Information for record number MWA10:
Deserted Medieval Village at Drakenage Farm

Summary Earthworks indicate the site of a deserted settlement of Medieval date. The site is situated 300m north east of Drakenage Farm.
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement, Paddock
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Kingsbury
District: North Warwickshire, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 22 95
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

 
Source Number  

1 Twelve people were evicted from the hamlet of Drakenage in 1497.
2 The name in various forms occurs from 1183 onwards.
3 Marked as a depopulated place.
4 Air cover shows ridge and furrow to E of Drakenage Farm and arable land to the S. Immediately N of the moat and next to the road, and SW of the farmhouse, are disturbed areas suggesting desertion but ground inspection proved them to be too vague for positive identification.
5 A complex of rectangular ditched enclosures seems to represent paddocks rather than crofts.
6 Documentary evidence is not particularly good and it is impossible to assess the size and population of the village before depopulation. Details of the history of the village given.
7An enclosure, centred on SP2247 9557 is visible on satellite imagery. It is presumably part of the system of rectangular paddock ditches identified by Bond in
5.
 
Sources

Source No:
Source Type: Aerial Photograph Transcript
Title: Extract from http://maps.live.com annotated by B. Gethin (Kingsbury)
Author/originator: Gethin B
Date: 2008
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: EPNS
Author/originator:
Date: 1936
Page Number: 17
Volume/Sheet: Warwicks
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: TBAS vol 86
Author/originator: Bond C J
Date: 1974
Page Number: 94
Volume/Sheet: 86
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Descriptive Text
Title: The Lost Village of Drakenage
Author/originator: Bond C J
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Map
Title: Antiq of Warwickshire
Author/originator: Dugdale W
Date: 1730
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 29NE1
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1967
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 29NE1
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 66
Author/originator: Beresford MW
Date: 1945
Page Number: 17
Volume/Sheet: 66
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source EPNS The Journal of the English Place-Name Society. The English Place-Name Society was founded in 1923 to carry out a survey of English place-names. Its journal contains reports as well as articles about place-names or specific place-name studies, book reviews and bibliographies. The journal is published annually. Individual volumes also exist for most counties; that for Warwickshire was published in 1936. back
source OS Card 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. back
source TBAS Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society is a journal produced by the society annually. It contains articles about archaeological field work that has taken place in Birmingham and Warwickshire in previous years. Copies of the journal are kept by the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
technique Documentary Evidence 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. back
technique Earthwork 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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period Medieval 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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monument PADDOCK * An enclosed field for horses. back
monument VILLAGE * A collection of dwelling-houses and other buildings, usually larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a simpler organisation and administration than the latter. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument HAMLET * Small settlement with no ecclesiastical or lay administrative function. back
monument RIDGE AND FURROW * A series of long, raised ridges separated by ditches used to prepare the ground for arable cultivation. This was a technique, characteristic of the medieval period. back
monument FARMHOUSE * The main dwelling-house of a farm, it can be either detached from or attached to the working buildings. back
monument DITCHED ENCLOSURE * An area of land enclosed by one or several boundary ditches. Double index with a term to indicate the shape of the enclosure where known. back
monument MOAT * A wide ditch surrounding a building, usually filled with water. Use for moated sites, not defensive moats. Use with relevant site type where known, eg. MANOR HOUSE, GARDEN, etc. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument DESERTED SETTLEMENT * An abandoned settlement, usually of the Medieval period, often visible only as earthworks or on aerial photographs. back
monument ENCLOSURE * An area of land enclosed by a boundary ditch, bank, wall, palisade or other similar barrier. Use specific type where known. back
monument DITCH * A long and narrow hollow or trench dug in the ground, often used to carry water though it may be dry for much of the year. back
monument CROFT * An enclosed piece of land adjoining a house. back
monument FARM * A tract of land, often including a farmhouse and ancillary buildings, used for the purpose of cultivation and the rearing of livestock, etc. Use more specific type where known. back
monument EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record