The parish occupies a roughly rectangular area (Fig. 10), covering some 580 hectares, against the former Huntingdonshire boundary, sloping generally N.E. between 225 ft. and 150 ft. above OD. It is mainly on Boulder Clay except in the N.E. where the headwaters of Billing Brook have exposed underlying Oxford Clay.

To the S.E. of the village are extensive earthwork remains which were formerly part of it (1).

Prehistoric

A British K (South Feriby type) Coritanian gold stater, recorded by D. F. Allen as from ‘Peterborough?’ was actually discovered at Lutton (PM; S. S. Frere (ed.), Problems of the Iron Age in Southern Britain, (1958), 183).

Medieval and Later

b(1) Settlement remains (TL 114876; Fig. 74; Plate 19), formerly part of Lutton village, lie immediately S.E. of the Manor House on Boulder Clay at 200 ft. above OD. Although claimed to be the remains of a homestead moat (VCH Northants., II (1906), 412) the site, partly shown on OS large-scale maps and plans, in fact comprises a number of hollow-ways and ditches which are the survivals of old roads, closes and house sites. The largest feature is the deeply-cut and rutted hollowway, known in the 19th century as ‘Blind Lane’, to the S.E. of the Manor House (‘a’-‘b’ on Fig. 74). At its N.E. end it joins another hollow-way running N.W., and at its S.W. end it meets the existing road. N.W. of the hollow-way are the remains of two rectangular paddocks, bounded by ditches up to 2 m. deep. Elsewhere there are slight ditches and banks of former closes, and a number of probable building-sites.

The whole area was already abandoned by the late 17th century (NRO, map of Lutton, 1690) but the hollow-ways remained in use as roads until the 19th century (NRO, map of 1802 and Tithe Map of 1843).

b(2) Coin hoard (TL 11258765) was found in 1960 in the field immediately S. of the Manor House. It consisted of 183 silver coins dating from 1557 to 1644 (PM; Brit. Num. J., XXXIII (1964), 154–5).