East Brunton village

The vill of Brunton, a member of the barony of Bolam, was first mentioned in 1234; East Brunton in 1296 when there were 6 taxpayers there. In 1356 it was sold to Wm Heselrig, lord of Fawdon, and it remained in that family until 1768. Depopulation occurred before 1730, at which time only one farm survived. Cropmarks of the deserted medieval village appear on an aerial photograph taken on 7 July 1977 (NMR MAZ/77024 frame 049). There appears to be a diffuse trackway leading from the core of the DMV towards the north west. Fieldwalking here in 2000 recovered considerable quantities of 12th century - 14th century pottery, including imported ceramics from Spain and Utrecht, and post-medieval pottery up to 17th century in date. Geophysical survey over a small part of the DMV was followed, again in 2000, by trial trenching, which recorded linear features. A post medieval iron knife with inscribed bone handle was found. When the A1 was constructed through the middle of the DMV, the remaining cropmarks were covered by spoil 1 metres - 6 metres deep.