The lost village of Canons Ashby is located in ground to the north of

Canons Ashby House Canons Ashby House is a Grade I listed Elizabethan manor house located in the village of Canons Ashby, about south of the town of Daventry in the county of Northamptonshire, England. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1981 when the h ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. Today there is still a small village around the house but this is located away from the original settlement, since the original settlement is now just field occupied by a herd of cows.
Ascebi is the name of the medieval village that is the lost settlement, Canons Ashby itself is currently not lost at all and people can easily find it on any map.

History

The lost village of Canons Ashby is listed in the Domesday book of 1086 with a recorded population of 16. In 1105 an

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

was founded here at the southern end of the village. The priory soon became the owner of most of the parish. In 1301, 18 residents had paid the Lay Subsidy, which was a tax based on the value of lands and possessions and was used to raise money for the Crown to facilitate such things as payment of military forces and building of ships. In 1316 the village has an entry in the

Nomina Villarum ''Nomina Villarum'' was a survey carried out in 1316 and contains a list of all cities, boroughs and townships in England and the Lords of them. The document was compiled for King Edward II. The survey was a feudal aid, a payment which by traditi ...

, which was a list made of all cities, boroughs and townships, and the lords of them, which was carried out for

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ...

. In 1343 there were 41 houses in the village. In 1377 the poll tax was paid by 82 people of the village. The prior of the nearby priory

enclosed Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

some land of the village depriving it of and destroying three houses. In 1492 the prior evicted another 24 people from their homes. By 1524 there were only 21 residents eligible for tax and by 1535 this number had dropped to nine. On the dissolution of the monasteries in 1537 the village and the priory came into the ownership of Sir Francis Bryon who in turn sold it to Sir John Cope a year later. This probably saw the demise of the village as Cope is recorded as having 2,000

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

upon the parish. The

Hearth Tax A hearth tax was a property tax in certain countries during the medieval and early modern period, levied on each hearth, thus by proxy on wealth. It was calculated based on the number of hearths, or fireplaces, within a municipal area and is ...

returns of 1674 show only five tax-payers in the parish.''An Inventory of Archaeological Sites in North-West Northamptonshire'', Hearth tax returns.

Remains today

The surviving earthworks on the site are in good condition and indicate the large size of this lost village. The original main street was on the line of the north-south running lane that still leads past Canons Ashby House. There are

hollow way A sunken lane (also hollow way or holloway) is a road or track that is significantly lower than the land on either side, not formed by the (recent) engineering of a road cutting but possibly of much greater age. Various mechanisms have been pro ...

s that cross the lane east to west indicating other village thoroughfares. To the east of this hollow way there are a series of embanked

paddock A paddock is a small enclosure for horses. In the United Kingdom, this term also applies to a field for a general automobile racing competition, particularly Formula 1. Description In Canada and the United States of America, a paddock is a small ...

s and platforms of former buildings. Over the whole of the site there are the same sort of features and with close scrutiny the format of the village can almost be made out. Over the years several sherds of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

pottery have been found, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries.

References

{{reflist Deserted medieval villages in Northamptonshire