An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 4, Archaeological Sites in South-West Northamptonshire. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1982.
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'Adstone', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 4, Archaeological Sites in South-West Northamptonshire( London, 1982), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/vol4/p5 [accessed 23 November 2024].
'Adstone', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 4, Archaeological Sites in South-West Northamptonshire( London, 1982), British History Online, accessed November 23, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/vol4/p5.
"Adstone". An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 4, Archaeological Sites in South-West Northamptonshire. (London, 1982), , British History Online. Web. 23 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/vol4/p5.
In this section
2 ADSTONE
(OS 1:10000 a SP 55 SE, b SP 55 SW, c SP 54 NE)
The rectangular parish occupies only 574 hectares on a spur projecting S. between two S.S.E.-flowing streams. Much of the higher ground, rising to a maximum height of 173 m. above OD, is covered by Boulder Clay, but there are patches of Northampton Sand where the land falls into the valleys and expanses of glacial sands and gravels alongside the stream in the N.E.
No prehistoric or Roman remains have been found in the parish but the settlement remains (1) of the medieval village are of interest.
Medieval and Later
a(1) Settlement Remains (SP 595515), formerly part of Adstone, lie in and around the village, on Boulder Clay and Northampton Sand, between 150 m. and 170 m. above OD. The village is small and stands at the junction of a number of roads which meet at a triangular green. The latter may once have been much larger, perhaps extending further S.E., although there is no proof of this. The parish church would then have stood in the S. corner of the green.
On the S.W. side of the village, alongside the road to Blakesley, is an area of earthworks covering some 3 hectares, but most of these remains have been dug into by large quarries and it is difficult to interpret what now exists. There are probable house-sites in the form of roughly rectangular sunken areas 10 m. by 6 m., with closes bounded by low banks and ditches extending up the slope behind them. There is also a short length of hollow-way running W. at the S. end. At the N.E. end of the village, further closes lie on the N. side of the Maidford Road but these too have later quarries cut through them. To the E. of the village are other abandoned closes. (RAF VAP CPE/UK/1994, 4093–4; CPE/UK/1926, 3053–4; air photographs in NMR)
(2) Cultivation Remains. The date of the enclosure of the common fields of Adstone is unknown, but was probably earlier than the late 18th century; a map of 1780 (NRO) covering only a small group of fields in the N. of the parish suggests this.
Ridge-and-furrow of these fields exists on the ground or can be traced on air photographs over much of the parish, arranged in end-on and interlocked furlongs of normal medieval forms, usually with reversed-S curves. (RAF VAP CPE/UK/1926, 1051–5, 3051–7; CPE/UK/1994, 4093– 5, 4163–5)