Monument record 0160700000 - S OF MANOR HOUSE

Dimensions - Length 0090 m Width 0065
Plan Form - SQUARE
EARTHWORK, ROUGHLY SQUARE AND BANKED (B1).
1795 PADBURY INCLOSURE MAP SHOWS A NUMBER OF HOUSE SITES & CLOSES IN AREA OF EARTHWORK, ABUTTING ROAD BEFORE ITS STRAIGHTENING BY THE WENDOVER-BUCKINGHAM TURNPIKE TRUST IN THE EARLY C19. IT IS POSSIBLE EARTHWORK REPRESENTS 1 OR MORE HOUSE SITES OR MAY REPRESET REMAINS OF A GARDEN FEATURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANOR HOUSE [SEE CASS 02906](B2).
Enclosure probably shown as a close containg the parsonage in All Souls College estate map of 1591. 1795 Inclosure maps appear to show enclosure as a close with smaller farm buildings replacing the earlier building; some if not all the buildings were replaced by the late 19th century as indicated by OS mapping, and the southern part of the close is shown as an orchard. Earthwork survey carried out in April 2007 by Souterrain Archaeological Services recorded a fairly level platform defined on its SE and NE sides by a broad ditch 13.5m wide and 1m deep, a possible bank 4m wide and a second narrower ditch 5m wide and 0.5m deep. The earthworks are cut at their western end by a modern drainage ditch, partly culverted. A number of possible tree-holes survive within the broad ditch and on the platform. See report for detail (B3).
Evaluation trial trenching carried out by Northants Archaeology in August 2008 confirmed that the existing farmyard area had undergone considerable truncation and levelling in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the only features identified were modern drains and modern postholes representing a fence-line (Trenches 1 and 2). Further S an undated shallow oval pit 0.3m X 1.8m and 0.28m deep, and 3 undated parallel shallow ditches or gullies aligned NE-SW and interpreted as a possible plough furrow 0.82m wide and 0.3m deep, a step-sided drainage or boundary ditch 2.3m wide and 0.4m deep, and a rounded based ditch 1.88m wide and 0.66m deep, were idenfied underlying the bank and ditch earthworks defining the southern limits of the platform (Trench 3). It is suggested that the platform earthworks post-date the ridge and furrow earthworks. See report for detail (B4).

A double bank and ditch of medieval date are visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as extant earthworks and was mapped as part of the North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18304). Located to the south of the Manor Farm, Padbury, and centred at SP 72147 30750. The aerial photographs are not very clear because of the direction of the shadows but the lidar visualisations are very clear. The two banks are approximately 8m in width, and look to be more than 1m high from Google Streetview. The northern ditch is approximately 5m wide and the southern is approximately 2m wide; they measure approximately 75m in length. The 1591 map appears to show a parsonage on this site but the label is not clear. (5-9)