Monument record MLI54196 - Medieval Village in Riseholme Park

Summary

Medieval Village in Riseholme Park

Type and Period (2)

Protected Status/Designation

Full Description

PRN 54196 A very clear site indeed which has been planned by the Lincoln Archaeological Society. The plan shows the main village street with the rectangular crofts on either side. As the site is in stone country, each individual house and barn may be plainly seen. Trial excavations were carried out on these 4 in 1954 by Mr Thompson. {1} A substantial area of earthworks; the deserted medieval village was created by emparking when the hall was built. To the east was a grange of Louth Park Abbey [this is an error, it was a grange of Barlings]. {2}{3}{4}{5} Riseholme is first recorded in 1086, in Domesday Book, when five holdings appear with a minimum population of 10 people. At the beginning of the 12th century there were only three holdings. By 1166 the de la Haye estate was tenanted by Hugh Bardolf I. Bardolf also granted considerable land in the parish to the abbeys of Kirkstead and Barlings. In the 13th and 14th century the family of Edmund Foliot held the lay manor. In the mid 16th century the family of St Paul of Snarford acquired both the former monastic holdings and in 1610 purchased the lay manor, thus consolidating the parish into single ownership. After the St Paul line failed in 1613, their Riseholme estate was bought successively by the Brownlows of Belton, and then, in 1721, the Chaplins of Tathwell, who created the substantial residence, as well as the parkland setting. In 1839 the property was bought as a residence for the Bishop of Lincoln. In 1885 the estate was sold and in 1946 it became Lindsey County Council's training college for agriculture and horticulture. The village lies on the south side of the park of Riseholme Hall. The surviving earthworks fall into two parts, the larger of which appears to comprise the remains of that part of the village of Riseholme which was replanned over former arable land, almost certainly in the 12th century and perhaps by Hugh Bardolf. The other earthworks may be an associated manorial complex, but are more likely to be the remains of a later monastic grange. There is also evidence that the village extended across the valley in the area now occupied by Riseholme Hall. In the early 14th century there were 17 and 18 taxpayers, lower than the average for the wapentake and hardly surprising for a small parish which already had extensive sheep pastures. The relief of 40% in 1352 and exemption from the parish tax in 1428 with less than 10 households shows the impact of the Black Death. Nevertheless, 15th century reliefs were not high, and, although only two persons were found for the Lindsey Muster in 1539, seven taxpayers are listed in 1542 43. In 1602 it was reported that 'the whole towne savinge one house is ruinated and down'. The decline of Riseholme is likely to be the result of a combination of medieval monastic sheep farming and disease. {6} An evaluation trench at SK9820 7575, the site of proposed student accommodation at the college, did not reveal any archaeological features. {10} The settlement was established before the late 11th century and enlarged in the late 12th century. At Domesday there were five holdings in Riseholme. By 1166 these holdings had been consolidated into one, tenanted by Hugh Bardolf, thought to be responsible for the planned extension of the settlement onto former arable land south of the stream. Remains in this area include a hollow way linking the two parts of the settlement across the stream, and house platforms. The main village street is an east/west hollow way. Encroachment of some buildings onto this street indicates a phase of contraction. The village was first depopulated in the 14th century as a result of the Black Death and continued its decline throughout the 15th and 16th centuries until 1602 when only one house remained standing. The scheduling includes the buried and earthwork remains of the settlement, but excludes the earliest part of the settlement, believed to lie north of the stream in the area of Riseholme Hall and church. See also PRN 52327. {11}

Sources/Archives (11)

  •  Scheduling Record: HBMC. AM 7. SAM 145.
  •  Scheduling Record: HBMC. 1986. AM 107. SAM 145.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: BERESFORD, M.W.. 1954. The Lost Villages of England. P362.
  •  Index: OS CARD INDEX. RISEHOLME. SK 97 NE:7,1964, HARPER F R.
  •  Index: SMR FILE. RISEHOLME. SK 97 NE:Y -.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: P.L. Everson, C.C. Taylor and C.J. Dunn. 1991. Change and Continuity: Rural Settlement in North-West Lincolnshire. P 155 and Archive Notes.
  •  Aerial Photograph: 1945-84. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY COLLECTION. JE 45-48,1952, .
  •  Aerial Photograph: 1945-84. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY COLLECTION. LI 14-17,1953, .
  •  Map: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1992-1996. National Mapping Programme. SK9875:LI.634.14.1-22,1994, .
  •  Report: CITY OF LINCOLN ARCHAEOLOGY UNIT. 1995. PROPOSED STUDENT ACCOMMODATION, RISEHOLME. RPT 151.
  •  Scheduling Record: English Heritage. 2001. Medieval village and monastic grange in Riseholme Park. SAM 22766.

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Location

Grid reference Centred SK 98267 75370 (517m by 321m)
Civil Parish RISEHOLME, WEST LINDSEY, LINCOLNSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (3)

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Record last edited

Mar 21 2021 8:35PM

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