Monument record 0032601000 - MORETON FARM deserted settlement

Summary

Deserted settlement wth streets, house platforms and surrounded by ridge and furrow recorded in site visit and aerial photography

Protected Status/Designation

  • Scheduled Monument 1017454: SITE OF THE MEDIEVAL VILLAGE OF MORETON (DBC7120)
  • SHINE: Mill House Farm medieval deserted village earthworks and moated site (DBC7505)

Map

Type and Period (1)

  • DESERTED SETTLEMENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Description

INCLUDED IN LIST OF BUCKS DMV'S (B6).
EXCELLENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL INFORMATION BUT LITTLE HISTORICAL. SURROUNDED BY EXTENSIVE RIDGE & FURROW (B7).
VERY GOOD STATE OF PRESERVATION: OVER 1M HIGH IN PLACES. LARGE DMV WITH STREETS, PLATFORMS & RIDGE & FURROW. SCHEDULED (B8).
Watching brief carried out by John Moore Heritage Services in March 2011 during groundworks for construction of a new manege identified an undated ditch aligned NE-SW and at least 12m long and 3m wide with post-medieval to modern pottery and brick in the upper fill. Most of the groundworks were restricted to the subsoil layer and natural was only reached in the NE corner of the site. See report for details (B12).

A deserted settlement of medieval/post medieval date is visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as extant earthworks and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located at Moreton Farm, Dinton with Ford and Upton, and centred at SP 79019 09748. A deserted settlement is visible as an area of linear earthworks on the south side of a brook where the land rises gently towards the south. Ridge and furrow field systems with furlong boundaries can be seen around the settlement and there is a moated site is at the southern end of the area. The land falls approximately 5m from the site of the moat to the brook, approximately 500m to the north. The earthworks appear to be of roads and trackways through the settlement, with plot boundaries forming small subrectangular plots along their length. Platforms of probable former buildings, including a possible mill mound, can be seen in between the linear earthworks. Post medieval coprolite workings are also recorded at the southern end of the site which may have obscured further remains of the settlement. The underlying solid geology of Gault Formation Mudstone has given rise to soils with impeded drainage and some of the features visible on lidar visualisation may have been enhanced or distorted by this; for example, taller, but lower, vegetation growing higher in ditches, where water is more available, and appearing as ridges. The moat measures approximately 100m from north to south but the shape is not clear in that it may have been a complete sub oval shape or it may only have been a subrectangular moat at the southern end of the oval enclosure. In the 1940s the house is visible standing inside the moat and can be seen on Ordnance Survey Epoch 1 but is no longer standing by 2003. (16-25)

Sources (25)

  • <1>SBC18875 Aerial Photograph: 04/02/48. RAF 348.4078. SP\789098. Yes.
  • <2>SBC17896 Aerial Photograph: 27/04/54. CUC NY 61. SP\791099. Yes.
  • <3>SBC18876 Aerial Photograph: 04/02/48. RAF 348.4079. SP\796099. Yes.
  • <4>SBC17913 Aerial Photograph: 08/04/56. CUC SG 88. SP\790095. Yes.
  • <5>SBC17895 Aerial Photograph: 27/04/54. CUC NY 60. SP\790098. Yes.
  • <6>SBC1647 Bibliographic reference: BERESFORD M W 1953 NOTES ON BUCKS DMV'S(IN CAS FIL E 0000);BERESFORD M W & HURST J G 1971 DESERTED M.
  • <7>SBC11368 Unpublished document: Ordnance Survey Field Investigator. OS RECORD CARDS (FILED).
  • <8>SBC14039 Scheduling record: English Heritage. 1997. SCHEDULING LISTS OF INSPECTORATE OF ANCIENT MONUMENTS.
  • <9>SBC17914 Aerial Photograph: 08/04/56. CUC SG 89. SP\791096. Yes.
  • <10>SBC17915 Aerial Photograph: 08/04/56. CUC SG 90. SP\790094. Yes.
  • <11>SBC17264 Aerial Photograph: 01/07/75. BCM A1/3/14A. SP\791099. Yes.
  • <12>SBC23900 Unpublished document: John Moore Heritage Services. 2011. An Archaeological Watching Brief at Moreton Barn, Water Lane, Ford.
  • <13>SBC17261 Aerial Photograph: 01/07/75. BCM A1/3/1-2. SP\791098. Yes.
  • <14>SBC17339 Aerial Photograph: 15/07/86. BCM A11/3/17. SP\792097. Yes.
  • <15>SBC20704 Aerial Photograph: Michael Farley. 2001. 2001 oblique AP by Mike Farley. SP79200985. Yes.
  • <16>SBC27864 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 1947. RAF/CPE/UK/2097 RP 3007 28-May-1947.
  • <17>SBC28162 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 1954. CAP 8162_061 27-Apr-1954.
  • <18>SBC28163 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 1954. CAP 8162_063 27-Apr-1954.
  • <19>SBC28164 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 1956. CAP 8338_088 08-Apr-1956 (SG).
  • <20>SBC28165 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 1971. OS-71344 V 581 15-Jul-1971.
  • <21>SBC28166 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2003. NMR 21951_014 17-Feb-2003.
  • <22>SBC28167 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2003. NMR 21999-011 17-Feb-2003.
  • <23>SBC28168 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2003. NMR 21999-013 17-Feb-2003.
  • <24>SBC25062 Digital archive: Environment Agency. Environment Agency LiDAR data. LIDAR SP7809 Environment Agency 1m DTM Composite 2020 date accessed 09-Mar-2023.
  • <25>SBC25062 Digital archive: Environment Agency. Environment Agency LiDAR data. LIDAR SP7909 Environment Agency 1m DTM Composite 2020 date accessed 09-Mar-2023.

Location

Grid reference Centred SP 79043 09766 (323m by 642m) (2 map features)
Civil Parish DINTON-WITH-FORD AND UPTON, Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (2)

Related Events/Activities (4)

  • Event - Survey: (EBC14169)
  • Event - Survey: Aerial investigation and mapping project (Ref: 9179) (EBC18604)
  • Event - Survey: Site visit by EH Field Monument Warden (EBC13831)
  • Event - Intervention: Watching brief (Ref: DFMB 11) (EBC17398)

Record last edited

Sep 10 2025 5:18PM

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