Information for record number MWA3511:
Shrunken Medieval Settlement W of Monks Kirby

Summary The site of the Medieval shrunken village of Monks Kirby. The remains are visible as an earthwork. The site is located 200m north west of the church at Monks Kirby.
What Is It?  
Type: Shrunken Village
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Monks Kirby
District: Rugby, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 46 83
(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
Picture(s) attached

 
Description

 
Source Number  

2 Possible faint earthworks show on air photographs.
3 This field is still under pasture and has at least three possible hollow ways and some possible evidence for house platforms. Immediately N of the field is a possible old stream bed.
4 This site requires further field examination.
5 The main focal point of the settlement, and the point at which the roads converge in the settlement is a green which lies at the south of the settlement, near to the church. Therre are substantial earthworks in the field to the north of the church. These form what seem to be an interlocking group of hollow-ways. The Domesday Book records the monks as holding land with 22 villagers and 6 small holders.
 
Sources

Source No: 1
Source Type: Aerial Photograph
Title:
Author/originator: J Pickering
Date: 1962
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: SP4489 C/D/E/X
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Rural Settlements in Warwickshire
Author/originator: Corfield, C.
Date: 1999
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: Thomson D J
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 4402
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: R.C.Hingley personal comment
Author/originator: Hingley R C
Date: 1989
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: R.C.Hingley personal comment
Author/originator: Hingley R C
Date: 1989
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
Earthworks of a Medieval Shrunken Village at Monks Kirby
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Click here for larger image  
 
back to top

Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source Domesday Book The Domesday Book was commissioned in December 1085 by William the Conqueror, who invaded England in 1066. It contains records for about 13,000 medieval settlements in the English counties south of the rivers Ribble and Tees (the border with Scotland at the time). The Domesday Book is a detailed record of the lands and their resources that belonged to the king. It also records the identity of the landholders and their tenants. back
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.
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
monument HOLLOW * A hollow, concave formation or place, which has sometimes been dug out. 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 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 PASTURE * A field covered with herbage for the grazing of livestock. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. 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 STREAM * A natural flow or current of water issuing from a source. back
monument EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back
monument HOLLOW WAY * A way, path or road through a cutting. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record