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Scheduled Monument
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Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) are those archaeological sites which are legally recognised as being of national importance. They can range in date from prehistoric times to the Cold War period. They can take many different forms, including disused buildings or sites surviving as earthworks or cropmarks.
SAMs are protected by law from unlicensed disturbance and metal detecting. Written consent from the Secretary of State must be obtained before any sort of work can begin, including archaeological work such as geophysical survey or archaeological excavation. There are nearly 200 SAMs in Warwickshire.
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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. more ->
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POOL *
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A small body of water, either natural or artificial.
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FISHPOND *
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A pond used for the rearing, breeding, sorting and storing of fish.
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MILL *
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A factory used for processing raw materials. Use more specific mill type where known. See also TEXTILE MILL, for more narrow terms.
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MILL POND *
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The area of water retained above a mill dam for driving a mill.
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POND *
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A body of still water often artificially formed for a specific purpose. Use specifc type where known.
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CHURCH *
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A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known.
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MOAT *
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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.
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ROAD *
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A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles.
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MILL DAM *
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A dam constructed across a stream to raise its water-level and make it available to power a mill wheel.
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WATERMILL *
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A mill whose machinery is driven by water.
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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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DAM *
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A barrier of concrete or earth, etc, built across a river to create a reservoir of water for domestic and/or industrial usage.
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* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)