Information for record number MWA13140:
Site of Anglo-Saxon settlement at Coleshill

Summary Sited on a prominent hill on the river Cole, near its confluence with the Blythe and Tame, and close to the Mercian royal centre of Tamworth and Lichfield.
What Is It?  
Type: Settlement
Period: Early medieval (801 AD - 1065 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Coleshill
District: North Warwickshire, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 20 89
(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 Local
Description

  
Source Number  

1 Site of Anglo-Saxon settlement at Coleshill. The place name 'Coleshill' is Anglo-Saxon in origin. During the early Anglo-Saxon period, Coleshill lay in the area of the Tomesaetan and in the Mercian heartland. Coleshill was a logical place for an administrative and defensive centre, being on a hill above the River Cole, and close to the important royal centre of Tamworth and Lichfied, a bishopric from the 7th century and an archbishopric during the mid Anglo-Saxon period. There is a reference to Coenwulf II of Mercia issuing a charter at Coleshill in 799. Domesday shows Coleshill was a royal vill (manor) at the centre of the Coleshill Hundred, the largest of the ten Warwickshire Hundreds in 1086. There was an Anglo-Saxon minster church (which evolved into the Parish church), the centre for the Deanery of Arden which may have roughly corresponded with the Coleshill Hundred extent. At the time of the Domesday Survey (1086) Coleshill was listed as a royal manor rated at 3 hides.
 
Sources
Source No: 1
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Warwickshire Extensive Urban Survey Coleshill Assessment
Author/originator: B Morton
Date: 2011
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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 SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. back
monument MINSTER * A complex of buildings, often within an enclosure, housing a pre-Benedictine Reform secular religious community. Now commonly used to describe the main church within such a complex, which over time attained higher status. back
monument DEANERY * The official residence of a dean. back
monument PARISH CHURCH * The foremost church within a parish. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. 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 HIDE * A shelter, sometimes camouflaged, for the observation of birds and animals at close quarters. back
monument VILL * Small discreet rural settlements which do not provide the commercial, legal or ecclesiastical services typically found within medieval urban areas. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record