Scheduled MonumentsEnglandSomerton village earthworks

Somerton village earthworks

England
List entry 1004826
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1004826
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
5.17 hectares
Grid reference
SP 49501 28667
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Somerton village earthworks is a scheduled ancient monument located in Oxfordshire that preserves evidence of medieval settlement patterns. The site comprises an array of ridge-and-furrow cultivation remains and associated settlement features that indicate occupation and land management practices from the medieval period. The earthworks demonstrate the physical layout of a nucleated village community, with visible traces of former property boundaries, house platforms, and the organisation of agricultural land characteristic of the High or Late Medieval period. These earthworks represent an important archaeological record of rural settlement development and village structure in the English Midlands region.

Somerton village earthworks is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1004826. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Somerton village earthworks?

Somerton village earthworks is a scheduled ancient monument located in Oxfordshire that preserves evidence of medieval settlement patterns.

Who is responsible for protecting Somerton village earthworks?

Somerton village earthworks is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1004826.

What other scheduled monuments are near Somerton village earthworks?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Somerton Manor House; earthworks and remains of hall (0.4 km), Turf Maze at Troy Farm (2.5 km), Tithe Barn (2.9 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Somerton village earthworks

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Somerton village earthworks's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Somerton village earthworks

Somerton village earthworks stands on Lias Group, bedrock that formed in the Aalenian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, limestone and sandstone.