Little Holland Deserted Medieval Village (EHER 2874)

This is the presumed area of the remains of a deserted settlement at Little Holland. This settlement is known from documentary sources, and is thought to have been deserted because of coastal flooding.

Deserted village. <1> - <4> Area of presumed Deserted Medieval Village. At the Norman conquest 17 households, declining to 11 at time of Domesday survey. In 1428 there were 10 households. The parish lies close to the sea and frequent flooding from encroachment by the sea seems to have caused desertion. By 1650 there were 8 households. <6> <16> Under 10 households in 1428. Population of 59 in 1801, 75 in 1841. Area 205 acres in 1838 (Tithe award), 648 acres in 1901. <7> - <10> An inquisition in around 1250 found that the land belonged to Fulk Basset, Bishop of London, not to the Honour of Boulogne so Domesday Book attribution is almost certainly wrong. Land lost to sea in 19th century, information from early directories. In 1882 it was reported that £8,000 had recently been spent on coastal protection. <11> - <14> Other refs: <15> <16> The Medieval Parish Church The outline of the church is visible as a raised earthwork following the buried remains of the walls, except for the east wall which survives above ground. Excavations have indicated that the origins of the cemetery may predate the existing medieval church. Several burials on a different alignment to the church were recorded during excavation and did not appear to be contemporary with it. <17> Photo ref <19> Site Assessment = ECC requested that the settlement site be considered for scheduling as Essex Monument 163. Department of the Environment decided not to schedule although they acknowledge the arguments made regarding the potential of the hall grounds for development. Should a planning application be submitted this site could possibly be designated under the new Act in order to ensure excavation, financial support being encouraged from the developer. Comment was made on the difficulty of assessing the importance of this particular site in the absence of a proper study of other similar sites in Essex. <5> Until recently hall was isolated from other development as on early OS maps and the tithe map. Now it is delimited by the B1032 to the south and east. No new information from NRHE.