Braunston Cleves or Fawcliff

The village of Braunston Cleves or Fawcliff formerly stood north of the village of Braunston in the English county of Northamptonshire at its border with Warwickshire. It has long been a "lost village", having no standing buildings, but its position and the topography of its street and houses can be traced from the irregularities of the ground where it formerly stood. It was on the southwest slope of Cleve's Hill within Braunston parish: it appears to have been occupied in late Anglo-Saxon and early post-Conquest times. Nothing is known of why the village was deserted but it had certainly been destroyed by the 18th century.

Further information: List of lost settlements in Northamptonshire

Braunston Cleves or Fawcliff
Lost Settlement
Cleve’s Hill, the site of Braunston Cleves also known as Fawcliff
Braunston Cleves or Fawcliff
Braunston Cleves or Fawcliff within Northamptonshire
Coordinates: 52°18′30″N 1°12′10″W
CountryEngland
StateNorthamptonshire
RegionEast Midlands
DistrictDaventry
MunicipalityBraunston
Map Ref: SP544682

History
The settlement stood in a valley below this hill

The history of this settlement is virtually unknown. It is thought that the settlement lay within the manor at Braunston which, at the time of the Domesday Survey (1086), belonged to Walter de Aincurt.[1] This passed to William Trussbutt (whose family held a barony seated in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire[2]), and was divided between his three daughters.[3]

Two other deserted village sites, named Braunstonbury and Wolfhampcote, exist within the immediate vicinity of Braunston, and were possibly part of the same manor. There is also an existing hamlet called Little Braunston.[4][5]

The settlement called Fawcliff[6] descended to Agatha Trussbutt, then wife of Hamo the grandson of Meinfelin (whose barony was seated at Wolverton, Buckinghamshire[7]).[8] After Hamo's death she remarried to William de Albini, who paid a fine to enjoy her lands, and she lived down to 1247.[9][10] She thus outlived her sister Hilary (died 1241), who gave her share of the manor (including at least part of Braunstonbury) to Lilleshall Abbey in Shropshire.

Remains today

The remains of the village can be found at the head of a small valley where there is a spring.

The village stood on the west bank of the water course. There is a series of depressions and platforms which were probably the sites of dwellings. Below the stream at the southern end of the site there are several ditched enclosures along which the stream flows today.[11]

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References
  1. W. Page (ed.), The Victoria History of the County of Northamptonshire, Vol. I (Archibald Constable & Co., 1902/University of London with IHR & Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1970), p. 340 (Internet Archive).
  2. I.J. Sanders, English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent, 1086-1327 (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1960), p. 56.
  3. 'Braunston', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Vol. 3: Archaeological Sites in North-West Northamptonshire (London 1981), pp. 21-25 (British History Online).
  4. An Inventory of Archaeological Sites in North West Northamptonshire, Page 22, Fig 27. ISBN 0-11-700900-8
  5. 'Wulfhampcote and Braunstonberry' in M.W. Beresford and J.K.S. St Joseph, Medieval England: An Aerial Survey, 2nd Edition (Cambridge University Press 1979), pp. 126-27 (Google).
  6. An Inventory of Archaeological Sites in North West Northamptonshire, Page 23. ISBN 0-11-700900-8
  7. See 'Parishes: Wolverton (Manor and barony)', in W. Page (ed.), A History of the County of Buckingham, Vol. 4 (London, 1927), pp. 505-09 (British History Online).
  8. G.R. Elvey (ed.), 'The Barony of Wolverton' in Luffield Priory Charters Vol. II, Buckinghamshire Record Society Vol. 18 (Buckingham and Northampton Record Societies/Broadwater Press 1975), in Introduction, pp. xxxix-xliv (Society pdf).
  9. '97. Inquisition post mortem: Agatha Trussebut', Calendar of Inquisitions post mortem, Vol. I: Henry III, 1236-1272 (HMSO 1904), p. 22 (Internet Archive).
  10. For the relationships, see T. Stapleton, Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae Sub Regibus Angliae (Society of Antiquaries, London 1844), II, in Preface, pp. lxxvi-viii (Google).
  11. An Inventory of Archaeological Sites in North West Northamptonshire, ISBN 0-11-700900-8
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