Information for record number MWA4171:
Biggin Deserted Medieval Settlement

Summary The site of a deserted settlement of Biggin. There is limited documentary evidence for the site but some traces of earthworks, including house platforms, are visible. It is situated to the southeast of Newton.
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement, House Platform
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Newton and Biggin
District: Rugby, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 53 77
(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 Known as Holme in Domesday Book. A site can be seen along the stream N of the present Biggin Mill. From its watery situation it is likely that the settlement moved a little way up the hill to the present Newton. The village is listed by Rous, but not presented in 1517. From 17th century records it appears that locals knew there had been a village and the name had survived as a field name, but they knew no more.
2 Poor archaeology (C), period of desertion known, but documentary evidence inferior in quantity.
3 Two trenches cut across main street of Biggin. No finds except 19th century pottery, china and clay pipe. No sign of road metalling or foundations.
4 Beresford's siting cannot be substantiated, though 'Biggin Mill' suggests that it cannot be far wrong. No desertion could be distinguished. The school excavation was presumably on the site suggested by Beresford. There is a double lynchet feature, but this is probably natural.
5 There is a possible moat on the site. There are possible traces of house platforms to the S of the moat, 'though not enough to suggest a settlement'.
 
Sources
Source No: 3
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: RSNHS
Author/originator: Fawcett T
Date: 1951
Page Number: 17-19
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: IRM
Date: 1985
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 4572
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 25NE6
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Serial
Title: DMVRG vol 6 1958
Author/originator:
Date: 1958
Page Number: Appendix B
Volume/Sheet: 6
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 66
Author/originator: Beresford M W
Date: 1945
Page Number: 99
Volume/Sheet: 66
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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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 OS Card Ordnance Survey Record Card. Before the 1970s the Ordnance Survey (OS) were responsible for recording archaeological monuments during mapping exercises. This helped the Ordnance Survey to decide which monuments to publish on maps. During these exercises the details of the monuments were written down on record cards. Copies of some of the cards are kept at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. The responsibility for recording archaeological monuments later passed to the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments. 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
source TBAS Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society is a journal produced by the society annually. It contains articles about archaeological field work that has taken place in Birmingham and Warwickshire in previous years. Copies of the journal are kept by the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
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
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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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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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 SCHOOL * An establishment in which people, usually children, are taught. back
monument MILL * A factory used for processing raw materials. Use more specific mill type where known. See also TEXTILE MILL, for more narrow terms. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument MOAT * A wide ditch surrounding a building, usually filled with water. Use for moated sites, not defensive moats. Use with relevant site type where known, eg. MANOR HOUSE, GARDEN, etc. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument DESERTED SETTLEMENT * An abandoned settlement, usually of the Medieval period, often visible only as earthworks or on aerial photographs. 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 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 SIGN * A board, wall painting or other structure displaying advice, giving information or directions 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 LYNCHET * A bank formed at the end of a field by soil which, loosened by the plough, gradually moves down slope through a combination of gravity and erosion. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record