Site record MDR14260 - Medieval park (site of), Marston Montgomery

There is much evidence in the field to suggest that there was an enclosed parcel of land surrounding the properties now called Marstonpark, Marston Lodge and Park Holme. A prominent, freestanding banks travels across the field to the north of Marston Park and connects with the parish boundary where this shows a kink. The parish boundary then joins the Norbury Road. It is suggested that the boundary of the park followed the road past Park Holme and then is marked by a long curving hedge-line which joins Marston Road below the present entrance to Marstonpark, now a farm. This would involve crossing the line of the Roman Road, which appears to cut across the bottom end of the park. A bank was noted at the side of the farm drive as well as another within the strip of woodland that meets this at the farm. It seems possible that there were originally joined to form a curved track that has been long ploughed out. The bank is very obvious again to the east of the farmhouse and buildings and lines up with the freestanding bank at the starting point, thus marking a roughly ovoid shape. Whether this plot originally extended to include Marston Lodge a few hundred yards to the east is unclear. This is joined to Marstonpark by a well-marked track, with stone slabs appearing on the surface in some places. The present Lodge stands within a moated site now only visible on two sides. In the field immediately to the north are a series of earthworks and hollow ways suggesting a shrunken or lost settlement. It is worth noting that both Marstonpark and Marston Lodge are timber-framed buildings, and a report compiled on Marston Lodge in 1991 stated that a likely use for it was as a hunting lodge, with a likely date range of 1564-1632. (1)