Monument record MLI33575 - Settlement of Greatford

Summary

The settlement of Greatford has its origins in the Anglo-Saxon period, and survives to the present.

Type and Period (6)

Protected Status/Designation

Full Description

The settlement of Greatford was in existence by 1086 and at that time was known as Griteford or Greteford. The name derives from the Old English word ‘greot’ which means gravelly and the Old English word ‘ford’ meaning ford. {1} In the Domesday Book, Greatford manor was owned by Robert de Todeni and comprised of 5½ carucates of land. In addition land in the parish was also owned by Gilbert de Gand and Godfrey Cambrai. There was 2 mills, 60 acres of meadow and 20 acres of woodland in the parish. There was a minimum population of 32 in 1086. {2} In 1297 barley was the main crop in the area according to the accounts from John de Mortimer at the hall in Greatford. {3} In 1563 there were 27 households in Greatford. {4} By the early 18th century there were 36 church registered families in Greatford and one Anabaptist. {5} The population in 1801 was 240. It peaked in 1821 with a population of 258 and dropped by 1901 to 186. {6} Medieval finds, including sherds of pottery, a copper disc and a Tudor Rose ornamental disc, were found at Greatford (PRN 33575a - TF 091 119). {7}{8} A single, unstratified and abraded sherd of medieval pottery was recovered during a watching brief, conducted on land at Main Road, Greatford (PRN 33575b - TF 0891 1192). The sherd was a fragment of Stanion-Lyveden B ware, thought to date to the 13th or 14th centuries. {9}{10} Earthworks of medieval ridge and furrow were identified at the eastern end of Greatford, in December 2004, during a site visit to assess the impact of proposed development on land behind the Council Houses (PRN 33575c - TF 0909 1207). {11} The ridge and furrow at the eastern end of Greatford was also recorded during a magnetometry survey, conducted in October 2004, on the land behind the Council Houses. The features appeared as a series of parallel linear magnetic anomalies, aligned on a north-west to south-east axis. {12} Earthworks of possible medieval hollow ways or earlier palaeochannels, building platforms, tofts and crofts were observed in May 2005, during a site visit to land at Greatford (PRN 33575d - TF 089 120). {13} A single sherd of medieval pottery was recovered in February 2005, during subsequent trial trenching on land behind the Council Houses. The fragment was a base sherd of 10th-11th century Stamford Ware, and was recovered from the fill of a small pit. {14}{15}

Sources/Archives (15)

  •  Bibliographic Reference: Kenneth Cameron. 1984. The Place-Names of Lincolnshire, Part 1. 1. p.53.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: C.W. Foster and T. Longley. 1924. Lincolnshire Domesday and Lindsey Survey.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Graham Platts. 1985. Land and People in Medieval Lincolnshire. pp.110, 122.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Gerald A.J. Hodgett. 1975. Tudor Lincolnshire. p.192.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: R.E.G. Cole. 1913. Speculum Dioeceseos Lincolniensis sub Episcopis Gul: Wake et Edm: Gibson A.D.1705-1723. Part 1: Archdeaconries of Lincoln and Stow. p.54.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: William Page (ed). 1906. The Victoria County History: Lincolnshire - Volume 2. p.364.
  •  Index: SMR FILE. GREATFORD. TF01SE: U.
  •  Index: 1974. EAST MIDLANDS ARCHAEOLOGICAL BULLETIN. vol.10.
  •  Report: Archaeological Project Services. 2002. Main Street, Greatford. APS site code: GMS02.
  •  Archive: Archaeological Project Services. 2002. Main Street, Greatford. LCNCC 2002.215.
  •  Report: Archaeological Project Services. 2005. Desk Based Assessment of Land Behind the Council Houses, Greatford. APS site code: GPE04.
  •  Report: Engineering Archaeological Services Ltd. 2004. Greatford Geophysical Survey. -.
  •  Unpublished Document: Bonnor, J.. 2005. Earthworks at Greatford. -.
  •  Report: Archaeological Project Services. 2006. Land Behind the Council Houses, Greatford. APS site code: GPE04.
  •  Archive: Archaeological Project Services. 2006. Land Behind the Council Houses, Greatford. LCNCC 2004.227.

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Location

Grid reference Centred TF 0881 1187 (801m by 526m) Estimated from sources
Civil Parish GREATFORD, SOUTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE

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Record last edited

Mar 21 2021 8:35PM

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