Information for record number MWA4534:
Possible shrunken Medieval settlement or Post-Medieval garden earthworks at Wootton Wawen

Summary The earthworks of a possible Medieval shrunken village or Post-Medieval garden are located at Wootton Wawen. Features include possible house platforms and a hollow way.
What Is It?  
Type: Shrunken Village, Hollow Way, House Platform, Garden
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Wootton Wawen
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 15 63
(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 A hollow way running east to west is crossed by a north to south road. At the southeastern angle of the two roads is a group of six building platforms. One is much larger than the others and is roughly L-shaped. Opposite these in the southwestern angle is the former workhouse, which has a 16th century origin. More building platforms may await discovery in the back gardens of houses facing on to the A34. There may have been further houses to the east, just beyond the old course of the river.
2 An early 8th century charter refers to Wootton Wawen lying in the 'regione' of the 'Stoppingas'.
3 Map showing above mentioned region.
4 This area has also been claimed as the bailey of a possible motte and bailey castle. However that interpretation has now been questioned by English Heritage following a field visit on 28 November 2013. This work noted that the 'bailey' is not separated from the alleged 'motte' by a ditch visible at ground level and that the earthworks here are of a different scales and profiles suggestive of different dates. The overall shape of the 'bailey' is also thought to be unusual. Instead the earthworks are suggested to be the remains of a formal designed layout of 17th century date, though it is not suggested all the earthworks are of one period or of the garden arrangements.
 
Sources
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Wootton Wawen
Author/originator: Bassett S
Date: 1984
Page Number: 8-9
Volume/Sheet: 2
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Map
Title: Medieval Villages
Author/originator: Hooke D
Date: 1985
Page Number: 140
Volume/Sheet: OUCFA Monograph 5
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Monograph
Title: Medieval Villages
Author/originator: Hooke D
Date: 1985
Page Number: 147
Volume/Sheet: OUCA Monograph 5
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Wootton Wawen, Warwickshire
Author/originator: MCB Bowden and E Jamieson
Date: 2013
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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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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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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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 WORKHOUSE * A 19th century establishment for the provision of work for the unemployed poor of a parish; later an institution administered by Guardians of the Poor, in which paupers are lodged and the able-bodied set to work. back
monument SHRUNKEN VILLAGE * A settlement where previous house sites are now unoccupied, but often visible as earthworks, crop or soil marks. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument CASTLE * A fortress and dwelling, usually medieval in origin, and often consisting of a keep, curtain wall and towers etc. 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 MOTTE AND BAILEY * An early form of castle consisting of a flat-top steep-sided earthen mound, supporting a wooden tower, and a bailey. back
monument DITCH * A long and narrow hollow or trench dug in the ground, often used to carry water though it may be dry for much of the year. 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 BAILEY * The courtyard of a castle, ie. the area enclosed by the rampart or curtain. Use with wider site type where known. back
monument EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back
monument MOTTE * An artificial steep-sided earthen mound on, or in, which is set the principal tower of a castle. back
monument HOLLOW WAY * A way, path or road through a cutting. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record