Monument record 158/0 - Newbold Village

One of two sites suggested for a possible deserted medieval village. Newbold is mentioned in the Domesday Book as a village of some size and including a priest. It may have been superseded by Astbury or it may be the same as the modern Astbury. Villages were abandoned by their inhabitants for many reasons, the effects of disease and poor harvests made rural living difficult, and whole communities are thought to have relocated to urban settlements. Once abandoned the villages quickly became derelict and were not inhabited again surviving only as earthworks, often visible only from aerial photographs. They can also be identified by documentary evidence or the presence of a church where there is no settlement.