Information for record number MWA1338:
Bruton Deserted Medieval Settlement

Summary The site of Bruton Medieval deserted settlement and moat, a wide ditch usually surrounding a building. It dates to the Medieval period, but was abandoned by the 17th century. It is still visible as an earthwork, and is situated to the north east of Admington.
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement, Moat
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Whitchurch
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 20 46
(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: )
Scheduled Monument (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 The place name has a history from 1262 and was a hamlet of Whitchurch. The marginal notes of the court rolls include the name from 1581-7. It is represented by one house named Bruton. It is marked as depopulated on Beightons's map.
2 A moat is visible (PRN 5193). The farmhouse is 18th century but may incorporate earlier material.
3 Archaeological evidence medium (B). Evidence for village's former existence, but period of desertion unknown (2).
4 An area to the S could have been the site of the former village. Air photographs show an area of disturbance bounded by ridge and furrow, but the remains are too nebulous for survey.
5 AP
6 The probable deserted settlement consists of a number of elements. To the S is a leat which probably carried water from one stream to another. Other features include a banked and ditched enclosure and other faint banks and ditches, perhaps once defining house sites. To the N of the road and S of the moat is a raised platform, possibly a house site.
7 These earthworks may represent a small hamlet of a few houses aligned roughly N-S on the W bank of a stream.
8 House platforms were observed between Lower Farm and Bruton, and another in a field at the rear of Brooklyn.
9 site surveyed in 1997 as part of landscape and settlement survey of Admington parish. site probably planned. earthworks suggest Bruton contained between 6 and 12 households, one of the smaller settlements in the parish. Not well documented. Abandoned by 17th century.
10 Bruton was a hamlet in the parish of Whitchurch, which included four other hamlets or small villages. This fragmented pattern is unusual within this part of Warwickshire. The settlement was included in surveys of the 13th century and was under the Lordship of the De Valle family in the 14th century and the Burdets in the 15th century. It is believed to have been depopulated and converted to pasture by the 16th century. This site is important because of its survival as a rare example of a small settlement in an area of normally nucleated villages in the Medieval period
11 Monument scheduled in 1999.
12 A watching brief was carried out on the excavation of several trenches for telegraph pole renewal within the Medieval settlement at Admington. A single sherd of Medieval pottery was recovered.
13 The deserted settlement is visible as earthworks on historical and recent aerial photographs and was mapped as part of the South East Warwickshire and Cotswold Hills HLS NMP Target Areas project. The settlement includes a prominent moat at SP 20635 45641 to the north of the road. The moat has an entrance on the south side and a leat on the north side which extends northwards towards the stream. Another leat is probably on the southeast corner, but this is not clear. A hollow way is visible extending southwards from the entrance to a much larger curving l-shaped hollow way which may be the original route the main road took, south of the moat. The moat appears quite denuded, particularly on the eastern side on aerial photographs taken in 2001 and 2006, compared to its state in 1946. The main settlement site is located on the south side of the road and centred at SP 20788 45941 and although most of the earthwork features were not distinct enough to map from the available aerial photographs. ditched boundaries appear to define the extent of the settlement, to the north, west and south.
 
Sources
Source No: 5
Source Type: Aerial Photograph
Title:
Author/originator: J Pickering
Date: 1962
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: SP4489 C/D/E/X
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 5, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1965
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 5
   
Source No: 13
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: 6
Source Type: Desk Top Study
Title: Bruton
Author/originator: Hingley R C/Foster, P.
Date: 1989
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Plan
Title: MSRG Annual Report
Author/originator:
Date: 1998
Page Number: 37
Volume/Sheet: 1997
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 25NE6
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
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: 11
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: Medieval settlement and moated site at Bruton
Author/originator: EH
Date: 1999
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 10
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: Bruton - Moat and DMV
Author/originator: English Heritage
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Admington Survey 1993-4
Author/originator: Dyer C
Date: 1993-4
Page Number: 1
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Deserted Medieval Villages Research Group
Author/originator:
Date: 1958
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 6
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: R.C.Hingley personal comment
Author/originator: Hingley R C
Date: 1989
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 12
Source Type: Watching Brief Report
Title: Telegraph Pole Renewal, Bruton House, Admington, Warwickshire: Archaeological Watching Brief
Author/originator: Rann C and Gethin B
Date: 2013
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
none Scheduled Monument 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.
 		back
source MSRG The annual report of the Moated Site Research Group, containing reports about field survey and excavation of sites throughout Britain. Copies are held at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. 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 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
technique excavation Archaeologists excavate sites so that they can find information and recover archaeological materials before they are destroyed by erosion, construction or changes in land-use.

Depending on how complicated and widespread the archaeological deposits are, excavation can be done by hand or with heavy machinery. Archaeologists may excavate a site in a number of ways; either by open area excavation, by digging a test pit or a trial trench.
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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.
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 SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. back
monument HAMLET * Small settlement with no ecclesiastical or lay administrative function. back
monument BUILDING * A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known. 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 FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. 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 PASTURE * A field covered with herbage for the grazing of livestock. back
monument DESERTED SETTLEMENT * An abandoned settlement, usually of the Medieval period, often visible only as earthworks or on aerial photographs. back
monument WELL * A shaft or pit dug in the ground over a supply of spring-water. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. back
monument TELEGRAPH POLE * A tall wooden pole used to support telegraph wires. back
monument PLATFORM * Unspecified. Use specific type where known. back
monument LEAT * Artificial water channel, usually leading to a mill. back
monument TRENCH * An excavation used as a means of concealment, protection or both. 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 HOUSE PLATFORM * An area of ground on which a house is built. A platform is often the sole surviving evidence for a house. back
monument STREAM * A natural flow or current of water issuing from a source. 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 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
monument HOLLOW WAY * A way, path or road through a cutting. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record