Information for record number MWA1972:
Possible Site of Early Medieval/Medieval Mint

Summary The possible site of a mint, where coins were produced. Documentary evidence suggests that a mint may have existed in Warwick during the Early Medieval period. The exact location of the mint is unknown.
What Is It?  
Type: Mint
Period: Early medieval - medieval (801 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Warwick
District: Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 28 65
(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
Picture(s) attached

  
Description

  
Source Number  

1 In the Saxon chronicles the town is called "Werinca", and a Saxon penny found here bears the legend "Werhica".
2 Rous states that the mint was "certainly on the site where the vicars of the college now live", and mentions two moneyers by name - Baldred and Everard, the latter appearing in a charter of Henry I.
3 Excavations in the college gardens failed to locate the mint (see WA 1984).
4 N.J.Ebsworth suggests that the mint was in Northgate Street, but his argument relies on the false location of St.Mary's church on the west side of Northgate Street; and the assumption that Richard, son of Everard the Moneyer, was a moneyer himself and minted coins in his home.
5 Penny was minted between 1087 and 1100 during the reign of Willaim Rufus. It was made by a Warwick resident called Thidraed near to where St. Mary's church now stands. The Warwick mint operated between the reigns of Althelstan and King Stephen (c. 924AD-1150AD).
 
Sources
Source No: 2
Source Type: Newspaper/Magazine Article
Title: Medieval mint at Warwick
Author/originator:
Date: 1975
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Newspaper/Magazine Article
Title: A Penny Minted in Warwick Is now worth over £1000
Author/originator: Warwickshire Guardian
Date: 2004
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 14NE9
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 14NE9
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Serial
Title: British Numismatics Journal
Author/originator:
Date: 1965
Page Number: 53
Volume/Sheet: 34
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Unpublished document
Author/originator: Glew J T
Date: 1982
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
A coin of William I (1066 - 1087) which was minted at the Warwick mint
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Click here for larger image  
 
A coin of Edward the Confessor (1042 - 1066) which was minted at the Warwick mint
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Click here for larger image  
 
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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 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 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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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 CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument COLLEGE GARDEN * A formal garden consisting of lawns, walks and borders belonging to a college or university, eg. Oxford or Cambridge. back
monument COLLEGE * An establishment, often forming part of a university, for higher or tertiary education. back
monument TOWN * An assemblage of public and private buildings, larger than a village and having more complete and independent local government. back
monument MINT * A place where money is coined under public authority. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record