Information for record number MWA1339:
Undated earthwork, Loxley

Summary The site of an earthwork of unknown date. It may well be a natural feature. It runs, intermittently from Walton to Loxley.
What Is It?  
Type: Earthwork
Period: Unknown
Where Is It?  
Parish: Loxley
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 27 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 A remarkable line of double and sometimes triple entrenchments running through this parish, traceable for a total length of over three miles. The earthworks extend along the N face of the hills overlooking the valley of Avon. They commence near Walton (around SP2853) pass through the wood around the summit of Redhill (SP2753) and by Loxley (SP2552) until they reach Goldicote (SP2451). The entrenchments are very formidable in places, consisting of three ramparts, one above the other, with two intervening ditches... they are too formidable for a mere boundary line.
2 These entrenchments are now believed to be natural. Their traditional name probably survives in a field called Chilversditch near their W extremity.
3 These 'entrenchments' are a natural escarpment and are not an antiquity.
4 Looked at as part of the SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds HLS Target Areas NMP which noted that the escarpment also corresponds to the underlying geology shown on the BGS Geology Map (Banbury Sheet 201).
 
Sources
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 1, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Doubleday H A & Page W (eds)
Date: 1904
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 1
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 3, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1945
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 3
   
Source No: 4
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: 3
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 25NE6
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source Antiquity Antiquity is a journal about archaeological research and is published four times each year. The journal includes articles about archaeology from all over the world, from the Palaeolithic to the present. Each issue includes an editorial, brief reports, current news in colour, research papers and notes, full review coverage of new archaeological books and occasional special sections on selected topics. 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
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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monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument BOUNDARY * The limit to an area as defined on a map or by a marker of some form, eg. BOUNDARY WALL. Use specific type where known. back
monument RAMPART * A protective earthen mound, often the main defence of a fortification. 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 WOOD * A tract of land with trees, sometimes acting as a boundary or barrier, usually smaller and less wild than a forest. 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 NATURAL FEATURE * Use only for natural features mistakenly assumed to be archaeological or natural features with archaeological significance. 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