Chiremundesden (Netherton with Biddlestone; Harbottle)
The present township of Peels seems to be a part of one of the ancient ten towns of Coquetdale called Shirmondesden, which is mentioned (various spellings) in all the surveys of the district down to 1604, but which has completely disappeared, both the name and site forgotten.
According to one conjecture the lost town of Shirmondesden consisted of that stretch of land lying to the north of Peels, towards Newtown, a woody tract, which includes Brown Rigg plantation. This plot of land slopes down to the Foxton burn, and in the plantation are seen large heaps of stones and debris; these, from their proximity to the stream, may be the remains of a mill, or the ruins of New Hall - another extinct place-name, which appears to have been at a later period mixed up with Shirmondesden. Several boundary stones are yet standing on the surrounding moor, having NH for New Hall on one side and E for Biddleston Edge on the other. The manor of Shirmondesden consisted of a village, two corn mills and 820 acres of land. (1)
NT 942043 Chirmundesden (= Peels). Another of the ten towns of Coquetdale. In the 1604 Survey it was noted as 'sometimes a township'. A migration to Newton nearby is suspected. The former site is now a 'woody tract'. (Nothing visible on available aerial photographs (RAF 1946)). (2)
The ground in and around Brown-Rigg Plantation, and Brownrigg Wood, 400m south of the Plantation, along the banks of the Foxton Burn, was fully perambulated. No traces of the stone and debris could be found in the Plantation, but 100m south of it, amidst rig and furrow ploughing is a small area of broken ground with fragmentary earthen banks, possibly of no great age. All the fields have at some time been under the plough, and are now pasture. (3)
c.NT 950064. Newhall deserted medieval village. Documentary references: 1323, 1369, 1724, 1769. Protruding stones suggestive of building remains, to the east of a small tributary of the main burn at NT 950064, have been recognised. This site would fit well with the 1632 plan of Newhall. (4)
Chirmundesdon NT 950063. Listed under 'Moated Sites in Northumberland'. (5)
According to one conjecture the lost town of Shirmondesden consisted of that stretch of land lying to the north of Peels, towards Newtown, a woody tract, which includes Brown Rigg plantation. This plot of land slopes down to the Foxton burn, and in the plantation are seen large heaps of stones and debris; these, from their proximity to the stream, may be the remains of a mill, or the ruins of New Hall - another extinct place-name, which appears to have been at a later period mixed up with Shirmondesden. Several boundary stones are yet standing on the surrounding moor, having NH for New Hall on one side and E for Biddleston Edge on the other. The manor of Shirmondesden consisted of a village, two corn mills and 820 acres of land. (1)
NT 942043 Chirmundesden (= Peels). Another of the ten towns of Coquetdale. In the 1604 Survey it was noted as 'sometimes a township'. A migration to Newton nearby is suspected. The former site is now a 'woody tract'. (Nothing visible on available aerial photographs (RAF 1946)). (2)
The ground in and around Brown-Rigg Plantation, and Brownrigg Wood, 400m south of the Plantation, along the banks of the Foxton Burn, was fully perambulated. No traces of the stone and debris could be found in the Plantation, but 100m south of it, amidst rig and furrow ploughing is a small area of broken ground with fragmentary earthen banks, possibly of no great age. All the fields have at some time been under the plough, and are now pasture. (3)
c.NT 950064. Newhall deserted medieval village. Documentary references: 1323, 1369, 1724, 1769. Protruding stones suggestive of building remains, to the east of a small tributary of the main burn at NT 950064, have been recognised. This site would fit well with the 1632 plan of Newhall. (4)
Chirmundesdon NT 950063. Listed under 'Moated Sites in Northumberland'. (5)
N1113
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1957; A S Phillips
HISTORIC AREA ASSESSMENT, Harbottle Village Atlas ; The Archaeological Practice Ltd
HISTORIC AREA ASSESSMENT, Harbottle Village Atlas ; The Archaeological Practice Ltd
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