Croughton

17 CROUGHTON

(OS 1:10000 ^a SP 53 SW, ^b SP 53 SE, ^c SP 53 NW, ^d SP 53 NE)

The roughly rectangular parish lies in the S.W. of the county, with its S. boundary adjoining Oxfordshire. It covers 860 hectares, and the higher parts in the N. and S. are an almost level tableland of Oolite Limestone between 134 m. and 144 m. above OD. The down-cutting of three small W. and S.W.-flowing streams has exposed the underlying Northampton Sand which occupies most of the parish between 100 m. and 140 m. above OD.

Roman

Two late Roman pewter plates were discovered during ploughing in Croughton before 1975 (Plate 8; Northants. Archaeol., 11 (1976), 191; CBA Group 9, Newsletter, 6 (1976), 191; NM). Unspecified Roman finds were recorded from the parish in about 1879 (NM Records).

^a(1) Roman Settlement (?) (SP 538343), lies in the W. of the parish, N.W. of the village, on Northampton Sand at 115 m. above OD. Roman pottery, mainly late colour-coated wares, was found in 1947–8 (Oxoniensia, 13 (1948), 66) but no recent finds have been made. The settlement, if such it is, may be a continuation of the one to the W. in Aynho parish (Aynho (5)).

Medieval and Later

^a(2) Settlement Remains (SP 545335), formerly part of Croughton, lie on the S. side of the main village street, on sand at 114 m. above OD. A long narrow paddock immediately N.W. of the church extends S. from the street, bounded on its W. and S. sides by a low scarp up to 0.5 m. high presumably marking the original boundary of an abandoned garden. The site of the assumed former house at its N. end is occupied by a later quarry pit. Further S.E. and to the W. of the manor house (at SP 544334) is an enclosure bounded on the S. and W. by a low bank and external ditch. This appears to be the end of a close which once belonged to the existing buildings to the N. (RAF VAP CPE/UK/1929, 2173–4, 3173–4)

(3) Cultivation Remains. The common fields of Croughton were enclosed by an Act of Parliament of 1807. On the Draft Enclosure Map of 1807 (NRO) furlongs and strips are shown, and these agree exactly with the recoverable pattern of ridge-and-furrow. Very little ridge-and-furrow exists on the ground or can be traced on air photographs, as post-enclosure cultivation on the light soil of the parish has removed the ridges almost completely. Apart from indeterminate traces on air photographs of rectangular furlongs N.E. of the village (SP 547338), W. of the village (SP 558333) and in the S.W. of the parish (SP 539318), the only visible remains lie along the valley of the small brook N.W. of the village (SP 534336) and in an area of damp ground N. of The Moors (SP 551337). (RAF VAP CPE/UK/1929, 2173–7, 3172–7; 106G/UK/1488, 3226–30, 4264–8)