Information for record number MWA1045:
Ruin Clifford Deserted Medieval Settlement

Summary The site of a deserted settlement called Ruin Clifford which dated to the Medieval period. It is known from documentary evidence and some earthworks are visible. The site is located to the north of Clifford Chambers.
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Stratford upon Avon
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 19 52
(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 The name cannot be linked to desertion. The depopulation is listed in Rous, but not spoken of by Dugdale. The site lay on the banks of the Stour opposite Clifford Chambers.... There are a few suggestive earthworks and possibly an old road visible to the eye, but the air photograph does not amplify them.
2 Location unknown (U), excellent documentary evidence with period of desertion known.
3 Dugdale records three houses at Ruin Clifford.
4 For a second possible site see PRN 1049.
5 The aerial photogrpah taken by Jim Pickering in 1964 (refSP1952 C) shows earthworks. These seem most readily interpreted as ditches marking a series of small closes although these evidently predate the 1st edition 6" OS Map of 1887. Virtually no trace of these features was visible on the ground; according to the owners the land floods two or three times a year, and one may suggest that the hundred or so episodes which have taken place since 1964 may have resulted in the ditches being filled gradually by silt. The frequency of flooding would tend to enforce the view that this is not an area where previous settlement would have been likely. The land opposite (east) side of the river (also part of WA 1045) is higher; it is in different ownership and I did not enter it; no archaeological features were obviously visible from the west side of the river. Severn Trent put a sewage treatment pipe across the site earlier in the year, close to the NW edge of the area shown on the SMR.
 
Sources
Source No: 3
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Antiquities of Warwickshire
Author/originator: Dugdale W
Date: 1730
Page Number: 1056
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 66
Author/originator: Beresford M W
Date: 1945
Page Number: 99
Volume/Sheet: 66
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Site Visit
Title: Ruin Clifford Medieval Settlement
Author/originator: Jonathan Parkhouse
Date: 2002
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Deserted Medieval Villages Research Group
Author/originator:
Date: 1958
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 6
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: JMG
Date: 1979
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 1017
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
back to top

Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source SMR Card Sites and Monuments Record Card. The Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record began to be developed during the 1970s. The details of individual archaeological sites and findspots were written on record cards. These record cards were used until the 1990s, when their details were entered on to a computerised system. The record cards are still kept at the office of the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. 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.
 		back
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.
more -> 		back
monument HOUSE * A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known. 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 ARCHAEOLOGICAL FEATURE * Use only for features assumed to be archaeological but which cannot be identified more precisely without further investigation .Use more specific term where known back
monument SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. 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 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 EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record