Wharram Percy a deserted medieval village

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Wharram Percy a deserted medieval village

• By Aidan Hardy

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Behind me is the main street into the village.
This was a busy street where people would try to
sell you their goods.
Hello, I am Sir Chamberlain a previous owner of
this village
I will be your guide for today
The medieval village of WHARRAM PERCY
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Wharram Percy was first built in the 10th Century
AD and was finally deserted in the 1500s when
the Lord (Baron Hilton) evicted the last four
families.
There is reckoned to be around 3000 deserted
medieval villages across England however,
Wharram Percy is the best preserved and most
excavated.
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Imagine this busy street in the 10th Century with
animals running free, traders yelling out their
deals and lots of noise.
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Here are the excavated remains of a farmhouse
building.
This building not only provided shelter for the
farmer his family but also animals.
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This is another excavated farm building.
At one stage this was the vicarage.
Note the partly collapsed tower.
In the background you can see the remains of St
Martins Church, which was completely rebuilt in
the 12th Century.
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The arrows show the original stones on which the
church was built.
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These gravestones are only recent but it is
suspected that medieval remains of people are
below however, historians didnt excavate this
area so they didnt damage these graves.
On the other side of the church historians did
find a burial ground and many bodies, mainly
children, were found. This leads us to believe
that medieval people died at a young age.
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This is the mill pond which was used not only as
a water source but also to work the mill.
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Peasants such as me would have to carry our
clothes to the pond to be washed.
All the water used in the house had to be carried
from the pond, this is why houses where built
near ponds and wells.
Best get on with my washing before Sir
Chamberlain comes back !
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This pond is in a valley called Deepdale. In the
valley were peasant houses. These were not as
strong as my stone manor as they were made of
wattle and daub.
Wattle and daub is a building material used for
making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden
strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky
material usually made of some combination of wet
soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw - daub.
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Here you can see the valley, with the pond in the
foreground.
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Here is the site of my old home, the South Manor.
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I am stood on the site of the North Manor, home
of the Percy family after my death.
The Percy family knocked down my manor and used
the bricks to build theirs.
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Here is a map of the site
North Manor
Peasant farmsteads
South Manor
Church
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THE END
Thank you for watching, I hope you enjoyed the
show.