Information for record number MWA2735:
Site of Medieval Chapel at Blackwell

Summary Documentary evidence suggests that there was a chapel in Blackwell in the Medieval period.
What Is It?  
Type: Chapel, Site
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Tredington
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 24 43
(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  
Site of a Medieval chapel.
1 The chapel of Blackwell was in existence before 1240. It was a demesne chapel of the Prior of Worcester, but belonged to the church of Tredington. The chapel was granted in 1549 to Richard Field and others and probably demolished.
2 Although sold off in 1549, the chapel in fact still stands on the south side of the road coming into Blackwell from Ilmington. It consists of a chancel about six yards long and a nave about ten and a half yards long, with exposed foundations of a north porch. There is a string course around the external south and west walls of the chancel, with substantial reamins of the northernmost jamb and part of the sill of the east window in situ. The visible north wall of the chancel has at some point been rebuilt and displays the complete sill of a smaller ancient window, with some displaced portion of its jambs. Other shaped pieces of dressed stone form the capstones of the adjacent modern gateway. The nave has been foreshortened from the west by the erection of a new gable end within the old walls which still stand at the oresent eaves level. In these old walls are the ancient jambs of a north doorway with the weathered remains of a rudimentary scratch dial: implaying that particular stone and perhaps the whole doorway has been moved from the other side of the building. No remains of the ancinet windows are extant in the nave but the large portion of Medieval plinth remains on the south side near the juncion with the chancel. When the chapel was refurbished last century to include a bathroom, a stone was removed from the wall and a small baby with parched skin was discovered. It was replaced in the wall and sealed up.
3 The old chapel still stands on the south side of Ilmington road as part of Manor Cottage and consists of a chancel and a nave with the foundations of a north porch visible. The chapel is said to have been dedicated to St Polycarp, an early Christian martyr who was Bishop of Smyrna.
4 Location moved based upon evidence in
3. The location of this Medieval chapel and the Methodist Chapel seem to have been conflated.
 
Sources
Source No: 3
Source Type: Archaeological Report
Title: Archaeological Recording at Manor Farm Barns, Blackwell, Tredington, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Catherine Coutts
Date: 2007
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 3, Worcestershire
Author/originator: Page W (ed)
Date: 1913
Page Number: 547-8
Volume/Sheet: 3
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Desk Top Study
Title: A Short History of Blackwell
Author/originator:
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Pers. Comm. Giles Carey
Author/originator: G Carey
Date: 2009-2014
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
back to top

Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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 Modern The Modern Period, about 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
more -> 		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.
more -> 		back
period modern About 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
more -> 		back
monument YARD * A paved area, generally found at the back of a house. back
monument MANOR FARM * A farm on the estate of a manor. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument METHODIST CHAPEL * A place of worship for Methodists, a movement founded by John Wesley. Following his death in 1791 there were many secessions. 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 CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. back
monument MANOR * An area of land consisting of the lord's demesne and of lands from whose holders he may exact certain fees, etc. back
monument GATEWAY * A substantial structure supporting or surrounding a gate. May be ornate or monumental, and have associated structures such as lodges, tollbooths, guard houses etc. 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 SCRATCH DIAL * A set of marks found on the wall of a building, thought to be a form of sundial. back
monument BARN * A building for the storage and processing of grain crops and for housing straw, farm equipment and occasionally livestock and their fodder. Use more specific type where known. back
monument WALL * An enclosing structure composed of bricks, stones or similar materials, laid in courses. Use specific type where known. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record