Information for record number MWA2918:
King's Hill Deserted Medieval Settlement

Summary The site of King's Hill Medieval deserted settlement, 400m south west of Finham Green. A trackway, house platforms and an area of ridge and furrow cultivation are visible as earthworks.
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement, House Platform, Trackway, Field System, Ridge And Furrow
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Stoneleigh
District: Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 32 74
(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: )
Scheduled Monument (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 Fieldwork revealed a previously unrecorded deserted Medieval village site which lay immediately West of the Bypass route. House platforms are visible on either side of the present lane. Excavation was carried out on the threatened area of the inner furlong headland, which showed that the furlong had been laid out by a line of posts approximately 9m apart.
2 Hill. A village which was anciently called Hulle or King's Hulle. Location of a grange of Stoneleigh Abbey [MWA5292]. There are now eight houses.
3 A Deserted Medieval village of some six or seven platforms about 0.6m high, with associated ridge and furrow and main and subsidiary trackways. Rough grazing.
7 In 1990 the pasture field to the southwest of the scheduled area was ploughed. Pottery of the 13th, 14th and 15th century and Post Medieval periods was recorded from a small area next to the road. No House platforms are visible here, but the settlement may have extended this far. The southern part of the field is covered by low ridge and furrow. A struck flint and a possible Roman sherd were also recorded.
8 Archaeological observation carried out in 1994 did not reveal any features relating to the Medieval settlement.
9 Trial trench revealed a gully of 18th/19th century date along with four residual sherds of Medieval pottery (13th/15th century).
10 This monument, which falls into two areas, includes a deserted Medieval village situated on the upper south facing slopes and summit of a prominent hill overlooking the confluence of the Finham Brook and River Sowe. The village survives as a series of earthworks including up to eight rectangular building platforms which stand up to 0.6m high and are situated on both sides of the current road, with their associated gardens, track ways and surrounding paddocks and fields containing clearly visible ridge and furrow. Partial Excavations in 1971 revealed that each furlong of the field system had been laid out with a line of posts spaced approximately 9m apart. Further watching briefs in 1994 and 1997 produced no additional information although in a field to the south west and outside the monument 13th, 14thand 15th century pottery was retrieved following ploughing although there were no House platforms. A monastic grange connected with Stoneleigh Abbey was known in this area which was sold to Richard Andrewes and Leonard Chamberlayne of Woodstock in 1542. The village was known in old documents as ‘Hulle’, ‘King’s Hulle’ or ‘Helen’s Hulle’.
 
Sources
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: MVRG
Author/originator: WJF
Date: 1971
Page Number: 31
Volume/Sheet: 19
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: King's Hill DMV
Author/originator: EH (Ellis P)
Date: 1989
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: King's Hill DMV
Author/originator: EH (Armstrong Louise)
Date: 1985
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Evaluation Report
Title: Archaeological Evaluation at Old King's Hill Cottage, King's Hill Lane, Stoneleigh
Author/originator: Wright K
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 10
Source Type: Statuatory List
Title: National Heritage List for England
Author/originator: Historic England
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Observation Report
Title: Archaeological Observation at Hill Farm, King's Hill Lane, Stoneleigh
Author/originator: Gethin B
Date: 1994
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: Deserted Medieval Village at Kings Hill
Author/originator: DoE
Date: 1973
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: SAM List 1983
Author/originator: DoE
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: King's Hill DMV
Author/originator: Hodgson J C
Date: 1990
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
none Scheduled Monument Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) are those archaeological sites which are legally recognised as being of national importance. They can range in date from prehistoric times to the Cold War period. They can take many different forms, including disused buildings or sites surviving as earthworks or cropmarks.

SAMs are protected by law from unlicensed disturbance and metal detecting. Written consent from the Secretary of State must be obtained before any sort of work can begin, including archaeological work such as geophysical survey or archaeological excavation. There are nearly 200 SAMs in Warwickshire.
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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 SAM List Scheduled Ancient Monument List. A list or schedule of archaelogical and historic monuments that are considered to be of national importance. The list contains a detailed description of each Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM) and a map showing their location and extent. By being placed on the schedule, SAMs are protected by law from any unauthorised distrubance. The list has been compiled and is maintained by English Heritage. It is updated periodically. 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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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 Trial Trench A small regular hole that is usually square or rectangular in shape. Archaeologists dig trial trenches to discover if there are any archaeological remains at a particular location. See also excavation. back
period Roman About 43 AD to 409 AD (the 1st century AD to the 5th century AD)

The Roman period comes after the Iron Age and before the Saxon period.

The Roman period in Britain began in 43 AD when a Roman commander called Aulus Plautius invaded the south coast, near Kent. There were a series of skirmishes with the native Britons, who were defeated. In the months that followed, more Roman troops arrived and slowly moved westwards and northwards.
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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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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 GRANGE * An outlying farm or estate, usually belonging to a religious order or feudal lord. Specifically related to core buildings and structures associated with monastic land holding. Use specific term where known. back
monument PADDOCK * An enclosed field for horses. back
monument FIELDWORK * A usually temporary earthwork or fortification, the latter constructed by military forces operating in the field. Use more specific type where known. back
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 RIDGE AND FURROW * A series of long, raised ridges separated by ditches used to prepare the ground for arable cultivation. This was a technique, characteristic of the medieval period. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument GULLY * A deep gutter, drain or sink. back
monument ABBEY * A religious house governed by an abbot or abbess. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument PASTURE * A field covered with herbage for the grazing of livestock. back
monument DESERTED SETTLEMENT * An abandoned settlement, usually of the Medieval period, often visible only as earthworks or on aerial photographs. back
monument BUILDING PLATFORM * A site where a building once stood as identified by a level area of ground, often compacted or made from man-made materials. Use only where specific function is unknown, otherwise use more specific term. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. back
monument FIELD SYSTEM * A group or complex of fields which appear to form a coherent whole. Use more specific type where known. back
monument PLATFORM * Unspecified. Use specific type where known. back
monument GARDEN * An enclosed piece of ground devoted to the cultivation of flowers, fruit or vegetables and/or recreational purposes. Use more specific type where known. back
monument HOUSE PLATFORM * An area of ground on which a house is built. A platform is often the sole surviving evidence for a house. back
monument TRACKWAY * A pathway, not necessarily designed as such, beaten down by the feet of travellers. 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