Information for record number MWA3045:
Shrunken Post Medieval Settlement at Sawbridge

Summary The site of a Post Medieval shrunken settlement. The earthworks show traces of house platforms and a pond, probably for watering stock. It is situated at the Manor Farm at Sawbridge.
What Is It?  
Type: Shrunken Village, House Platform, Pond
Period: Post-medieval (1540 AD - 1750 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Wolfhampcote
District: Rugby, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 50 65
(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 were 29 houses at Sawbridge in 1730.
2 Today there are fewer than ten houses and this indicates depopulation after 1730. See PRN 3044 for one possible area of desertion.
3 The site was visited in 1973 and a sketch plan was produced. The site looked like a couple of small crofts with perhaps one fairly definite building platform; ponds shown on the sketch plot were for stock watering and were possibly old clay diggings.
4 Plan.
5 Interpretation of the landscape immediately to the south.
6 Observation of a cable trench to the south of Sawbridge recorded no structural remains. One sherd of 11th/12th-century Stamford ware, a few sherds of 12th/13th-century pottery were located within the field where deserted settlement has been identified.
 
Sources

Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Antiquities of Warwickshire
Author/originator: Dugdale W
Date: 1730
Page Number: 1056
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Medieval settlement, Sawbridge.
Author/originator: Assistant Keeper, Oxfordshire County Museum (Bond) C J)
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Observation Report
Title: Archaeological Observation at Manor Farm, Sawbridge, Warwickshire
Author/originator: C Coutts
Date: 2010
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Report 1013
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Plan
Title: Sawbridge
Author/originator: Wilson, E. (WM)
Date: 2001
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Plan
Title: Earthworks at Sawbridge, Wolfhampcote, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Bond C J
Date: 1973
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: Pehrson B
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 3081
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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
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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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 HOUSE * A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known. 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 SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. back
monument SHRUNKEN VILLAGE * A settlement where previous house sites are now unoccupied, but often visible as earthworks, crop or soil marks. back
monument POND * A body of still water often artificially formed for a specific purpose. Use specifc type where known. 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 TRENCH * An excavation used as a means of concealment, protection or both. back
monument CROFT * An enclosed piece of land adjoining a house. 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 EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record