Styford (Bywell)
NZ 020620 Lay Subsidy of 1334: 13 shillings. Possibly depopulated by flood of 1771? (1)
No traces of the demesne house, hall or tower which the Lords of the fee, in all probability, possessed. A chapel is known to have existed at Styford as early as 1262 (a). The present house is a plain three-storey 18th century building. (2)(3)
Mrs Dickenson, present owner of Styford Hall, has no knowledge of the depopulated village nor of its site. A perambulation of the area revealed no traces of antiquity. There is no local knowledge of the chapel. (4)
No further information. There are no visible traces of this village on available aerial photographs (RAF 1946). (5)
The vill of Styford was the centre of the barony of Bolbec. No smallholdings were specified in the 1296 Lay Subsidy. An indication of the size of the population is given in the Poll Tax of 1377, when 22 adults were recorded. The assessment may have included Styford's dependent hamlets. In the previous 30 years the township had been destroyed by the Scots and visited by plague, it is possible that there had been a substantial decline in population since the end of the 13th century.
The medieval settlement seems to have comprised only demesne labourers who were absent from most documentation. The estate was still a demesne in 1608, but was leased to one tenant. Styford did not appear in the 1666 Hearth Tax. A plan of 1708 indicates the hall, with three or four cottages to the south east. The Military Road Map of 1749 shows two rows of houses running north-south between the hall and the Tyne ford. It is possible the village shown on the Military Road map was a resettlement of the 18th century.
The area was emparked by 1816. No earthworks visible on aerial photographs the medieval settlement may have been near the motte and bailey (NZ 06 SW 5). (6)
NZ 018621. Styford deserted medieval village. (7)
This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 January 2021 licensed under the Open Government Licence [www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/]
No traces of the demesne house, hall or tower which the Lords of the fee, in all probability, possessed. A chapel is known to have existed at Styford as early as 1262 (a). The present house is a plain three-storey 18th century building. (2)(3)
Mrs Dickenson, present owner of Styford Hall, has no knowledge of the depopulated village nor of its site. A perambulation of the area revealed no traces of antiquity. There is no local knowledge of the chapel. (4)
No further information. There are no visible traces of this village on available aerial photographs (RAF 1946). (5)
The vill of Styford was the centre of the barony of Bolbec. No smallholdings were specified in the 1296 Lay Subsidy. An indication of the size of the population is given in the Poll Tax of 1377, when 22 adults were recorded. The assessment may have included Styford's dependent hamlets. In the previous 30 years the township had been destroyed by the Scots and visited by plague, it is possible that there had been a substantial decline in population since the end of the 13th century.
The medieval settlement seems to have comprised only demesne labourers who were absent from most documentation. The estate was still a demesne in 1608, but was leased to one tenant. Styford did not appear in the 1666 Hearth Tax. A plan of 1708 indicates the hall, with three or four cottages to the south east. The Military Road Map of 1749 shows two rows of houses running north-south between the hall and the Tyne ford. It is possible the village shown on the Military Road map was a resettlement of the 18th century.
The area was emparked by 1816. No earthworks visible on aerial photographs the medieval settlement may have been near the motte and bailey (NZ 06 SW 5). (6)
NZ 018621. Styford deserted medieval village. (7)
This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 January 2021 licensed under the Open Government Licence [www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/]
N10068
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1956; A S Phillips
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1966; R W Emsley
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1966; R W Emsley
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