Information for record number MWA2571:
Site of Lower Woodcote Deserted Medieval Settlement

Summary Documentary evidence suggests that this may once have been the site of the Medieval settlement of Lower Woodcote. The site lies just south of the Police Head quarters at Leek Wootton
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Leek Wootton and Guys Cliffe
District: Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 28 68
(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 two Woodcotes (Upper and Lower) are among the hamlets mentioned by Rous at the end of the 15th century as being completely destroyed.
2 There is nothing visible from the air. In 1332 there were 13 persons taxed. Other documents exist, but were not examined thoroughly.
3 Location unknown (U), period of desertion known but documentary evidence inferior in quantity.
4 Dugdale indicates that Woodcote was reduced to only the manor house and concludes that this was Woodcote Inferior (Lower Woodcote).
5 Beighton's map of 1725 also shows a manor house at Woodcote.
6 A new house was built in 1861 to replace this manor house.
7 The manor house mentioned in
4 is probably the Woodcote Farm marked on the 1847 map at SP2869. The field pattern shown on the Tithe Map of Leek Wootton was very different from now, but no clue to the site of the last village is given by the field names.
8 An earlier field inspector gives a probable moat site as visible (SP2769) and suggests it may be connected with one of the Woodcotes.
9 No traces of depopulation or of the moated site were found when the site was visited.
 
Sources
Source No: 4
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Antiquities of Warwick
Author/originator: Dugdale W
Date: 1730
Page Number: 271
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 6, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1951
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: VI
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: The Buildings of England: Warwickshire
Author/originator: Pevsner N and Wedgwood A
Date: 1966
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Warwicks
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Map
Title: Map of Warwick
Author/originator: Beighton
Date: 1725
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 26NE2
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1961
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 26NE2
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Serial
Title: MVRG
Author/originator:
Date: 1958
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 6
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 66
Author/originator: Beresford M W
Date: 1945
Page Number: 99
Volume/Sheet: 66
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Site Visit
Title: OS Card, 26NE7
Author/originator: Chapman D J
Date: 1961
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 26NE7
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Site Visit
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: Pehrson B
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 2571
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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 SMR Card Sites and Monuments Record Card. The Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record began to be developed during the 1970s. The details of individual archaeological sites and findspots were written on record cards. These record cards were used until the 1990s, when their details were entered on to a computerised system. The record cards are still kept at the office of the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. 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
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 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 HAMLET * Small settlement with no ecclesiastical or lay administrative function. 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 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 DESERTED SETTLEMENT * An abandoned settlement, usually of the Medieval period, often visible only as earthworks or on aerial photographs. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. 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