Information for record number MWA205:
Polesworth Abbey Church

Summary The parish church of St. Editha which is Medieval in date. The church was associated with Polesworth Abbey. It is located 200m east of Bridge Street, Polesworth.
What Is It?  
Type: Church
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Polesworth
District: North Warwickshire, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SK 26 02
(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 Parish church of St Editha consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle and porch, and a tower north of the chancel. The nave is of the first half of the 12th century and was probably the part of the priory buildings that served the parishioners. The narrow north aisle was either part of the original plan or was added soon afterwards. Both nave and aisle seem to have been shortened in the 14th century and the aisle widened. The lower part of the tower may be 13th century, the upper part dates to late 14th century. No plan or excavation reveals the original layout, but the church was probably originally of cross-shape plan, standing entirely east of, but conjoining, the parish nave, with the nuns' quire in the west arm, a central tower, presbytery and transepts, the cloister being to the south of the nuns' quire. After the Suppression the whole of the Abbey church disappeared.
5 Nunnery 9th century or 10th century - re-established 12th century. North aisle poss. on site of Saxon church. Existing church is nave of nuns' church - cloister was to southeast. Mound to east of church - poss. site of apse of Lady Chapel. Random test pits to west in 1976 - no traces of Nunnery found. (WMANS 19, p65). External drains around all of church.
6 A programme of recording and observation was undertaken by Warwickshire Museum Field Services group between 2002-2006. A reburied medieval stone coffin and part of a brick vault was recorded in the interior of the church, during the excavation of a statue base. medieval and later masonry was recorded during limited excavation outside the church. This may have belonged either to a monastic range west of the west range to the cloister, perhaps part of the Abbess' Lodging, or to the west end of a building set against the church. An undercroft was also recorded.
7 The existing church of St Editha occupies the western half of the site of the original Abbey church.
8 The priory survived as the Parish church.
 
Sources
Source No: 8
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: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 4, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1947
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 4
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: St Editha's Abbey
Author/originator: Mitchell H C
Date: 1939
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Archaeological Church Assessment
Author/originator: Hodder M A
Date: 1990
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Observation Report
Title: Archaeological Recording at Polesworth Abbey, Warwickshire 2002-2006
Author/originator: N Palmer and C Coutts
Date: 2006
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Observation Report
Title: Archaeological Recording at Polesworth Abbey, Warwickshire 2002-2006
Author/originator: N Palmer and C Coutts
Date: 2006
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Plan
Title: TBAS vol 89
Author/originator: Mytum H
Date: 1978-9
Page Number: Fig 2
Volume/Sheet: 89
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 29NE1
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1967
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 29NE1
   
Images:  
The Church of St Editha, part of Polesworth Abbey
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Click here for larger image  
 
An architectural fragment, the head of a nun, from the Church of St Editha, Polesworth
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
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
source WMANS West Midlands Archaeological News Sheet, a publication that was produced each year, this later became West Midlands Archaeology. The West Midlands Arcaheological News Sheet contains reports about archaeological work that was carried out in the West Midlands region in the previous year. It includes information about sites dating from the Prehistoric to the Post Medieval periods. It was produced the Department of Extramural Studies at Birmingham University. Copies are held at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. 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 Test Pit A small, exploratory excavation that helps archaeologists to find out how deep below the ground surface the archaeological layers extend. They are also dug to discover whether the topsoil contains particular concentrations of artefacts. Test pits are dug before a large excavation to determine a site's depth and contents. 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.
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monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument COFFIN * A chest made of stone, wood or lead, used to enclose a dead body. 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 STONE * Use only where stone is natural or where there is no indication of function. back
monument LADY CHAPEL * A chapel dedicated to our Blessed Lady, often placed to the east of the High Altar, sometimes in other positions. back
monument NUNNERY * Houses specifically of nuns/canonesses or religious women. back
monument TOWER * A tall building, either round, square or polygonal in plan, used for a variety of purposes, including defence, as a landmark, for the hanging of bells, industrial functions, etc. Use more specific type where known. back
monument VAULT * An underground room or building with an arched roof, often used as a burial chamber. Use wider site type where known. back
monument PARISH CHURCH * The foremost church within a parish. back
monument DRAIN * An artificial channel for draining water or carrying it off. back
monument PRIORY * A monastery governed by a prior or prioress. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, FRIARY, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument ABBEY * A religious house governed by an abbot or abbess. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument CLOISTER * A covered walk, walled on one side and usually arcaded on the other, surrounding or partly surrounding an open area in a monastery or similar complex of Christian buildings. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. back
monument MUSEUM * A building, group of buildings or space within a building, where objects of value such as works of art, antiquities, scientific specimens, or other artefacts are housed and displayed. back
monument BRIDGE * A structure of wood, stone, iron, brick or concrete, etc, with one or more intervals under it to span a river or other space. Use specific type where known. back
monument UNDERCROFT * A vault or crypt under a church or chapel. Use wider site type where known. back
monument CROSS * A free-standing structure, in the form of a cross (+), symbolizing the structure on which Jesus Christ was crucified and sacred to the Christian faith. Use specific type where known. 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 STATUE * A representation in the round of a living being, allegorical personage, eminent person or animal, etc, sculptured, moulded or cast in marble, metal, plaster, etc. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record