Kislingbury

36 KISLINGBURY

(OS 1:10000 ^a SP 65 NE, ^b SP 75 NW)

The modern parish covers only about 560 hectares, but until recently it included all the land to the E. of the village and S. of the R. Nene now in Upton parish. It is on almost flat ground, sloping very gently N., between 90 m. and 60 m. above OD and lies on Middle Lias Clay and Boulder Clay, except close to the R. Nene on the N. boundary where there are extensive spreads of glacial sands and gravels on which the village is situated.

Prehistoric and Roman

Roman and possibly Iron Age sherds have been found in the S.E. of the parish (SP 710577). No other details are known (BNFAS, 3 (1969), 14).

Medieval and Later

^a(1) Settlement Remains (SP 697594), formerly part of Kislingbury, lie on the E. side of Church Lane, S. of the church, on gravel at 66 m. above OD. Only two battered scarps and some disturbed ground indicate the sites of buildings which once lined the street at this point. The remains lie within the rather irregular W. part of the village, which consists of a single lane running N.-S. with the church at the N. end, and with another lane from the mill joining the first about halfway along. The E. part of the village, including the present High Street, is quite different and appears to be an almost exact rectangle of streets which on the N., W., and S. have never had buildings on their outer sides. It is possible that the W. half of the village is older, while the E. is a later, perhaps planned addition to it (NRO, Enclosure Map, 1779; RAF VAP CPE/ UK/1926, 4031–4).

(2) Cultivation Remains. The common fields of the parish were enclosed by an Act of Parliament of 1779. Ridge-and-furrow of these fields exists on the ground or can be traced on air photographs over most of the old parish, except along the edges of the R. Nene, and in a number of low-lying formerly marshy areas elsewhere (e.g. SP 690590, now obliterated by the M1 motorway, 703590 and 707579). The ridge-and-furrow is arranged in furlongs set end-on or at right angles to each other in a strikingly rectangular layout. On the flood plain of the R. Nene (at SP 705597, now in Upton parish) a slightly raised circular 'island' of alluvium only 100 m. across has slight ridge-and-furrow on it. This suggests that almost every available piece of land in the parish was cultivated at some time. (RAF VAP CPE/UK/1926, 4029–36; CPE/UK/1994, 1174– 6; F21 543/RAF/2409, 0138–42; F22 543/RAF/2409, 0138–43; 3G TUD/UK/118, 6028–31, 6050–5, 6112–4; FSL 6603, 2383– 5)