Waterton is a Deserted Medieval Village

Deserted medieval village

In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village 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...

 on the River Trent

River Trent

The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...

 near Garthorpe

Garthorpe, North Lincolnshire

Garthorpe is a village located in the Isle of Axholme, in North Lincolnshire, England. Together with Fockerby, which is contiguous with the village, Garthorpe forms a civil parish of about 500 inhabitants.- History :...

 and Luddington

Luddington, North Lincolnshire

Luddington is a village, part of the civil parish of Luddington with Haldenby, on the Isle of Axholme in North Lincolnshire, England. The nearest towns are Scunthorpe, Goole and Doncaster.-Early history:...

 in the Isle of Axholme

Isle of Axholme

The Isle of Axholme is part of North Lincolnshire, England. It is the only part of Lincolnshire west of the River Trent. It is between the three towns of Doncaster, Scunthorpe and Gainsborough.- Description:...

, Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

. Before the Norman Conquest it was held by one Fulcric who held one carucate

Carucate

The carucate or ploughland was a unit of assessment for tax used in most Danelaw counties of England, and is found for example in Domesday Book. The carucate was based on the area a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season...

 of land with a hall.
At the time of the Domesday survey, it was waste. It became the property of the Abbot of Selby

Selby

Selby is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Situated south of the city of York, along the course of the River Ouse, Selby is the largest and, with a population of 13,012, most populous settlement of the wider Selby local government district.Historically a part of the West Riding...

 and at some point between 1160 and 1179 when Gilbert was Abbot, it was given to him by Reiner de Normanby

Normanby

- Places in England :*Normanby, Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire*Normanby, Ryedale, North Yorkshire*Normanby, North Lincolnshire, home of Normanby Hall*Normanby by Spital*Normanby by Stow*Normanby le Wold- Places in Australia :*Normanby, Queensland...

, son of Norman de Normanby, for an annual rent of twelve shillings. Reiner took the name de Waterton. In the words of Stonehouse “this family is equal if not superior in a long line of ancestry to most of the commoners of England”. Notable members of the family include John de Waterton (Master of the Horse

Master of the Horse

The Master of the Horse was a position of varying importance in several European nations.-Magister Equitum :...

), Robert de Waterton (guardian of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York

Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York

Richard Plantagenêt, 3rd Duke of York, 6th Earl of March, 4th Earl of Cambridge, and 7th Earl of Ulster, conventionally called Richard of York was a leading English magnate, great-grandson of King Edward III...

), Hugh de Waterton, Sir Robert and Sir Thomas Waterton (High Sheriffs of Yorkshire

High Sheriff of Yorkshire

The High Sheriff of Yorkshire was an ancient High Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. A list of the sheriffs from the Norman conquest onwards can be found below...

), Lady Margaret Waterton (Lady of the Garter), and Charles Waterton

Charles Waterton

Charles Waterton was an English naturalist and explorer.-Heritage and Life:"Squire" Waterton was born at Walton Hall, Wakefield, Yorkshire to Thomas Waterton and Anne Bedingfield. He was of a Roman Catholic landed gentry family descended from Reiner de Waterton...

 the naturalist. Sir Robert Waterton is mentioned in Shakespeare's Richard II

Richard II (play)

King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...

.

Waterton became deserted in the late 15th or 16th century. Some excavation has been undertaken. It has now been taken over by the Strawson family. Only the seven-bedroom Waterton Hall remains, described by Pevsner

Nikolaus Pevsner

Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...

as “a fine example of Georgian splendour”.

External links

• http://www.jss.org.uk/cw/Charles_Waterton/waterton-hall.htm retrieved 16 April 2008