NHER 11956 (Monument record) - Choseley deserted medieval village

Earthworks of deserted village, possibly with site of church.
See notes in file, and discussions in files for NHER 1323 and NHER 21554.
E. Rose (NAU), 19 November 1990.

August 1999. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of topsoil stripping for new driveway at Choseley Manor.
No archaeological remains identified.
See report (S1) for further details.
C. F. Meckseper, (NAU) 22 May 2000.

2001. Desk Based Assessment.
Assessment of proposed Manor Farm Wind Cluster site.
See report (S5) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 11 March 2015.

August 2002. Norfolk NMP.
(Site extended; see hard copy NHER map for original extent).
To the southwest of Choseley farm there are a series of relatively amorphous cropmarks (S2). Each short, individual element is aligned in an approximately east to west alignment, forming a north to south aligned ladder type arrangement of features (TF 7535 4076 to TF 7547 4060), with a length of 200m. There are six darker amorphous and dog legged shaped features, which have individual east to west lengths of up to 45m, and are spaced from 10m to 30m apart. The northern four darker areas appear to have lighter parched areas between them. These features may be exaggerated by the underlying natural geology, but it is possible that they represent a line of extraction pits of small quarries, following a seam of nice material. Although on the site of a reputed deserted medieval settlement it seems less likely that these features represent building platforms or tofts. To the immediate west are two north to south aligned linear features which are probably ditches. To the west is a relatively extensive, curvilinear feature (TF 7527 4072 to TF 7521 4028) with a minimum length of 470m. The feature curves round from the south towards the east, and the line of amorphous features. This feature is likely to be a glacial palaeochannel, but might represent a hollow way associated with the medieval settlement at Choseley.
To the southeast of Choseley Farm house are a series of linear earthworks (S3) possibly forming the western and northern sides of a square enclosure or platform (centre: TF 7551 4084). There is an irregular, dog legged bank running northwestwards from the northwest corner of the enclosure. The enclosure or ‘platform’ appears to be truncated by the road which might suggest it is some antiquity (S4). These may represent the remains of medieval earthworks but may equally be relatively recent garden features.
See also NHER 1591.
M. Brennand (NMP), 29 August 2002.

Report (S5) (2001) in file.

The church at Choseley is believed to be amongst properties granted to Nutley/Notley Abbey in Buckinghamshire by Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham, and his wife, Countess Ermengard [1]. This information comes from the 'The Lost Cartulary of Nutley Abbey' of 1162 (S6), which lists "...ecclesiam de Cheselay cum suis pertinentiis et decimas de marisco..." amongst the grants to this Augustinian abbey (indicating the grant also included the marshland tithes of Choseley). The transcription of the cartulary suggests that other Norfolk grants included churches at Banham and Wilby ("…ecclesiam de Banham, ecclesiam de Weliby…") and Sheringham ("…ecclesiam de Syringsham").
P. Watkins (HES), 23 November 2023.