Information for record number MWA2654:
Site of Cuckow Chapel at Rykmersbury Deserted Settlement

Summary The possible site of a Medieval chapel suggested by documentary and place name evidence. The chapel was probably associated with the deserted settlement of Rykmersbury. It was located 2km west of Leek Wootton
What Is It?  
Type: Chapel
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Beausale
District: Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 25 69
(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 There was a chapel at Beausale in the 13th century in honour of St John the Evangelist. It was endowed with the field called Rykenylesbury. It is also recorded in 1328 and in 1398 was known as Cocouchirche or Cokeuchirche. Before 1501 the so-called parish church of Cukkowe Church was in ruins, and the site and cemetery had been applied to profane uses. There were no inhabitants who could rebuild it. In 1545 John Coppe had a lease of a close called Ruytons Bury or Round Table, lying in Beausale, being Cockowe Church land. The earthwork at Castle Hill is still known as the Round Table and could have been the site of the chapel and deserted settlement.
2 Beresford suggests that the site was at Bulloak Farm and quotes the Victoria County History as a source: 'A field... now associated with the name and memory of Cuckow Church.'
3 The Victoria County History does not refer to this field and the alternative site at Camp Hill appears rather more probable (PRN 5274).
4 1951: The field NE of Bulloak Farm is the one associated with the name and memory of Cuckow Church. In the N corner of the field, at the top of the hill, large stones are occasionally brought to the surface by the plough. 1961: The Farmer recorded that foundations lay at a depth of 0.2m in the N corner of the field and also in the adjoining corner of the field to the W. These stones were dressed yellow sandstone blocks. No definite trace of depopulation.
5 The VCH volume 8 notes that the site of the Church can be identified in the Park, 200 yards northeast of Bulloak Farm, which is further east than this monument site.
6 The site is marked on a map of the Park dated 1845.
7 The chapel is thougt to have been founded in circa 1220.
 
Sources

Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 3, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1945
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 3
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 8, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Pugh R B (ed)
Date: 1969
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 8
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 8, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Pugh R B (ed)
Date: 1969
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 8
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 26NE2
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1961
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 26NE2
   
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: 7
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Research into the medieval landscape history of Beausale by Stephen Wallsgrove
Author/originator: Wallsgrove, S
Date: 2015
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: R.C. Hingley personal comments
Author/originator: R C Hingley
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
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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 VCH The Victoria County History of the Counties of England. This publication covers the history of each county in England. For Warwickshire, seven volumes were published between 1904 and 1964. They comprise a comprehensive account of the history of each town and village in the county, and important families connected to local history. Each volume is organised by 'hundred', an Anglo-Saxon unit of land division. The Victoria County History also contains general chapters about Warwickshire's prehistory, ecclesiastical and economic history. A copy of each volume is held at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. 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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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 YARD * A paved area, generally found at the back of a house. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument STONE * Use only where stone is natural or where there is no indication of function. back
monument PARK * An enclosed piece of land, generally large in area, used for hunting, the cultivation of trees, for grazing sheep and cattle or visual enjoyment. Use more specific type where known. back
monument PARISH CHURCH * The foremost church within a parish. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument CASTLE * A fortress and dwelling, usually medieval in origin, and often consisting of a keep, curtain wall and towers 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 CEMETERY * An area of ground, set apart for the burial of the dead. back
monument CHAPEL * A freestanding building, or a room or recess serving as a place of Christian worship in a church or other building. Use more specific type where known. back
monument ROUND * A small, Iron Age/Romano-British enclosed settlement found in South West 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
monument EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record