Monument record MLI60581 - Post-Roman Settlement of Navenby

Summary

Following the decline of the Roman settlement at Navenby, located further to the east near Ermine Street, the earliest evidence for subsequent occupation dates possibly to the middle Saxon period. The settlement survives to the present day.

Type and Period (8)

  • (Early Medieval/Dark Age to Modern - 650 AD to 2050 AD)
  • (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 650 AD to 1065 AD)
  • (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 650 AD to 1065 AD)
  • (Post Medieval - 1835 AD? to 1900 AD?)
  • (Unknown date)
  • ? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • ? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status/Designation

Full Description

The name 'Navenby' is derived from Old Danish for 'Nafni's farmstead, village' from an Old Danish personal name 'Nafni' and '-by'. It is suggested that, due to the similarities between Navenby and the neighbouring settlements with an English origin, that Navenby is an English settlement which was re-named in Old Danish, or even that it is on the site of an earlier settlement. {1}{2} A small manor is recorded at Navenby in the Domesday Book as belonging to Durand Malet (with two teams farming in desmesne, and two villeins with a team). Sokeland of a manor at Eagle is also recorded as belonging to the same person, with one sokeman with one team at Navenby, giving a minimum population of three households. The men of Navenby were in dispute at the time of the Domesday Survey, and before, about money to be paid, possibly for use of land at Scopwick and Kirkby Green. It has been suggested that the manor mentioned at Domesday was situated on the site of the Old School House, Church Lane. It is also suggested that there used to be a dovecote there. The land by the cottage to the rear is said to be uneven, and that there used to be tithe barns along Church Lane (PRN60581a - c.SK 987 578). {3}{4} A market and two fairs were operating in Navenby from the 13th century. Permission to hold a market and a fair was granted by King Henry III on 3rd July 1221 to Ranulph, earl of Lincoln and Chester. It was to be held at the manor until the king came of age. On 27th March 1227, it was ordered that the market be held until one month after Easter day, that is 11th May 1227. In 1282-1284, Hugo of Somerby, bailiff of Navenby, was holding a market, presumably in his capacity of bailiff. No charter for this survives. A charter for another fair at Navenby was granted to the Dean and Chapter of St Mary in Lincoln in 1347 (date also given as 24th January 1348), to be held on 5th to 8th October. In 1856 a fair was still held on October 17th, although the market was discontinued. {5}{6} By 1563 the Diocesan Returns recorded 54 households, which rose to around 80 families in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, including three Catholics and three Quakers. {7}{8} Parliamentary enclosure was in 1772. {9} The population in 1801 was 479, which peaked in 1861 at 1170, and fell to 779 in 1901. {10} The earliest evidence for settlement in Navenby, following the decline of the Roman settlement located further east near Ermine Street, was identified during a watching brief on land north of Church Lane. Pits and gullies were identified, and associated pottery was also recovered, which dated to the late Saxon period, and possibly earlier. {11}{12}{13} Earthworks of former crofts were identified on aerial photographs by the National Mapping Programme (PRN60581b - SK 985 577). {14} A medieval gritted cooking pot was found on a building site opposite the school (PRN60581c - SK 987 577). {15} The foundations of a limestone wall, which probably dates from before the mid 19th century, were recorded during work for a house extension (PRN60581d - SK 9869 5797). The building to which the wall belonged was probably demolished before 1905 as the wall does not appear on the 1905 OS map. There was also a pit which was also undated. {16}{17} A stone lined well, thought to be of 18th-19th century in date, was identified during a watching brief at Navenby Methodist Chapel (PRN60581e - SK 9877 5790). Some post-medieval pottery sherds of the same date were also recovered from the site. {18}{19} A modern made-ground deposit was identified in May 2014, during the groundworks phase of construction for new housing on land at The Rookery, East Road, Navenby (PRN60581f - SK 9891 5772). The deposit was clearly associated with the demolition of former post-medieval cottages on the site, though no finds were recovered. A circular brick-lined well, very likely associated with the former cottages, was also recorded in the south-east corner of the site. {20}{21}

Sources/Archives (21)

  •  Bibliographic Reference: Kenneth Cameron. 1998. A Dictionary of Lincolnshire Place-Names. p.90.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Gillian Fellows Jensen. 1978. Scandinavian Settlement Remains in the East Midlands. pp.310-1, 331.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: C.W. Foster and T. Longley. 1924. Lincolnshire Domesday and Lindsey Survey. 44/16,18, 72/15.
  •  Index: NORTH KESTEVEN RECORDS. NAVENBY. NK40.38.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Graham Platts. 1985. Land and People in Medieval Lincolnshire. Appendix 1.
  •  Website: Letters, Samantha (Dr). 2003. Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516: Counties and Wales. www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/countyframe.html. Navenby.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Gerald A.J. Hodgett. 1975. Tudor Lincolnshire. p.190.
  •  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.90.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: William White. 1856. History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire - Second Edition. p.337.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: William Page (ed). 1906. The Victoria County History: Lincolnshire - Volume 2. p.361.
  •  Report: PRE-CONSTRUCT ARCHAEOLOGY. 1995. Land North of Church Lane, Navenby. CLN95.
  •  Archive: PRE-CONSTRUCT ARCHAEOLOGY. 1995. Land North of Church Lane, Navenby. LCNCC 137.95.
  •  Article in Serial: F.N. Field and I. George. 1996. Lincolnshire History and Archaeology. vol.31, p.58.
  •  Map: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1992-1996. National Mapping Programme. SK9857: LI.879.2.1.
  •  Index: SMR FILE. NAVENBY. SK 95 NE:BP, U.
  •  Report: ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT SERVICES. 1996. 10 NORTH LANE NAVENBY. NNL96.
  •  Archive: Archaeological Project Services. 1996. 10 NORTH LANE NAVENBY. LCNCC 71.96.
  •  Report: City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit. 2002. Navenby Methodist Church, High Street. NMC01.
  •  Archive: City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit. 2002. Navenby Methodist Church, High Street. LCNCC 2001.282.
  •  Report: Neville Hall. 2014. Land at The Rookery, East Road, Navenby. NH site code: TRNA13.
  •  Archive: Neville Hall. 2014. Land at The Rookery, East Road, Navenby. LCNCC 2013.88.

Map

Find a placename, postcode or grid reference

Map layers

Base layers

Info

Record list

Tools

Location

Grid reference Centred SK 9874 5774 (675m by 656m) Estimated from sources
Civil Parish NAVENBY, NORTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (5)

Please contact the HER for details.

External Links (0)

Record last edited

Mar 21 2021 8:35PM

Feedback?

Your feedback is welcome. If you can provide any new information about this record, please contact us.