Information for record number MWA1262:
Lower Ettington Deserted Settlement

Summary The Medieval deserted settlement of Lower Ettington. Traces of the village are visible as earthworks. The village was cleared during the 18th century to create a deer park.
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement
Period: Medieval - Industrial (1066 AD - 1900 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Ettington
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 24 47
(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 hamlet of Ettington consisted in Dugdale's time of the Manor House, church, vicarage, mill and a shepherd's cottage; also a cross and stocks. In 1798 all except the church and the Manor House were removed to clear the park, but traces of the village green remain and the cross now stands in the garden of the hall (MWA1286). The village stood near the entrance gate of the park and in a dry summer grass can be seen dying off on the old foundations.
3 Poor archaeology (C). Small quantity of documentary evidence, but period of desertion unknown.
4 No remains of the deserted Medieval village could be traced. The village cross no longer stands and cannot be located.
5 Depopulation affected most of the Ettington hamlets, including the chief manor of Lower Ettington where members of the Shirley family had their home for nearly 900 years. Here they made a deer-park and nothing remains of the village but the ruins of a part-13th century church and the Manor House, which was rebuilt in 1862 and is now a hotel. The main Domesday manor of Lower Ettington lay centred upon a site which produced 'coins of the Lower Empire, brass ornaments, and great quantities of Romano-British pottery'(Shirley, 1869, 10). Saxon spearheads found to the SE of the manor-house probably came from a pagan burial and indicate continued activity in the early Anglo-Saxon period.
6 The mapped location of this site was moved to within the deer park at Lower Ettington. No suitable features which might match the parchmarks referred to in
1 were noted on a quick check of available satellite imagery and LiDAR.
7 No features of the deserted Medieval settlement were visible on the available aerial photographs viewed as part of the South East Warwickshire and Cotswold Hills HLS NMP Target Areas project.
 
Sources
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwicks Village History Soc 1934
Author/originator:
Date: 1934
Page Number: 6-10
Volume/Sheet: Ettington
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Desk Top Study
Title: SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds NMP Project
Author/originator: Amanda Dickson
Date: 2010-2012
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Monograph
Title: Medieval Villages
Author/originator: Hooke D
Date: 1985
Page Number: 147
Volume/Sheet: OUCA Monograph 5
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 25NE6
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 66
Author/originator: Beresford M W
Date: 1945
Page Number: 99
Volume/Sheet: 66
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Deserted Medieval Villages Research Group
Author/originator:
Date: 1958
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 6
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Pers. Comm. Giles Carey
Author/originator: G Carey
Date: 2009-2014
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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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technique Aerial Photograph Aerial photographs are taken during an aerial survey, which involves looking at the ground from above. It is usually easier to see cropmarks and earthworks when they are viewed from above. Aerial photographs help archaeologists to record what they see and to identify new sites. There are two kinds of aerial photographs; oblique and vertical. 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.
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monument HOTEL * A large building used for the accommodation of paying travellers and guests. 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 SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. back
monument VICARAGE * The residence of a vicar, parson or rector. back
monument HAMLET * Small settlement with no ecclesiastical or lay administrative function. back
monument DEER PARK * A large park for keeping deer. In medieval times the prime purpose was for hunting. back
monument MANOR HOUSE * The principal house of a manor or village. back
monument PARK * An enclosed piece of land, generally large in area, used for hunting, the cultivation of trees, for grazing sheep and cattle or visual enjoyment. Use more specific type where known. back
monument MILL * A factory used for processing raw materials. Use more specific mill type where known. See also TEXTILE MILL, for more narrow terms. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument INDUSTRIAL * This is the top term for the class. See INDUSTRIAL Class List for narrow terms. back
monument DESERTED SETTLEMENT * An abandoned settlement, usually of the Medieval period, often visible only as earthworks or on aerial photographs. back
monument VILLAGE GREEN * An area of common grassland in a village used for grazing cattle, recreational purposes, etc. back
monument VILLAGE CROSS * A cross erected in a village. back
monument MANOR * An area of land consisting of the lord's demesne and of lands from whose holders he may exact certain fees, etc. back
monument BURIAL * An interment of human or animal remains. Use specific type where known. If component use with wider site type. Use FUNERARY SITE for optimum retrieval in searches. back
monument GARDEN * An enclosed piece of ground devoted to the cultivation of flowers, fruit or vegetables and/or recreational purposes. Use more specific type where known. back
monument CROSS * A free-standing structure, in the form of a cross (+), symbolizing the structure on which Jesus Christ was crucified and sacred to the Christian faith. Use specific type where known. back
monument GATE * A movable stucture which enables or prevents entrance to be gained. Usually situated in a wall or similar barrier and supported by gate posts. back
monument STOCKS * An instrument of punishment, in which the offender was placed in a sitting position in a timber frame, with holes to confine the ankles and wrists between two planks. back
monument TARGET * Any structure or object, used for the purpose of practice shooting by aerial, seaborne or land mounted weapons. 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