THE SETTLEMENT OF STURGATE, THOUGH DOCUMENTED SINCE THE END OF THE C12, WAS NEVER RETURNED SEPARATELY FOR TAXATION AND SIMILAR PURPOSES. DESPITE THE SMALL SIZE IT HAS CLEARLY ALWAYS BEEN, IT HAS NOT BEEN DESERTED. IT HAS A REMARKABLY REGULAR OVERALL LAYOUT BASED ON AN EAST-WEST STREET WITH MATCHING RECTANGULAR BLOCKS OF TOFTS TO NORTH AND SOUTH, OF CLOSELY SIMILAR DEPTHS; STREETS SURROUND THE WHOLE LAYOUT. TRACES OF RIDGE-AND-FURROW WITHIN THE TOFTS, AT LEAST ONE PROPERTY BOUNDARY LINING UP ACROSS THE STREET, AND THE SIMILARITY OF THE WHOLE LAYOUT IN A NORTH-SOUTH DIMENSION TO THE LENGTH OF ADJACENT FURLONGS COMBINE TO SUGGEST THAT THE SETTLEMENT WAS PLANNED AND LAID OUT OVER FORMER ARABLE. STURGATE HAD NO SEPARATE ECCLESIASTICAL PROVISION FROM SPRINGTHORPE AND NO IDENTIFIABLY DISTINCT FIELD LAND. {1}, HTM 18M