Salford Priors Medieval Settlement

Description of this historic site

The possible extent of the Medieval settlement at Salford Priors as suggested by the Ordnance Survey map of 1886 and from ridge and furrow earthworks visible on aerial photographs.

Notes about this historic site

1 The possible extent of the Medieval settlement, based on the first edition 6″ map of 1886, 43SW.
2 The ridge and furrow plotting of the parish.
3 Salford Priors is listed in Domesday in Ferncombe Hundred. The Phillimore edition gives a grid reference of 07,51.
Ref 43,1 The nun Leofera holds Salford (Priors) from the King in alms. 3 hides. Land for 10 ploughs. In lordship 2; 7 slaves; 8 villagers and 8 smallholders with a priest who have 8 ploughs. A mill at 5s; meadow, 12 acres; woodland 2 furlongs long and 1/2 furlong wide. The value was 40s; now £6. Godiva, Earl Leofric’s wife, held it.
4 The 1886 map shows a small village with a predominance of orchards in the fields behind the buildings. There’s no sign of a boundary hedge. The ridge and furrow plotting of the parish shows very limited survival; a small area west of the vicarage, a larger area north of the station and a detached area to the west of the River Arrow. The church [WA1516] dates from the C12th, WA8645 is the site of an early medieval crossing for the saltway, and WA1493 is the site of medieval activity. Domesday indicated a middle sized settlement, so it seems likely that there has been shrinkage.

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