Onley (lost settlement)

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Deserted Village of Onley
Lost settlement
Onley - geograph.org.uk - 41021.jpg
Open farmland where once stood the village of Onley
Northamptonshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Deserted Village of Onley
Onley within Northamptonshire
Coordinates: 52°19′30″N1°15′30″W / 52.32500°N 1.25833°W / 52.32500; -1.25833 Coordinates: 52°19′30″N1°15′30″W / 52.32500°N 1.25833°W / 52.32500; -1.25833
Country England
District Daventry
Map Ref: SP511707

The lost village of Onley is in the parish of Barby in the English county of Northamptonshire. [1] The site is bordered on the north by the M45 motorway. On the east are Onley and Rye Hill prisons, and on the south-west is the A45 road. The Oxford Canal and the disused trackbed of the Great Central Railway run close to the eastern boundary.

Barby, Northamptonshire village in United Kingdom

Barby is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) north of Daventry in Northamptonshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 2,336. Barby is located right off the M45 motorway a short spur from the M1 motorway to the A45 Trunk Road.

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Northamptonshire County of England

Northamptonshire, archaically known as the County of Northampton, is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015 it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by Northamptonshire County Council and by seven non-metropolitan district councils. It is known as "The Rose of the Shires".

Contents

History

Onley was presumed to be included under entries for Barby in taxation records before 1272. [2]

The first known mention of Onley is in 1272, when it was recorded as being in the possession of George de Cantelupe along with the manor of Barby. The entry records that "Virgates [3] in villeinage [4] are valued at 9 shilling per annum".

Virgate English unit of land

The virgate, yardland, or yard of land was an English unit of land. Primarily a measure of tax assessment rather than area, the virgate was usually reckoned as ​1⁄4 hide and notionally equal to 30 acres. It was equivalent to two of the Danelaw's oxgangs.

Villein

A villein, otherwise known as cottar, crofter, is a serf tied to the land in the feudal system. Villeins had more rights and status than those in slavery, but were under a number of legal restrictions which differentiated them from the freeman.

Records in 1345 mention ‘Tenements in Onle’, [5] which may imply that at that time the village was still viable.

There is no further record of Onley until the early part of the 18th century, when the village was described as only a hamlet of seven shepherds' houses, which implies that the site had become pasture land for sheep.

Hamlet (place) small settlement in a rural area

A hamlet is a small human settlement. In different jurisdictions and geographies, hamlets may be the size of a town, village or parish, be considered a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. The word and concept of a hamlet have roots in the Anglo-Norman settlement of England, where the old French hamlet came to apply to small human settlements. In British geography, a hamlet is considered smaller than a village and distinctly without a church.

Records of 1841 show that 19 people lived on the site of Onley in five scattered farms which still exist on the land to this day.

Remains today

The earthwork remains of today lie either side of a stream that runs from south to west across the site with the north-eastern end of the stream now in a culvert. The whole area of the village site covers 28 hectares with much of the earthworks well preserved. There is some difficulty in interpreting some of the earthworks due to the site being over ploughed in narrow ridge and furrow which has smoothed and flattened some of the earthworks of the village. The features of this site combine to make Onley lost village one of the most important sites of this kind in the country, despite the lack of documentation. [6]

Earthworks (archaeology) General term to describe artificial changes in land level

In archaeology, earthworks are artificial changes in land level, typically made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features, or they can show features beneath the surface.

Stream A body of surface water flowing down a channel

A stream is a body of water with surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. The stream encompasses surface and groundwater fluxes that respond to geological, geomorphological, hydrological and biotic controls.

Culvert Structure that allows the passage of water or organisms under an obstruction

A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow under a road, railroad, trail, or similar obstruction from one side to the other side. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom, the word can also be used for a longer artificially buried watercourse.

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References

  1. ↑ ’OS’ Explorer Map, Rugby & Daventry 222, ISBN   978-0-319-23734-2
  2. ↑ An Inventory of Archaeological Sites in North West Northamptonshire, Page 12, 2nd paragraph. ISBN   0-11-700900-8
  3. ↑ The virgate was a unit in the assessment system in most of the counties of Wessex and western Mercia, one quarter of a hide or 30 fiscal acres.
  4. ↑ In economic terms, the villagers were indistinguishable from Freemen or freemen. They were the most substantial group among the unfree peasantry, possessing on average 30 acres (120,000 m2) of land and two plough oxen.
  5. ↑ An Inventory of Archaeological Sites in North West Northamptonshire, Page 12. ISBN   0-11-700900-8
  6. ↑ An Inventory of Archaeological Sites in North West Northamptonshire, Page 13, Statement of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments ISBN   0-11-700900-8
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