Withybrook Shrunken Medieval Settlement

1 Withybrook has shrunk and expanded at intervals, earthworks mirroring its fluctuations in prosperity and changing farming techniques. It is not recorded until the 12th century. By 1327 it had grown larger than Hopsford. The fields around the church are seamed with ditches marking former hedgerows.
2 Abandoned crofts and house platforms were surveyed.
3 Plan.
4 OS Card.
5 Air photograph.
6 The excavation of a two trial trenches, at Hilltop Cottage, Withybrook (SP43398449), recorded the remains of a possible farmstead. These remains were found in association with 13th-15th century pottery and included a possible farmyard surface, terracing and a possible structure or fence line. This occupation appeared to have ceased in the late medieval/early post-medieval period until the area was built on in the 19th century.