THE VILLAGE IS AN EXAMPLE OF LATE MEDIEVAL DESERTION FOR SHEEP. ITS EARLIER HISTORY IS LESS WELL UNDERSTOOD AND THE EARTHWORKS MAY PRESENT EITHER ONE PART OF A POLYFOCAL SETTLEMENT OR BE THE RESULT OF VILLAGE MIGRATION. DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE SHOWS SOMERBY TENURIALLY SPLIT INTO TWO PRINCIPAL HOLDINGS FOR MUCH OF THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD AND ALSO PERSISTENTLY BELOW THE AVERAGE OF THE EXPECTED SIZE FROM AT LEAST THE BEGINNING OF THE C14. The settlement remains take the form of a prominent meandering hollow way serving former individual farmsteads. A rescue excavation was carried out in 1957. The excavation consisted of trial trenches over a large area of the site and the partial stripping of one platform. The platform investigated produced the plan of four rooms interpreted as a two-bay house with adjoining workshop from the C15th to the C16th. Numerous other features dating from the C11th to the C15th were revealed. {3}, HTM 30M