Overview

"I am: yet what I am none cares or knows,
My friends forsake me like a memory lost"

John Clare, I Am.

Torpel Manor Field is home to an important and visually impressive series of medieval and later earthworks, preserved by English heritage as a Scheduled Ancient monument. As such, the site is well-known locally, but little archaeological work has been undertaken, and its character, context and development are poorly understood. The aim of this project is to address this issue, and through a combination of non-invasive survey and archival work, characterise the social and physical landscape of the site, which lies in an area of considerable archaeological interest.

The field is reputedly the site of a ringwork castle or fortified manor, and is surrounded by earthworks that are indicative of further settlement and activity, probably in the post-conquest medieval period. There is an adjacent deerpark, and standing remains of what may well be an associated hunting lodge. Barnack features a medieval limestone quarry and seems to have been a major production centre for funerary monuments, and we believe there is also a church with possible Saxo-Norman fabric in Helpston. The site’s apparent lack of later development makes it a good candidate for investigation, and there is potential to consider activity throughout the medieval period, as well as before it.

More generally, the close study of a Midland fortified site in its landscape context is an extremely exciting opportunity. The site lies close to other villages of early foundation and significance, such as (i.a.) Stamford, Barnack, Maxey, and Peterborough. The site has the potential to illuminate wider considerations of settlement, trade, and elite power in the medieval period. Its situation on the edges of the ‘midland’ and ‘ancient’ zones of medieval agriculture makes it a particularly interesting site through which to examine the development of the landscape and field systems, and their relationship to the adjacent villages and castle/manor. 

Work undertaken to date has included earthwork survey and magnetometry, with targetted resistivity planned for 2014.  All work has been undertaken with the generous help and support of the Helpston area's local community, most notably Ms Frieda Gosing, the Torpel Historical Research Group, and the Langdyke Countryside Trust.  Funding has been provided by a grant awarded to the Langdyke Countryside Trust by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

External Site: click here for project updates and archive

People

Archaeological Research Team

University of York

• Dr Steve Ashby: Co-director
• Dr Aleks McClain, Co-director
• Dr Helen Goodchild, Geophysics
• Dr Hayley Saul, Geophysics

External Collaborators

• Bob Hatton (University College Peterborough), Fieldwork and volunteer leader
• Dr Michael Fradley, Topographic Survey
• Julie Cassidy, Finds Specialist
• Helen Fowler, PAS Finds Liaison Officer, Cambs

Student Involvement

• Robin van Splunder, MA 2011-12

Reports

Interim reports and updates

Lodged with English Heritage and the City of Peterborough HER, and to appear here in due course.  Notes have been placed in the newsletter of the Society for Medieval Archaeology.

Presentations

Presentations and Publications

Presentations made in Helpston in  December 2012 and 2013.  Powerpoints to appear here following publication of results.