Clopton is a

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the conve ...

(DMV), about south west of the village of

Croydon, Cambridgeshire Croydon is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire, England. It is south-west of Cambridge and immediately west of the A1198 road (the Roman Empire, Roman Ermine Street). The ...

, that once stood on a prominent ridge from which it gained its name. Its history reaches back to the Roman occupation, and an Anglo-Saxon village, covering approximately was established by the 10th century. The village is referenced in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, when 18 peasants were noted as inhabiting it. A Friday market was granted in 1292 to Robert Hoo, Lord of Clopton. The place-name 'Clopton' is first attested circa 1080 in the ''Inquisitio Comitatus Cantabrigiensis'', where it appears as ''Cloptona''. It appears as ''Cloptune'' in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means 'town or settlement on a hill'. It is believed that the village was deserted in the early 16th Century between 1500 and 1518 after John Fisher, a London lawyer, had purchased the land from the Clopton family in 1489. He then evicted the villagers to create

enclosure 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 traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

s. Archaeologists have located the site for the parish church of

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, two moated sites, and a probable mill. The church is recorded in poor repair by 1561, which is when it appears that Clopton became amalgamated with neighbouring

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

to its east. The church was subsequently demolished and turned over to agriculture by 1660. The site is now a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

and consists of earthworks.''Deserted Medieval Village - Clopton'' Cambridgeshire County Council

References

Deserted medieval villages in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District {{Cambridgeshire-geo-stub