A nucleated village, or clustered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement pattern. It is one of the terms used by geographers and landscape historians to classify settlements. [1] It is most accurate with regard to planned settlements: its concept is one in which the houses, even most farmhouses within the entire associated area of land, such as a parish, cluster around a central church, which is perhaps close to the village green. Other possible focal points, depending on cultures and location, are a commercial square, circus, crescent, railway station, park or sports stadium.
A clustered settlement contrasts with these:
A sub-category of clustered settlement is a planned village or community, deliberately established by landowners or the stated and enforced planning policy of local authorities and central governments.
One of many examples of a nucleated village in England is Shapwick, Somerset. [lower-alpha 1]
Many nucleated villages originated in Anglo-Saxon England, but historian W. G. Hoskins discredits a previously held view that uniquely associated nucleated villages with that influx to England and their emergent society. [2]
In England, nucleated settlements prevail for example in central parts of the country away from the rockiest soil and steepest slopes where open field farming predominated. [3] In this landscape, the village was typically surrounded by two (or three) large fields in which villagers had individual strips – see open field system. Various explanations have been offered as to the reason for this form of settlement including the ethnic origin of the Anglo-Saxon settlers, density of population and the influence of local lords of the manor. Tom Williamson [lower-alpha 2] theorised in 2004 that the best explanation is the combination of soil quality and climate which leads to differences in agricultural techniques for exploiting local conditions. [4]
Planned settlements can be clearly distinguished from other communities in the late medieval period when landowners began to en masse allocate two rows of new houses set on equal-sized plots of land - burgage plots. At the opposite end of the burgage plot there is often a back lane which gives the original village a regular layout, right-angled development, which can often still be seen today in England. Planned villages were usually associated with markets, from which the landowner expected to make profits.
In central Europe, nucleated villages have also emerged from smaller settlements and many farmsteads (equivalent to many hamlets) grew in population to become larger settlements. These villages generally have an irregular shape but are roughly circularly grouped around a central place such as a church or a feature easy to defend.
As a modern example, many kibbutzim and moshavim, built from the start as planned settlements, follow the nucleated pattern. Strips of agricultural land often radiate directly outwards.
Over time, some of those grew into less regular forms; others, however, retain the clear nucleated structure to this day.
The open-field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each manor or village had two or three large fields, usually several hundred acres each, which were divided into many narrow strips of land. The strips or selions were cultivated by peasants, often called tenants or serfs. The holdings of a manor also included woodland and pasture areas for common usage and fields belonging to the lord of the manor and the religious authorities, usually Roman Catholics in medieval Western Europe. The farmers customarily lived in separate houses in a nucleated village with a much larger manor house and church nearby. The open-field system necessitated co-operation among the residents of the manor.
Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing. No universally accepted example survives above ground. Generally preferring not to settle within the old Roman cities, the Anglo-Saxons built small towns near their centres of agriculture, at fords in rivers or sited to serve as ports. In each town, a main hall was in the centre, provided with a central hearth.
The Forest of Arden is a former forest and culturally defined area located in the English West Midlands, that in antiquity and into the Early Modern Period included much of Warwickshire, and parts of Shropshire, Staffordshire, the West Midlands, and Worcestershire. It is associated with William Shakespeare as a territory of his youth, and the setting of some of his drama.
In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convention is to regard the site as deserted; if there are more than three houses, it is regarded as a shrunken medieval village. There are estimated to be more than 3,000 DMVs in England alone.
Burgage is a medieval land term used in Great Britain and Ireland, well established by the 13th century.
A sunken lane is a road or track that is significantly lower than the land on either side, not formed by the (recent) engineering of a road cutting but possibly of much greater age.
A dispersed settlement, also known as a scattered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world. Typically, there are a number of separate farmsteads scattered throughout the area. A dispersed settlement contrasts with a nucleated village. It can be known as main human settlements.
Landscape history is the study of the way in which humanity has changed the physical appearance of the environment – both present and past. It is sometimes referred to as landscape archaeology. It was first recognised as a separate area of study during the 20th century and uses evidence and approaches from other disciplines including archaeology, architecture, ecology, aerial photography, rephotography, local history and historical geography.
The study of field systems in landscape history is concerned with the size, shape and orientation of a number of fields. These are often adjacent, but may be separated by a later feature.
A strip parish is a parish with a narrow, elongated shape, formed typically during the Anglo-Saxon and early medieval period. The shape is influenced by landscape and political and economic factors. Evidence of such parishes can be found throughout England, although they seem to have been more common in a number of southern counties, particularly but not exclusively associated with locations including both lowland and upland landscapes or alternatively coastal communities.
A back lane is a roadway often found in a planned medieval village running parallel to the main street at the other end of burgage plots. There may be a back lane on each side of the main street which, together with the main street itself, provides a rectangular framework for the development of the village. Although the burgage plot was used for small-scale activities such as livestock or orchards, the back lane frequently divided the village from the main agricultural area such as the open fields.
Mucking is an archaeological site near the village of Mucking in southern Essex. The site contains remains dating from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages—a period of some 3,000 years—and the Bronze Age and Anglo-Saxon features are particularly notable.
The settlement of Great Britain by diverse Germanic peoples led to the development of a new Anglo-Saxon cultural identity and shared Germanic language, Old English, which was most closely related to Old Frisian on the other side of the North Sea. The first Germanic-speakers to settle permanently are likely to have been soldiers recruited by the Roman administration, possibly already in the fourth century or earlier. In the early fifth century, after the end of Roman rule in Britain and the breakdown of the Roman economy, larger numbers arrived and their impact upon local culture and politics increased.
An Anglo-Saxon multiple estate was a large landholding controlled from a central location with surrounding subsidiary settlements. These estates were present in the early Anglo-Saxon period, but fragmented into smaller units in the late Anglo-Saxon period. Despite some academic criticism, the concept has been widely used and a large number of possible examples have been proposed.
West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village is an archaeological site and an open-air museum located near to West Stow in Suffolk, eastern England. Evidence for intermittent human habitation at the site stretches from the Mesolithic through the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Romano-British period, but it is best known for the small village that existed on the site between the mid-5th century and the early 7th century CE, during the early Anglo-Saxon period. During this time, around 70 sunken-featured buildings were constructed on the site, along with 8 halls and a number of other features. Subsequently, abandoned, the area became farmland in the Late Medieval period.
The identification of Deserted Villages and Lost Places in Leicestershire owes much to the pioneering work of William George Hoskins during his time at the University of Leicester.
The Making of the English Landscape is a 1954 book by the English local historian William George Hoskins. The book is also the introductory volume in a series of the same name which deals with the English Landscape county by county.
Regiones or provinciae,(singular: provincia), also referred to by historians as small shires or early folk territories, were early territorial divisions of Anglo-Saxon England, referred to in sources such as Anglo-Saxon charters and the writings of Bede. They are likely to have originated in the years before 600, and most evidence for them occurs in sources from or about the 7th century.
The Brahhingas or Brahingas were a tribe or clan of Anglo-Saxon England whose territory was centred on the settlement of Braughing in modern-day Hertfordshire. The name of the tribe means "the people of Brahha", with Brahha likely to have been either a leader of the tribe or a real or mythical ancestor.
Asthall barrow is a high-status Anglo-Saxon burial mound from the seventh century AD. It is located in Asthall, Oxfordshire, and was excavated in 1923 and 1924.