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OS Card
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Ordnance Survey Record Card. Before the 1970s the Ordnance Survey (OS) were responsible for recording archaeological monuments during mapping exercises. This helped the Ordnance Survey to decide which monuments to publish on maps. During these exercises the details of the monuments were written down on record cards. Copies of some of the cards are kept at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. The responsibility for recording archaeological monuments later passed to the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments.
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Documentary Evidence
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Documentary evidence is another name for written records. The first written records in Britain date back to the Roman period. Documentary evidence can take many different forms, including maps, charters, letters and written accounts.
When archaeologists are researching a site, they often start by looking at documentary evidence to see if there are clues that will help them understand what they might find. Documentary evidence can help archaeologists understand sites that are discovered during an excavation, field survey or aerial survey.
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Earthwork
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Earthworks can take the form of banks, ditches and mounds. They are usually created for a specific purpose. A bank, for example, might be the remains of a boundary between two or more fields. Some earthworks may be all that remains of a collapsed building, for example, the grassed-over remains of building foundations.
In the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky than during the other seasons, earthworks have larger shadows. From the air, archaeologists are able to see the patterns of the earthworks more easily. Earthworks can sometimes be confusing when viewed at ground level, but from above, the general plan is much clearer.
Archaeologists often carry out an aerial survey or an earthwork survey to help them understand the lumps and bumps they can see on the ground.
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Medieval
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1066 AD to 1539 AD (the 11th century AD to the 16th century AD)
The medieval period comes after the Saxon period and before the post medieval period.
The Medieval period begins in 1066 AD.
This was the year that the Normans, led by William the Conqueror (1066 – 1087), invaded England and defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in East Sussex.
The Medieval period includes the first half of the Tudor period (1485 – 1603 AD), when the Tudor family reigned in England and eventually in Scotland too.
The end of the Medieval period is marked by Henry VIII’s (1509 – 1547) order for the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the years running up to 1539 AD. The whole of this period is sometimes called the Middle Ages.
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HOTEL *
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A large building used for the accommodation of paying travellers and guests.
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SITE *
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Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible.
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FEATURE *
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Areas of indeterminate function.
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PATH *
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A way made for pedestrians, especially one merely made by walking (often not specially constructed).
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CASTLE *
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A fortress and dwelling, usually medieval in origin, and often consisting of a keep, curtain wall and towers etc.
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MANOR *
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An area of land consisting of the lord's demesne and of lands from whose holders he may exact certain fees, etc.
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BAILEY *
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The courtyard of a castle, ie. the area enclosed by the rampart or curtain. Use with wider site type where known.
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MOUND *
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A natural or artificial elevation of earth or stones, such as the earth heaped upon a grave. Use more specific type where known.
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TEMPLE *
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Use for places of worship. For later landscape features use, eg. GARDEN TEMPLE.
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EARTHWORK *
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A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification.
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MOTTE *
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An artificial steep-sided earthen mound on, or in, which is set the principal tower of a castle.
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* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)
