ARCHDEACON NEWTON

Identity: confirmed — The supplied registry name and Darlington, Durham location match the documented Archdeacon of Durham manor and manorial settlement at Archdeacon Newton. Historic England identifies the site as the remains of the Archdeacon of Durham's manor, while the associated historical description places Archdeacon Newton three miles north-west of Darlington and describes it as an estate held by lease under the archdeacon of Durham.
Representative point: 54.54852, -1.60838
Basis: documented_manor_house — Approximate WGS84 conversion of the documented moat/manor-house site at OS National Grid reference NZ 2543 1710. Historic England confirms that the moated site was the manor site and that the surviving Old Hall represents part of the medieval manorial complex.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to post-medieval; full manorial land extent not established
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The evidence securely locates the manor house, moated manorial site and associated deserted settlement. Historic descriptions indicate an estate or township of approximately 1,040–1,063 acres and four farms, but no reliable source located in this research provides the historical perimeter of the manor's entire territorial lands. The scheduled-monument enclosure is an archaeological site boundary, not a proven boundary of the manor's landholding, and has therefore not been substituted as the manor polygon.
Sources:
- The National Archives, ARCHDEACON NEWTON record F291257: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F291257 — Registry record supplied for the exact manor name and authority/reference GB/NNAF/M316643; the TNA page was used as the primary record lead.
- Rental and original attornment of tenants, 1667, Gloucestershire Archives D1447/10/8: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N17715605 — Existing registry research lead indicating a seventeenth-century rental and tenant attornment associated with the manor record.
- Archdeacon Newton moated site, deserted manorial settlement and section of rig and furrow, Historic England NHLE 1015841: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1015841?section=overview — Official source identifies the Archdeacon of Durham's manor, describes the moated manor-house site and surviving Old Hall, gives the monument reference NZ 25522 17222, and describes the associated settlement enclosure and field system.
- Archdeacon Newton, Historic England Research Records / Heritage Gateway: https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=19191&uid=23602 — Records the moated manor-house complex at Archdeacon Newton and gives the more specific moat reference NZ 2543 1710 used for the representative point.
- An Historical, Topographical and Descriptive View of the County of Durham: https://consettheritage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/An_Historical_Topographical_and_Descriptive-View-of-the-County-of-Durham.pdf — Historical topographical description identifies Archdeacon-Newton as a hamlet and township containing four farms, chiefly held by lease under the archdeacon of Durham, supporting the identity and broad territorial context but not a reconstructable perimeter.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative coordinate is for the documented moat/manor-house site, not the centre of the modern settlement or parish.
- No defensible polygon for the full historical manorial landholding was found. The scheduled-monument boundary should not be treated as the manor's territorial boundary.
- The surviving Old Hall is described by Historic England as a service wing of the original manor house; the principal medieval hall itself has no surviving surface remains.