Bingham

Name: Bingham
Reason for desertion: Black Death, migrated village
Period of desertion: 1349 onwards

Located in an open field to east of present town centre. It is a ‘migrated’ village’. The Black Death came to the village in 1349 and there was a sharp fall in the population.

One of the most intriguing mysteries about Bingham surrounds the story of Crow Close. This field, between Cogley Lane and Carnarvon School, has been known to be the site of a deserted Medieval village since 1909, but when and why it became deserted is not known.
An information board on Cogley Lane tells some of the story, but much is still unknown. Signs of the village are clearly visible on the ground and on aerial photographs, but the site has never been accurately surveyed.

Sources: http://www.diplomate.freeserve.co.uk/dmv.htm

http://www.lhi.org.uk/docs/nlsept03.pdf

A note on lost villages and the Black Death

In 1348, the Black Death arrived; between 30&50% of the British population was killed in the years that followed. Many village abandonments have been attributed to the Black Death, although relatively few are known to have been directly caused by it.

Many depopulated villages were soon re-settled and re-populated, especially those which had productive lands. The indirect effects of the Black Death, however, proved fatal to many villages, especially those inhabited by serfs who found themselves emancipated after the feudal system collapsed.