Monument record 1663 - Millington

Millington is suggested as being a deserted medieval village. The placename was first mentioned as Mulintune in the Domesday Book in 1086. The name may originally have referred to the manor (an area of administration introduced as a feudal estate after the Norman Conquest and used for over 500 years after) and now appears at Millington Hall. Medieval and later 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. Landowners sometimes relocated settlements for aesthetic reasons and for landscaping. 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.