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Morville,
Shropshire. The hall and the church |
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Morville church was originally a Saxon minster served by eight
canons. In the 1080s
Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury,
granted the church to his newly founded Benedictine
abbey of Shrewsbury.
Although the
priory at Morville
sometimes provided accommodation for the Bishop of Hereford on
his journeys round the diocese, the house never had more
than two or three monks. Sometimes there was only one monk,
although he would still be styled 'prior'.
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Morville
House is originally Elizabethan but was altered and enlarged
in the 18th century |
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The project included
a walk-over historic landscape survey of the estate and a brief
survey of all of the standing buildings, except for the hall
itself, and was undertaken during a number of site visits
between April and May 2006. The survey revealed 60 previously
unidentified sites and added significant detail to a further 17
records, including aspects of the evolution of the agricultural
buildings and almost certainly the original rear entrance to the
farm complex. |
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The maze at Morville |
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..and a Canada Goose |
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The historic landscape survey revealed a number of interesting
features including a relict field system and evidence of past
woodland industry. The survey has shown that the survival of
archaeological features is high, in particular in Aston Hill
Wood and the surrounding fields where a complex of tracks,
charcoal burning platforms and a possible saw pit were
identified. Furthermore a fragmentary field system, of medieval
or earlier date, was identified on the north-facing slope below
the woodland. Evidence of an iron working industry was also
revealed in a small woodland plantation to the north of the
estate which may be a continuation of an industry previously
identified at Aldenham Hall, approximately 1 kilometre to the
north of Morville.
an old trackway through the woods |
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another trackway |
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remains of a laid hedge,
now grown out |
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earthworks |
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a
medieval ridge and furrow field system above Morville |
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an old boundary bank |
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another part of the boundary |
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Reporting: |
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Unpublished
report -
Morville Hall, Morville, Shropshire: archaeological and
historic landscape survey - Huw Sherlock, 2006
This report is
available at the
Archaeological Data Service site
To view or download
the report
click here
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