In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village ( DMV ) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages , typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks . If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convention is to regard the site as deserted; if there are more than three houses, it is regarded as a shrunken medieval village . There are estimated to be more than 3,000 DMVs in England alone.
31-578: West Tofts is a deserted medieval village in the civil parish of Lynford , within the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk , England. It is within the Stanford Training Area , an army training area. In 1931 the parish had a population of 332. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Lynford. St Mary's Church is a Grade I listed building with chancel and south chapel designed by A. W. N. Pugin c.1850 for
62-855: A "mansion house" (e.g., by the Revd. James Blair, Commissary in Virginia for the Bishop of London, 1689–1745, a term related to the word "manse" commonly used in the Church of Scotland and in Non-Conformist churches. H.G. Herklots, The Church of England and the American Episcopal Church). As the 16th century progressed and the Renaissance style slowly spread across Europe, the last vestiges of castle architecture and life changed;
93-583: A countryside estate in the U.S. was demolished in 1980, along with its extensive gardens, to make way for suburban developments. In Paris, London or Rome , many large mansions and palazzi built or remodeled during the era still survive. Grand Federal style mansions designed by Samuel McIntire inhabit an area that, in 2012, is the largest collection of 17th- and 18th-century structures in the United States of America. This district in Salem, Massachusetts ,
124-503: A function hall (named for Alexander Hamilton) and a church for the town's merchant class. McIntire also designed the former Salem Court House and Registry of Deeds. After 1793, Samuel McIntire worked exclusively in the architectural style developed by Robert Adam in Great Britain and brought to America by the great Boston architect, Charles Bulfinch. The delicate Adam style , which emphasized decorative elements and ornamentation,
155-436: A long period, from as early as Anglo-Saxon times to as late as the 1960s, due to numerous different causes. Over the centuries, settlements have been deserted as a result of natural events, such as rivers changing course or silting up , flooding (especially during the wet 13th and 14th centuries) as well as coastal and estuarine erosion or being overwhelmed by windblown sand. Many were thought to have been abandoned due to
186-704: A number of homes for Derby and members of his extended family. McIntire also worked occasionally on Derby's vessels, and would fix a wagon or build a birdhouse if his patron desired. Hamilton Hall is a National Historic Landmark at 9 Chestnut Street in Salem, Massachusetts . Hamilton Hall was built in 1805 by Samuel McIntire and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. "King" Derby's stamp of approval opened many other doors for McIntire, who went on to design and build mansions for John Gardner, Jerethmiel Peirce, Simon Forrester, and other wealthy Salem shipowners. He also built on Chestnut Street
217-520: Is a copy of Wollaton Hall . Other mansions were built in the new and innovative styles of the new era such as the arts and crafts style: The Breakers is a pastiche of an Italian Renaissance palazzo ; Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire is a mixture of various French châteaux . One of the most enduring and most frequently copied styles for a mansion is the Palladian – particularly so in
248-455: Is a large dwelling house . The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word mansio "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb manere "to dwell". The English word manse originally defined a property large enough for the parish priest to maintain himself, but a mansion is no longer self-sustaining in this way (compare a Roman or medieval villa ). Manor comes from
279-549: Is an example of American Renaissance revivalism. During the 19th century, along with other streets in major cities, Fifth Avenue in New York City had many mansions. Many of these were designed by the leading architects of the day, often in European Gothic Revival style , and were built by families who were making their fortunes. However, nearly all of these have now been demolished. Whitemarsh Hall ,
310-720: Is at Wharram Percy in North Yorkshire , because of the extensive archaeological excavations conducted there between its discovery in 1948 and 1990. Its ruined church and its former fishpond are still visible. In Northamptonshire , around 100 villages can be classified as deserted: there are articles relating to many of them, such as Onley , Althorp , Canons Ashby , Church Charwelton and Coton along with Faxton , Glendon , Snorscombe , Wolfhampcote and Wythmail . Other examples are at Gainsthorpe and Burreth in Lincolnshire . Mansion A mansion
341-487: Is called the McIntire Historic District with the center being Chestnut Street. McIntire's training came from his father and from books. He and his brothers, Joseph and Angler, began their careers as housewrights and carpenters while in their teens but, early on, Samuel's work caught the eye of Salem's pre-eminent merchant, Elias Hasket Derby. Over the next quarter century, McIntire built or remodelled
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#1732787297690372-622: The Ancien Régime . Until World War I it was not unusual for a moderately sized mansion in England such as Cliveden to have an indoor staff of 20 and an outside staff of the same size, and in ducal mansions such as Chatsworth House the numbers could be far higher. In the great houses of Italy, the number of retainers was often even greater than in England; whole families plus extended relations would often inhabit warrens of rooms in basements and attics. Most European mansions were also
403-540: The Mediterranean old world, whereas where estates were founded in the sparsely populated remote areas like the Pampa of Argentina or Uruguay, where iron pillars, doors, windows, and furniture had to be brought from Europe by ship and afterwards ox cart, buildings were smaller, but normally still aspiring to evoke a stately impression, often featuring, like their earlier Italian counterparts, a morador . In Venezuela,
434-464: The 15th century onwards, a combination of politics and advances in weaponry negated the need for the aristocracy to live in fortified castles. As a result, many were transformed into mansions without defences or demolished and rebuilt in a more modern, undefended style. Due to intermarriage and primogeniture inheritance amongst the aristocracy, it became common for one noble to often own several country houses . These would be visited rotationally throughout
465-591: The 18th century. However, the Gothic style was probably the most popular choice of design in the 19th century. The most bizarre example of this was probably Fonthill Abbey which actually set out to imitate the mansions which had truly evolved from medieval Gothic abbeys following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. Mansions built during and after the 19th century were not supported by
496-516: The Rev. Augustus Sutton. The village was emparked in the 18th century. Records dating back to 1391 indicate human settlement at West Tofts. Earthworks at West Tofts indicate the presence of a former rectory or similar country house along with its gardens and parkland. Built before 1797, the West Tofts country house was constructed to replace Caston Hall . It subsequently became the rectory, but
527-466: The central points of these great houses became redundant as owners wished to live separately from their servants, and no longer ate with them in a Great hall. All evidence and odours of cooking and staff were banished from the principal parts of the house into distant wings, while the owners began to live in airy rooms, above the ground floor, with privacy from their servants, who were now confined, unless required, to their specifically delegated areas—often
558-698: The deaths of their inhabitants from the Black Death in the mid-14th century. While the plague must often have greatly hastened the population decline, which had already set in by the early 14th century in England because of soil exhaustion and disease, most DMVs actually seem to have become deserted during the 15th century. At this time, Inclosure Acts and other policies allowed land traditionally cultivated for cereals and vegetables to be transformed into pastures for sheep. The medieval ridge and furrow cultivation pattern remains evident in fields, even until today. This change of land use by landowners, which
589-509: The development of the modern mansion. In British English, a mansion block refers to a block of flats or apartments designed for the appearance of grandeur. In many parts of Asia, including Hong Kong and Japan, the word mansion also refers to a block of apartments. In modern Japan, a "manshon" ( Japanese : マンション ), stemming from the English word "mansion", is used to refer to a multi-unit apartment complex or condominium . In Europe, from
620-452: The ground and uppermost attic floors. This was a period of great social change, as the educated prided themselves on enlightenment. The uses of these edifices paralleled that of the Roman villas . It was vital for powerful people and families to keep in social contact with each other as they were the primary moulders of society. The rounds of visits and entertainments were an essential part of
651-575: The hub of vast estates . The 19th century saw the continuation of the building of mansions in the United States and Europe. These mansions were often smaller than those built by the old European aristocracy. The new builders of mansions at the time explored new styles other than the Gothic tastes in architecture which were used often. They experimented with 19th-century versions of older Renaissance and Tudoresque styles; The Breakers in Rhode Island
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#1732787297690682-655: The large estates of their predecessors. These new mansions were often built as the week-end retreats of businessmen who commuted to their offices by the new railways, which enabled them to leave the city more easily. In Latin America, the grand rural estate , the Hacienda , Estancia, in Portuguese speaking Brazil Fazenda or Estância, with the mansion as its stately center, is a characteristic feature. Mansions tended to follow European architectural styles . Whereas until
713-567: The parish are within a prohibited area owned and controlled by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Public access is not allowed without special permission from the Army. A 500,000-year-old stone hand axe which contains a Cretaceous bivalve mollusc , Spondylus spinosus fossil shell incorporated, was found here in 1911. It is now in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge . A camp
744-588: The same root—territorial holdings granted to a lord who would "remain" there. Following the fall of Rome, the practice of building unfortified villas ceased. Today, the oldest inhabited mansions around the world usually began their existence as fortified houses in the Middle Ages . As social conditions slowly changed and stabilised fortifications were able to be reduced, and over the centuries gave way to comfort. It became fashionable and possible for homes to be beautiful rather than grim and forbidding allowing for
775-419: The second half of the 19th century, Portugal and Spain as the colonial (or former colonial) powers were the eminent models for architecture and upper-class lifestyle, towards the end of the 19th century they were sometimes replaced by then more dominant powers like France or England. In comparably developed, densely populated countries like Mexico, feudal estates and their mansions were as grand and stately as in
806-463: The societal process, as described in the novels of Jane Austen . State business was often discussed and determined in informal settings. Times of revolution reversed this value. During July/August 1789, a significant number of French country mansions ( chateaux ) were destroyed by the rural population as part of the Great Fear —a symbolic rejection of the feudal rights and restraints in effect under
837-510: The year as their owner pursued the social and sporting circuit from country home to country home. Many owners of a country house would also own a town mansion in their country's capital city. These town mansions were referred to as 'houses' in London, ' hôtels particuliers ' in Paris, and 'palaces' in most European cities elsewhere. It might be noted that sometimes the house of a clergyman was called
868-642: Was demolished after the Second World War , though a wall dating from the 19th century, used as part of its vinery , is still standing. The village became officially deserted when it was taken over by the British Army in 1942 during the Second World War, becoming part of the much larger Stanford Battle Area , an infantry training area that is still in use. The area of the former village, now known as West Tofts Army Camp , and most of
899-614: Was known to exist at West Tofts before 1935 to house refugees from Belgium. In 1935, the Ministry of Labour , a department of the UK Government, started construction of a labour camp of Nissen huts to house unemployed workers from the north of England, at the same time becoming an army camp. Two Second World War-era air raid shelters were also constructed. [REDACTED] Media related to West Tofts at Wikimedia Commons Deserted medieval village Not all sites are medieval: villages reduced in size or disappeared over
930-588: Was preferred for McIntire, who was efficient in design and proportions and had skill as a woodcarver. Swags, rosettes, garlands, and his signature sheaths of wheat were carved in wood surfaces in McIntire homes built between 1793 and his death in 1811. In Europe, some 19th-century mansions were often built as replicas of older houses; the Château de Ferrières in France was inspired by Mentmore Towers , which in turn
961-410: Was to take advantage of the profitable wool trade, led to hundreds of villages being deserted. Later, the aristocratic fashion for grand country mansions , parks and landscaped gardens led to whole villages being moved or destroyed to enable lords of the manor to participate in this trend: a process often called emparkment or enclosure . Perhaps the best-known deserted medieval village in England