The village has the remains of a
Norman motte and bailey castle (
Laxton Castle) and is also the site of the
Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre. In addition, there are the remnants of a substantial system of fish-ponds, presumed to have belonged to the castle or to the
manor house built later on the site of it, two mediæval mill mounds, and ridge-and-furrow earthworks.
St Michael the Archangel's Church, Laxton, mostly dates back to the 12th century; after this, the earliest known standing structure is a farmhouse dating from 1703. Most of the village's architecture sits firmly in the local vernacular tradition, with nearly a fifth of the buildings dating from the 18th century, and around 40% from each of the 19th and 20th.
Conservation status of Laxton "Laxton Fields" has been designated a target area for
Higher Level Stewardship by
Natural England to promote conservation of the historic landscape and biodiversity.
Open fields Laxton parish today has much conventionally farmed land but retains also a significant part of the mediaeval open field system. Fields, divided into strips, are farmed in common among the landowners of the village. Today, there are three open fields remaining; the Mill Field, the South Field and the West Field. A 1635 survey of the parish carried out by Mark Pierce (still extant and held in the
Bodleian Library) shows that these three fields were in use at that date, but that they were significantly larger than their current size. There was also a fourth field, the East Field, which was considerably smaller than the others, and farmed as part of the West Field. This was fully
enclosed, and today is a number of small fields. The strips within the fields have also changed significantly, with changes in technology. Originally, a single strip would have represented approximately a single day of
ploughing; such a strip today would be far too small to be really practical for a
tractor-drawn plough. Instead, over time, strips have been consolidated to provide workable parcels of land; the result today is that the average strip size has increased significantly over mediaeval times. However, the practical aspects of open field farming are still very much what they would have been 500 years ago. Laxton is unique because the open field system is still alive and in daily use. Although the village is now recognised as an important heritage site, it is home to working farmers, who rely on the land for their income. While modern expectations and needs mean that all the farmers own land outside the open fields, the open fields are not part of a museum or showcase but a living part of the agricultural landscape. The system is protected today by a parliamentary undertaking given by the Thoresby Estate on their 2020 repurchase of the Laxton estate from the Crown Estate and by a countryside stewardship agreement held between the
court leet and the then-
Countryside Commission. The sykes, four areas of grassland, are also protected by
SSSI status. Laxton's strip fields were depicted on a postage stamp designed by
David Tress that was issued in 1999 by the Royal Mail as part of their
Millennium stamp series; the stamp also doubled as Royal Mail's contribution to that year's
Europa postage stamp issue with the theme of Parks and Reserves. Image:Laxton village.png|View across Laxton's
open fields Moorhouse Moorhouse is a
hamlet 2 miles east of Laxton, but within the wider parish area, Previously known as
Laxton Morehouse, it is a scattering of farms, farmhouses and cottages amongst a wider rural setting. These are grouped around three roads meeting by a single junction: Green Lane, Moorhouse Lane, and Ossington Lane. It maintains a notable Grade II* Anglican chapel. ==National Holocaust Centre and Museum==