Exploring Kent's Past

It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

Summary

The dispersed remains of a medieval settlement dating from between the 11th to early 14th century. The site is close to the Church of St. Cosmus and St. Damian (TR 16 SW1) and partly on the site of an earlier Romano-British villa site.

Monument Types

• DESERTED SETTLEMENT (DESERTED VILLAGE, Medieval - 1066 AD (at some time) to 1425 AD? (at some time))
• MANOR HOUSE (Medieval - 1066 AD? (at some time) to 1425 AD? (at some time))

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

TR128606 Remains of the Deserted Medieval Village of St Cosmus and St Damian in the Blean. (1)

The dispersed medieval settlement survives in the form of earthworks and associated buried remains. The earthworks survive to a height of up to 0.5m and represent three adjoining north west-south east aligned rectangular enclosures identified as a manor house complex and two associated contemporary dwellings. Part of a roughly north-south aligned track runs along the eastern side of the monument. Documentary evidence, including an entry in the Domesday Book, suggests that the settlement was in existance by the 11th century. Analysis of pottery fragments found within the settlement suggests that it had fallen out of use by the early 15th century. Immediately beyond the monument to the north east is the associated parish church of St Cosmus and St Damian, Listed Grade II (TR 16 SW 1) the standing fabric of which dates mainly to the 13th century. The church and its churchyard, both remain in use, are not included in the scheduling.(2)

From the National Heritage List for England:

The monument includes the remains of a dispersed medieval settlement and an earlier Roman building situated on the southern slope of a clay hill around 7km north west of Canterbury. The dispersed medieval settlement survives in the form of earthworks and associated buried remains. The earthworks survive to a height of up to around 0.5m and represent three adjoining north west-south east aligned rectangular enclosures identified as a manor house complex and two associated, contemporary dwellings. Part of a roughly north-south aligned track runs along the eastern side of the monument. Documentary evidence, including an entry in the Domesday Book, suggests that the settlement was in existence by the 11th century. Analysis of pottery fragments found within the settlement suggests that it had fallen into disuse by the early 15th century. Immediately beyond the monument to the north east is the associated parish church of St Cosmus and St Damian, Listed Grade II, the standing fabric of which dates mainly to the 13th century. The church and its churchyard, both of which remain in use, are not included in the scheduling. Three telegraph poles situated on the monument are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

Medieval rural settlements in England were marked by great regional diversity in form, size and type, and the protection of their archaeological remains needs to take these differences into account. To do this, England has been divided into three broad Provinces on the basis of each area's distinctive mixture of nucleated and dispersed settlements. These can be further divided into sub-Provinces and local regions, possessing characteristics which have gradually evolved during the last 1500 years or more. This monument lies in the Eastern Weald sub-Province of the South-eastern Province, bounded by the North and South Downs and comprising an oval arrangement of inward facing escarpments of chalk and sandstone, separated by clay vales, all ringing a higher sandstone ridge. Apart from concentrations of nucleated settlements in the Vale of Holmsdale and around Canterbury, the sub- Province is dominated by high and very high densities of dispersed settlements, giving a countryside with farmsteads and associated enclosed fields, of medieval foundation, intermixed with cottages, medieval moated sites and hamlets bearing the names `green' or `dene'. The Canterbury-Thanet local region contains the regional centre of Canterbury, on which converges routes from Dover and former ports such as Richborough and Reculver. It is a long cleared and anciently settled countryside, lacking scattered farmsteads and with villages clustered as densely as in the Midlands. It has probably been a zone of arable cultivation for several millennia.

Medieval dispersed settlements, comprising hamlets of up to five dwellings or isolated farmsteads, were scattered throughout the parish or township. Often occurring in the more densely wooded, less intensively farmed areas, the form and status of dispersed settlements varied enormously. When they survive as earthworks, their most easily distinguishable features include roads and tracks, platforms on which stood houses and other buildings such as barns, and the enclosed fields or irregular field systems with which the dwellings were associated. These rural settlements can also be represented by below ground deposits. Higher status dwellings, such as moated residences or manorial complexes, may have well-defined boundaries and planned gardens. In the western and south eastern provinces of England, dispersed settlements were the most distinctive aspect of medieval life, and their archaeological remains are one of the most important sources of understanding about rural life in the five or more centuries following the Norman conquest.

The medieval settlement remains at St Cosmus and St Damian in the Blean represent the predominant, dispersed form of medieval rural settlement within the Eastern Weald sub-province. The settlement remains survive well, in association with an adjacent, contemporary church and an earlier Roman building, retaining visible earthworks. Field survey indicates that the monument will contain important archaeological and environmental evidence for the development and abandonment of the medieval settlement and the earlier Roman building. (3)

<1> Med Vill Res Grp 25 1977 9-10 (T Tatton-Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE46825.

<2> English Heritage, 1999, Dispersed medieval settlement remains and a Roman building immediately south westy of St. Cosmus and St. Damian's Church (Scheduling record). SKE11842.

<3> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

Sources and further reading

Related records