Site record MDR2716 - Shrunken medieval village (remains of), Hulland

The earliest documented occupation of Hulland dates from 1086 when it is recorded in Domesday Book as 'Hoilant', meaning 'land by a hill-spur'. (1) A large deserted medieval settlement of outstanding visual quality and of linear-street form has been recorded in Hulland parish. A total of fourteen crofts have been recognised. (2) The earthwork and buried remains of the abandoned areas of Hulland medieval village, and parts of the open field system were scheduled in 2004. In 1086 there were 2 manors at Hoilant (Hulland) - one known as Hulland and the other as Hough. The remains of Hough manor are subject to a separate scheduling and lie to the north of Hulland Hollow Brook. The location of Hulland manor is not documented. The present monument is a series of well preserved earthworks lying between Fullwood Farm and The Green on the north side of the modern A517 road. The remains of dwellings and associated buildings lie in the eastern half of the monument where there are a series of earth covered banks, up to 1m in height, delineating a group of rectangular platforms. Two of the platforms are adjacent to the modern road but the remainder lie side by side at right-angles to the road along the eastern edge of a sunken track. The track runs north-south and is terraced into the valley side. At the southern end, the track intersects a second track that curves off to the east. The alignment of the track suggests it was originally a continuation of the street that runs through the currently occupied parts of Hulland. Three enclosures, aligned north-south, lie to the east of the building platforms and abut the eastern edge of the protected area but are set back from the modern road. The remains of part of the medieval open field system are visible as parts of at least two furlongs marked by headlands. The ridge and furrow stands to a height of c. 0.3m. In the field immediately east of Fulwood Farm, situated in the north-west corner of the protected area, is a large sub-rectangular enclosure defined on two sides by a ditch 8m wide and 1m deep. The enclosure measures 25m x 28m - the northern side of the ditch having been obscured by a field boundary and drainage ditch, and the western side by Fullwood Farm. The ground surface inside the enclosure is higher than that outside the ditch and retains slight earthworks in the form of banks and ditches. It is possible that these are the buried remains of building platforms but their precise layout is difficult to determine. The eastern arm of the enclosure ditch continues south for some 36m beyond the enclosure before turning west for another 30m where it is truncated by the modern farm track. This serves to create a second sub-rectangular enclosure. Inside there are also surface indications of earthworks. These enclosures are suggested to be the site of Hulland Manor. (3) 'Hoilant' is referred to in Domesday Book as an implied outlier of Ednaston. The combined population of the two places is only four families and the half church referred to must be a shared church with the vill adjoining Ednaston, namely Brailsford. Evidence on the ground for an abandoned village will therefore be the remains of a later settlement at Hulland. In the absence of any excavation of the site, we must look to documentary sources and these suggest a development at Hulland around the middle of the 13th century. The nearby moated site to the south [SMR 8401] may well be associated with this phase of settlement. (4)