Information for record number MWA2066:
Possible Site of Hill Figure at The Hangings

Summary The possible site of a hill figure, The Red Horse which may date back to the Medieval period. The exact location of the hill figure is not certain but it was situated in the Tysoe area.
What Is It?  
Type: Hill Figure
Period: Medieval - Post-Medieval (1066 AD - 1750 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Tysoe
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 35 44
(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 Red Horse cut by 'the country people'.
2 The figure was scoured annually, on Palm Sunday, with accompanying festivities, and the tenant of the farm containing it is said to have held the land by the manorial service of scouring the horse.
3 Red Horse marked.
4 The figure was probably obliterated when the common field was enclosed in 1798 and the precise site is lost. Dating is uncertain and Saxon, Medieval and Post Medieval dates have been proposed.
5 It has been proposed that the site was located at approximately SP3544 and it is argued that air photographs indicate the location of the Red Horse as a vegetation mark. After its destruction a new figure was cut some way to the N (PRN 2065).
6 AP.
7 A resistivity survey also indicated ground disturbance which could mark the location of the site.
8 Examination of the differential growth patterns of trees and augering with an iron bar indicated an alternative location at about SP3545.
9 A reference is made to the Red Horse by cartographer John Speed, in 1606 who wrote '...corn as the chiefest commodity where of the Red Horse Vale yieldeth most abundantly' In 1607 Camden in his 'Britannia' wrote '…the shape of a horse cut in a red hill by countrey people hard by Pillerton…' Horse also mentioned by Dugdale in 1642.
10 Resistivity report from 1980.
11 Booklet from 1965.
12 Press cutting from 1964.
13 A letter from 1887.
14 Further information from 1887.
15 Letter from 1964.
16 Transparencies of the site.
17 Photographs.
18 Note of documentary evidence.
19 Correspondence about photographs.
20 Brief entry about the site.
21 Correspondence from 1990.
22 Addresses of people researching the site in 1990.
23 Internal memo.
24 Correspondence (e-mail) about the site.
25 Internet material.
26 documentary evidence from 1750.
27 Further booklet, published later than
5, but no date given. Author assumed to be Miller, W.G. as his are the only contact details given.
28 Correspondance from W.G.Miller to Emma Jones containing further information on the Red Horse.
29 The Red Horse figure was not visible on any available photographs viewed as part of the SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds HLS NMP project and neither were the indeterminate markings visible on the aerial photograph mentioned in
5. It is not clear what air photographs were referred to in
6. The only possible photograph of the site, identified as part of this survey, is shown in a website (http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/hillfigs/lost/tysoe/tysoe.htm) and is a ground shot taken in 1964 by Graham Miller.
 
Sources
Source No: 6
Source Type: Aerial Photograph
Title: Tysoe
Author/originator:
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 11
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: The Red Horse of Tysoe
Author/originator: Miller, W.G. and Carrdus, K.A.
Date: 1965
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 20
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Figures in a Landscape
Author/originator:
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 26
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: The Diaries of Sanderson Miller
Author/originator: Hawkes, William, ed.
Date: 2005
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 27
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: The Search for Britain's Lost Unique Hill-Figure
Author/originator: W G Miller
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Technical Report
Author/originator: Stanley J S
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title:
Author/originator:
Date:
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Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Antiquities of Warwickshire
Author/originator: Dugdale W
Date: 1730
Page Number: 1056
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Camden's Britannia
Author/originator: Camden
Date: 1607
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 13
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: The Red Horse
Author/originator: Francis, C. D.
Date: 1887
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 15
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: The Red Horse, Tysoe
Author/originator: Carrdus K
Date: 1964
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 19
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: The Red Horse of Tysoe
Author/originator: Prof C. Hawkes
Date: 1978
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 21
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: The Red Horse, Tysoe
Author/originator: RCHME
Date: 1990
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 28
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Correspondance from W.G. Miller on the Red Horse of Tysoe
Author/originator: W G Miller
Date: 2001
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: The Red Horse, Tysoe
Author/originator: Wildman S
Date: 1964
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 24
Source Type: Digital archive
Title: The Red Horse, Tysoe
Author/originator: Monteith, Helen
Date: 2005
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 29
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: 25
Source Type: Internet Data
Title: The Red Horse of Tysoe
Author/originator: Hows
Date: 2005
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 14
Source Type: Note
Title: The Red Horse
Author/originator: Scarlett Potter F
Date: 1887
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 18
Source Type: Note
Title: The Red Horse, Tysoe
Author/originator:
Date: 1835
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 22
Source Type: Note
Title: The Red Horse of Tysoe
Author/originator: Wise, P
Date: 1990
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 23
Source Type: Note
Title: Red Horse of Tysoe
Author/originator: Maclagan H
Date: 1999
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 12
Source Type: Newspaper/Magazine Article
Title: Red Horse of Tysoe
Author/originator: The Birmingham Post
Date: 1964
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 16
Source Type: Photograph
Title: Tysoe
Author/originator:
Date: 1964/5
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 17
Source Type: Photograph
Title: Tysoe
Author/originator:
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Plan
Title: The Red Horse
Author/originator: Beighton H
Date: 1725
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 25NE6
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 10
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: The Red Horse(s) of Tysoe
Author/originator: Heathcote, C.
Date: 1980
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Saint James' The Great Idlicote A brief History of the Parish
Author/originator: Geoffrey Howe
Date: 1998
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source Britannia Britannia, the journal of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies which contains articles about the archaeology of Roman Britain. It is published annually and 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
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 Resistivity Survey A resistivity survey measures the electrical resistance of the soil and any buried features within it. Where there are buried pits and ditches, there is less resistance to the flow of electricity. Where there are archaeological remains made from stone, for example a wall, the resistance is greater. These differences in resistance are measured and recorded by archaeologists using a resistivity meter. The measurements can then be used to plot features that exist below the ground. See also geophysical survey. back
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.
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period Post Medieval About 1540 AD to 1750 AD (the 16th century AD to the 18th century AD)

The Post Medieval period comes after the medieval period and before the Imperial period.

This period covers the second half of the reign of the Tudors (1485 – 1603), the reign of the Stuarts (1603 – 1702) and the beginning of the reign of the Hannoverians (1714 – 1836).
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monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument HARD * A firm beach or foreshore used for landing and loading of ships and other vessels. In more recent times hards have been reinforced with concrete. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. back
monument RED HILL * Iron Age or Roman coastal site producing salt by boiling of seawater in fired clay pans, resulting in characteristic mounds of 'BRIQUETAGE' (see Archaeological Objects Thesaurus). back
monument HILL FIGURE * A giant figure of a man or animal carved on chalk hillsides in southern England. 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

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record