposite slope. (see SE 90SE16) (6-7).
Also noted in 1208 was a windmill.
Last mentioned in 1383; evidence points to the Black Death as a cause of desertion (6).
Pryme in 1697 and 1699 notes between one and two hundred houses and 3 to 6 streets (7). (2-7)
Centred at SE 95420113, the earthworks of this deserted village have been surveyed at 1/2500. (8)
In 1965 the Medieval Village Research Group recommended Gainsthorpe to the MoPBW as one of the six best medieval village sites in the country and worthy of guardianship status. (9)
The site was taken into care in 1974. (10)
SE 954011. Deserted village of Gainsthorpe. Scheduled no 160. (11)
Centred SE 956011. Gainsthorpe DMV earthworks cover an area of 5ha. and include streets, house-sites, a farmstead and yards, and a pond etc. (12)
(Centred SE 95420113). Medieval Village of Gainsthorpe (NR)(site of) (NAT). (13)
Although Gainsthorpe is in Guardianship and its stone buildings and earthworks are excellently preserved, the village is now completely isolated from its contemporary landscape by the effects of ploughing. Little can now be made of its extent and plan as a settlement and late 17th century references to the sites of the church and several houses (SE90SE16) lying some 200-300m distance away from the village, remain
as tantalising hints of relationships that may now be unrecoverable. (14)
Gainsthorpe Deserted Medieval Village, Humberside. Guardianship code number: NS 262. (15)
SE 9544 0113. Gainsthorpe medieval rural settlement, including village remains, paddocks and a manorial complex with a fishpond and two dovecotes. Scheduled RSM No 23313. Remains of between six and ten properties, one of which is interpreted as a manorial complex. The
latter lies at the SW corner of the monument and includes at least two adjacent courtyards, enclosed by building ranges, which are interpreted as the homestead and home farm of the manor. To the W and E of these courtyards are the foundations of two circular buildings, interpreted as dovecotes. S of the W example is a rectangular fishpond measuring c.13m x 5m x 1m deep. Extending N-S along the NW edge of the site are two further enclosures interpreted as small fields or paddocks. Gainsthorpe was the first deserted medieval village to be photographed from the air, by O G S Crawford, in 1925. (16)
The deserted Medieval village described by the previous authorities was seen as earthworks in snow on good quality air photographs, centred at SE 9542 0113. The remains of up to 40 buildings were recorded as well as the other features described by authority 16. (Morph No. LI.612.1.1 - 1.40)
This description is based on data from the RCHME MORPH2 database. (17)
An earthwork survey was made in 1982 by the Humberside Archaeological Unit to inform the scheduling description (see Source 16). (18)
In mid December 2001, the Archaeological Investigation section of English Heritage carried out a survey of the site at Level 1 to inform the preparation of a Conservation Statement for the monument, which is in guardianship.
As stated by Source 14, what now survives is an isolated fragment in a landscape that has been subject to intensive modern arable cultivation; certain areas within the guardianship area have also been quarried at some point in the post-medieval period, although the quarrying in some cases respects the medieval boundaries. The fragment is probably not central to the village, which seems to have lain 200-300m to the north, but comprises a possible manorial complex or courtyard farm, with a fishpond and two dovecotes, and about 30 other longhouses and barns with associated tofts and crofts, as recorded by Source 18. Fragments of ridge and furrow open fields, apparently not recognised as such by Source 18, are interspersed with the settlement remains, hinting at a fairly dispersed layout. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book, a windmill and chapel were recorded in 1208, and the name was last mentioned in 1383. References of 1697 and 1699 indicate that the settlement was deserted by that date, but that the whole site was then well preserved as earthworks, with about 200 houses apparently visible, laid out along as many as six streets. The extant settlement is laid out along two streets that run perpendicular to Ermine Street (some 500m to the E), hinting at continuity from the Roman pattern of land use.
Although no accounts of excavations exist, the earthwork remains of some of the buildings preserve evidence of possible excavation trenches of a type that would be consistent with a date in the 1950s; these were interpreted as integral elements of the buildings by Source 18.
A copy of the report and interpretative plan are available through the NMR (19).
A picturesque tradition relating to the desertion of Gainsthorpe was already current by the late 17th century; this was that the village had been inhabited by robbers and that the law abiding people of the area has driven them out, destroying their settlement. Even the antiquarian who recorded the tale then thought it more likely that it was deserted through poverty or being turned over to pasture land. Plague or soil erosion may be other possible causes, but none have been conclusively proven in this case. (20)
English Heritage conservation statement for Gainsthorpe mentioned in source 19, published in 2002. (21) |