Possible deserted medieval settlement, Ashdon Hall, Church End, Ashdon (EHER 4776)

The surviving visible and buried remains of shrunken medieval village located to the east of All Saints Church. The remains include a series of low sub-rectangular terraces and platforms extending some 100 metres across the pasture to the east of the churchyard and descending the gentle slope of a broad valley towards a steep-sided gulley at the base. These platforms are thought to mark the locations of timber houses and other structures related to the settlement. The three main terraces are decided by two trackways worn into the slope and orientated north to south. A narrow and largely infilled drainage channel runs eastwards towards the gulley from the lowest platform. The medieval date of the remains is confirmed by a large quantity of pottery fragments retrieved during the removal of topsoil from part of the site in the 1970s. Scheduled.

The field east of the church is obviously terraced (for hut platforms?) and two foot paths exist as sunken tracks. Removal of topsoil in part of the area has produced medieval pottery. There are many sub-rectangular areas of nettle growth within the field. There is a dam across the steep sided valley at the eastern edge of the deserted medieval village (DMV), possibly for a fish pond. The owner has lots of pottery from the site. Some of it has been looked at. Medieval pottery from topsoil removal found by Britnell (local builders) and G. Dale (tenant farmer). <1> <2> Site Assessment = Under grass. Has not been ploughed in living memory. Will farmer plough? Scrap metal in a ditch was to be removed, May 1980. <1> According to the farmer at Ashdon Hall Farm the features were partly filled by spoil some years ago. <2> The site is on an east facing slope under rough pasture. Amorphous terracing visible. Pond bay at TL 58184138, 60m long x 3m high, embays the site of a fish pond on the south west side. <3> The dam was covered with undergrowth. House platforms difficult to distinguish due to the derelict condition of the land. Long grass obliterates the features. Scrap metal still in ditch in 1982. <4> 2000. Aerial photography. <5> NRHE data transfer: An area of medieval shrinkage to the east of the church has possible terracing for hut platforms. Two footpaths which cross the site are visible as sunken tracks. Removal of topsoil on part of the site produced 13th century pottery. A dry fishpond and pondbay are visible at TL 58184138. <6> 1977. Field survey. The site lies on an east facing slope under rough pasture. Amorphous terracing is visible, but no coherent pattern survives. According to the farmer at Ashdon Hall Farm, the features were partially filled by spoil some years ago. A pond bay at TL 5818 4138 measures about 60m long by 3m high and embays the site of a fishpond on the south west side. Pond bay surveyed at 1:2500 on AM. <7> TL 582 414. Medieval settlement site at Church End. Scheduled 203. <8> See also: <9> <10> January 2024. Geophysical (ground penetrating radar and magnetometry) survey. A ground penetrating radar and magnetometry survey revealed the locations of four possible sub-surface features, that tend to correlate with the known medieval archaeology and history of the site. The survey revealed three possible linears and an area of possible disturbed ground. The exact history of these features cannot be made out through the geophysical survey alone; however, they are possibly representative of medieval infrastructure correlating to the abandoned medieval settlement. While there is little evidence to support the idea that any large-scale continuous physical features could still be uncovered today, there is reason in favour of small-scale finds, such as a collection of pottery, or visual disturbance within the sub-surface, that could be associated with medieval infrastructure. Furthermore, if evidence for foundations of medieval buildings can be found on site, it cannot be ruled out entirely that these could be associated with the missing minster of King Cnut. However, no evidence directly relating to this has been found through this geophysical survey. The most likely results from the survey are that any medieval features present on the site today, are small-scale remnants of the medieval village; pottery or tiles etc. <11>