Information for record number MWA1404:
Whitchurch Deserted Medieval Settlement

Summary The Medieval deserted settlement of Whitchurch, which is still visible as an earthwork. Traces of a moat, house platforms, a hollow way and a manor house are visible. It was abandoned by the mid 16th century. It is situated around St Mary's church, Whitchurch.
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement, Hollow Way, House Platform, Moat, Manor House
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Whitchurch
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 22 48
(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 church (PRN 1407) stands alone, except for a cottage. Near it are the mounds and ditches where the village once stood. The original depopulator was Sir Edward Belknap in 1498, and in 1543 Anthony Cotes completed his work.
2 An account of surviving remains in 1906-7 does not tie in clearly with what is known of the village.
3 Archaeological evidence medium (B), documentary evidence excellent (1*).
4 Minor earthworks indicative of desertion nearly surround the church. In the paddock to the south of the cottage there are non-surveyable traces of buildings and to the north of the church is one good steading - possibly the rectory mentioned in reference
2. An old road approaches across a ford from the northwest.
5 A number of additional platforms and features are marked.
8 Cropmarks indicate additional house sites to the south of the surviving earthworks and medieval pottery was observed during field survey.
9 Domesday lists Whitchurch. It was in Barcheston Hundred and the Phillimore edition has a grid reference of 22,47, (which is one digit different from this monument's grid ref). Ref 16,21 (Land of the Count of Meulan) Whitchurch as 2 manors. Alwin held it and could go where he would. 7 hides. Land for 12 ploughs. In lordship 3 ploughs; 7 slaves. 16 villagers, 1 free man and 2 smallholders with a priest have 8 ploughs. 2 mills at 20s, meadow, 30 acres. The value was £6; now £8 10s. Ref 16,65 in Whitchurch, a manor of the Count's, Walter holds 1 hide from him; he has 1 plough. Value 10s. Alwin held it freely before 1066.
10 earthworks to the south of the manor can be seen on lidar images (EWA 9974).
11 The settlement comprises an enclosed area to the west of the church which abuts the river on its north side. On the west and south sides of the banked enclosure is a hollow way which connects the ford on the river with the church. Within the enclosed area and north of the church are further earthworks which appear to be hollow ways and building platforms and the possible location for a water mill, though these features are not clearly defined on the available photographs. To the east of the church is the large rectangular fish pond, which has leats connecting it to the river to the north and possibly to the pond in the south. To the south of the cottage are further settlement earthworks which possible represent crofts and the remains of a possible moat which is thought to have surrounded the manor house.
12 Note that a curving floodbank has been recently built to the east of church Farm Cottage and has confused the earthworks a little.
 
Sources
Source No: 7
Source Type: Aerial Photograph
Title: SP1751
Author/originator: CUCAP
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: SP1751:M
   
Source No: 13
Source Type: Article in serial
Title: Symbols of Status in Medieval Warwickshire (1000-1500)
Author/originator: Hook D
Date: 2014
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 117
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: MVRG vol 33
Author/originator: Hingley R, Palmer N
Date: 1986
Page Number: 14
Volume/Sheet: 33
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Stratford on Avon Herald
Author/originator: Bloom J H
Date: 1906-7
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Domesday Book Warwickshire incl Birmingham
Author/originator: Phillimore and Co Ltd
Date: 1976
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 11
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: 10
Source Type: LIDAR
Title: Geomatics Group online LiDAR data search
Author/originator: Geomatics Group
Date: 2011
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Plan
Title: Plan
Author/originator: Hooke D
Date: 1980
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Plan
Title: TBAS vol 86
Author/originator: Bond C J
Date: 1974
Page Number: Fig 6
Volume/Sheet: 86
   
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: 3
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Deserted Medieval Villages Research Group
Author/originator:
Date: 1958
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 6
   
Source No: 12
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Pers. Comm.
Author/originator: B Gethin
Date: 2013 onwards
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source Domesday Book The Domesday Book was commissioned in December 1085 by William the Conqueror, who invaded England in 1066. It contains records for about 13,000 medieval settlements in the English counties south of the rivers Ribble and Tees (the border with Scotland at the time). The Domesday Book is a detailed record of the lands and their resources that belonged to the king. It also records the identity of the landholders and their tenants. back
source MVRG Reports of the Medieval Village Research Group, (now known as the Medieval Settlement Research Group) comprising reports about research and field work carried out throughout Britain. The report is published once each year. 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 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 Field Survey The term ‘field survey’ is used to describe all work that does not disturb archaeological deposits below the ground through an excavation. Field survey techniques involve recording measurements that help archaeologists draw plans or diagrams of archaeological features. There are a variety of different field survey techniques, including geophysical survey, building recording survey, field walking survey, landscape survey and earthwork 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 Cropmark Cropmarks appear as light and dark marks in growing and ripening crops. These marks relate to differences in the soil below. For example, parched lines of grass may indicate stone walls. Crops that grow over stone features often ripen more quickly and are shorter than the surrounding crop. This is because there is less moisture in the soil where the wall lies.

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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 PADDOCK * An enclosed field for horses. 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 BUILDING * A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known. back
monument MANOR HOUSE * The principal house of a manor or village. 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 POND * A body of still water often artificially formed for a specific purpose. Use specifc type where known. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type 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 DESERTED SETTLEMENT * An abandoned settlement, usually of the Medieval period, often visible only as earthworks or on aerial photographs. back
monument PLATFORM * Unspecified. Use specific type where known. back
monument LEAT * Artificial water channel, usually leading to a mill. back
monument ENCLOSURE * An area of land enclosed by a boundary ditch, bank, wall, palisade or other similar barrier. Use 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 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 HIDE * A shelter, sometimes camouflaged, for the observation of birds and animals at close quarters. back
monument CROFT * An enclosed piece of land adjoining a house. 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 MEADOW * A piece of grassland, often near a river, permanently covered with grass which is mown for use as hay. back
monument MOUND * A natural or artificial elevation of earth or stones, such as the earth heaped upon a grave. Use more specific type where known. 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 EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back
monument FORD * A shallow place in a river or other stretch of water, where people, animals and vehicles may cross. back
monument HOLLOW WAY * A way, path or road through a cutting. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record