Hollowell

An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 3, Archaeological Sites in North-West Northamptonshire. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1981.

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'Hollowell', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 3, Archaeological Sites in North-West Northamptonshire, (London, 1981) pp. 110-111. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/vol3/pp110-111 [accessed 19 March 2024]

In this section

39 HOLLOWELL

(OS 1: 10000 a SP 67 SE, b SP 66 NE, c SP 77 SW, d SP 76 NW)

The parish, which now covers about 750 hectares, has undergone considerable modern alteration. It is partly made up of two land units each of which was originally centred on a medieval settlement (Fig. 14). Most of the N. part was the land of the village of Hollowell in the medieval period, and this was once part of Guilsborough parish (NRO, Tithe Map of Hollowell, 1842). In the S. was the land of the hamlet of Teeton, once part of Ravensthorpe parish (NRO, Map of Teeton, 1831 and Tithe Map of Teeton, 1842). The N.W. part of the parish was also formerly part of Ravensthorpe though there was a small detached part of Hollowell within the latter parish. The present parish lies across the valley of two small S.E.-flowing streams which have cut deeply into the underlying Upper Lias Clay leaving high, flat-topped interfluves capped with Northampton Sand between 85 m. and 165 m. above OD. Little has been recorded in the parish, apart from the Roman sites (2–5) which were discovered by recent field-walking.

Prehistoric and Roman

a(1) Flint-working site (SP 681718), W. of the village, on Northampton Sand at 150 m. above OD. Large quantities of waste flakes have been found over an area of 3 hectares (inf. A. E. Brown).

ab(2) Iron Age and Roman settlement (centred SP 692700), around Teeton Grange, on Northampton Sand, at about 105 m. above OD. Roman pottery, including samian, has been found during field-walking in the two fields immediately N.W. and S.E. of the Grange. Subsequent work has revealed some Iron Age pottery in the same area (BNFAS, 4 (1970), 9; Northants. Archaeol., 10 (1975), 163; 12 (1977), 215). Air photographs (in NMR) indicate that the whole area around Teeton Grange has cropmarks on it. These are very indistinct and show no coherent features but cover an area of some 17 hectares.

a(3) Roman settlement (SP 689706), N. of Teeton Lodge, on Northampton Sand at 140 m. above OD. Large quantities of Roman pottery have been found over an area of 2 hectares (Northants. Archaeol., 12 (1977), 215).

a(4) Roman settlement (centred SP 695707), N. of Teeton Hall, on Northampton Sand at about 120 m. above OD. Roman pottery has been found over an area of about 1.5 hectares. Two sherds of early Saxon pottery are recorded from the site (Northants. Archaeol., 10 (1975), 163).

a(5) Roman settlement (SP 690717), S. of the village, on Northampton Sand at 125 m. above OD. Large quantities of Roman pottery have been found here in two marked concentrations a few metres apart (Northants. Archaeol., 12 (1977), 212). A thin scatter of Roman sherds has also been noted all over this part of the parish extending S. as far as (2) and (3).

Medieval and Later

a(6) Pillow mound (SP 69217065), lies W. of Teeton, on Northampton Sand at 130 m. above OD. It is rectangular, 12 m. by 9 m. and 1 m. high, orientated N.E.–S.W. and with a flat top. There is no trace of a ditch in the present arable land which surrounds it. It has been much disturbed by rabbits and no date or purpose can be assigned to it; it is not shown on the 1831 map of Teeton (NRO).

(7) Cultivation remains. Both Hollowell and Teeton had their own common field systems in medieval times. The common fields of Hollowell were enclosed by an Act of Parliament of 1774. Very little ridge-and-furrow survives on the ground or can be traced on air photographs, largely as a result of later cultivation and because Northampton Sand does not show clear cropmarks of former cultivation. To the S.E. of Hollowell village, on the sides of the clay-lined valley, is a broad area of ridge-and-furrow mainly running across the slopes in end-on furlongs, although where it is adapted to the occasional spurs the furlongs become interlocked (e.g. SP 696722). To the N. of the village, in the same valley, the sides of Hollowell Reservoir are edged with ridge-and-furrow. Elsewhere, on the Northampton Sand area, ridge-and-furrow has survived only in one field left as pasture after 19th-century stone-quarrying (SP 690710).

Fig. 84 Kelmarsh (3) Cropmarks

The common fields of Teeton were enclosed by private agreement in 1590. Ridge-and-furrow survives on the ground or can be traced on air photographs in a few places N.E. of the village (SP 698708) and along the S. boundary of the parish (SP 701702). The furlongs all run across the contours (RAF VAP CPE/UK/1994, 1370–3, 1464–8).