Information for record number MWA3291:
Site of Mound, Berkeley Road, Kenilworth

Summary The site of a mound, possibly of Prehistoric date, which was described in the 1800s. The mound is no longer visible and it is not possible to say exactly what it may have been. A modern housing estate now occupies the site in Berkeley Road, Kenilworth.
What Is It?  
Type: Mound, Linear Earthwork, Enclosure
Period: Early Neolithic - Post-medieval (4000 BC - 1750 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Kenilworth
District: Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 28 72
(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 This site (like WA3290), is recorded only by a local antiquarian in the last century: after a lengthy and rather vague description of the actual spot where the earthwork was located it is described: "on approaching the spot from the N-E, it appears nothing but a mis-shapen mass of earth with a projecting bank on the N-W; but when approached from the westward, lines of circumvallation appear, though much cut up by the roads to some farm buildings which now nestle comfortably on the S side of the mound....when the sun is high, the plan becomes distinctly visible, and shows it to have been originally a high mound or burgh situated on the NE side of a circular entrenchment formed of two half-mooned shaped lines of embankments." He thinks it was "the 'ham' or 'worth' of Albert the clerk, if not one of the previous owners of the lordships of Upton or Optone."
2 This site is somewhat dubious (especially its interpretation) as nothing remains of it today (the area being under a modern housing estate) and like WA3290 must be treated with wary caution.
3 Whilst considerable caution is required it appears clear that if genuine then this 'mound' is far more likely to have been some form of linear earthwork or enclosure than a mound and as such is highly unlikely to have been earlier than BA (could just be NL). Out of use by the Imperial period.
 
Sources

Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Kenilworth-Past and Present
Author/originator: Burgess J T
Date: 1877
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: Thompson D J
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 3599
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Pers. Comm. Magnus Alexander
Author/originator: Magnus Alexander
Date: 2006
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
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 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.
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period Prehistoric About 500,000 BC to 42 AD

The Prehistoric period covers all the periods from the Palaeolithic to the end of the Iron Age.
This is a time when people did not write anything down so there is no documentary evidence for archaeologists to look at. Instead, the archaeologists look at the material culture belonging to the people and the places where they lived for clues about their way of life.

The Prehistoric period is divided into the Early Prehistoric and Later Prehistoric.
The Early Prehistoric period covers the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods.
The Later Prehistoric period covers Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age times.
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period Neolithic About 4000 BC to 2351 BC

The word ‘Neolithic’ means ‘New Stone Age’. Archaeologists split up the Neolithic period into three phases; early, middle and late. The Neolithic period comes after the Mesolithic period and before the Bronze Age.

People in the Neolithic period hunted and gathered food as their ancestors had but they were also began to farm. They kept animals and grew crops. This meant that they were able to settle more permanently in one location instead of constantly moving from place to place to look for food.
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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 Imperial 1751 AD to 1914 AD (end of the 18th century AD to the beginning of the 20th century AD)

This period comes after the Post Medieval period and before the modern period and starts with beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1750. It includes the second part of the Hannoverian period (1714 – 1836) and the Victorian period (1837 – 1901). The Imperial period ends with the start of the First World War in 1914.
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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.
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monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument HOUSING ESTATE * A residential district planned as a unit. back
monument CIRCUMVALLATION * A rampart or other defensive entrenchment. back
monument BURGH * A civil and administrative area incorporating a town of medieval origin. back
monument EMBANKMENT * A long ridge of earth, rocks or gravel primarily constructed to carry a roadway. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument ENCLOSURE * An area of land enclosed by a boundary ditch, bank, wall, palisade or other similar barrier. Use specific type where known. back
monument LINEAR EARTHWORK * A substantial bank and ditch forming a major boundary between two adjacent landholdings. Most date from the late Bronze Age and Iron Age. back
monument FARM BUILDING * A building or structure of unknown function found on a farm. Use more specific type where known. back
monument MOUND * A natural or artificial elevation of earth or stones, such as the earth heaped upon a grave. 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