More information : SJ 4451: Possible Deserted Medieval Village at Grafton, first mentioned in 1319 (1).
SJ 448513. A roughly rectangular complex of several small ditched enclosures identified from APs immediately to the west of the site of Grafton Hall. Associated ridge and furrow and hollow way. The place name Grafton first appears in 1319 and was still a distinct hamlet within Tilston parish in 1724 (2).
Survey of remains (3).
SJ 4485 5132. Grafton deserted medieval village and ornamental moat. Scheduled RSM No 13517. The monument includes a sub-retangular island measuring some 36m by 26m, surrounded by a shallow boggy moat varying in width between 2-8m and 0.5m deep. A dry outlet channel some 37m long by 4m wide and 0.5m deep issues from the moat's E side. Adjacent to the moat are a group of earthworks that represent the remains of some of the tofts and crofts of Grafton deserted medieval village. These consist of two raised platforms some 20m square lying to the S of the moat, two shallow hollows about 16m square - one to the N, the other to the S - of the moat, a boundary ditch up to 6m wide to the w of the moat, an old field boundary to the N of the moat and a number of short lengths of shallow ditch.
Grafton was part of Tilston parish in the barony of Malpas at the time of Domesday. In 1333 William de Grafton obtained the manor of Grafton from John Welyn. In 1602 Sir Peter Warburton bought the manor which then consisted of '16 messuages, 16 gardens and 900 acres of various kinds of land'. Sir Peter built Grafton Hall, a short distance to the E, in 1613 and the moat is considered to be an ornamental garden feature associated with the hall, which was demolished in 1965 (4).
The medieval / post medieval settlement of Grafton, associated ridge and furrow open field system and the later ornamental moat were visible as earthworks on lidar imagery and appear extant on the latest 2010 aerial photography. The complex was mapped as part of the Cheshire National Mapping Programme project.
The main settlement earthworks identified by Authorities 1-4 and Scheduled, centred at SJ 4485 5133, consist of a complex of platforms, potentially tofts, along with ditches and hollow ways. The ornamental moat, likely a garden feature associated with Grafton Hall (UID 68855), appears to overlie the earlier settlement remains. Further platforms and boundaries, probably an extension of the settlement, are located at SJ 4504 5136 to the north of the modern farm and hall.
The remains of the associated medieval open field system are also visible as earthworks surrounding the site, comprising ridge and furrow and associated plough headlands, along with field boundaries and hollow ways. The wider field system beyond the immediate environs of the site was included in the parish ridge and furrow records (UIDs 1607904, 1607985).
A pair of earthwork banks to the immediate south of the moat and surrounding settlement remains may represent some sort of drainage feature or dam for holding water. The remains of a long mound surrounded by a ditch (UID 1585028), probably a later pillow mound to the east of the hall, may also overlie or augment earlier settlement remains (5-6). |