Information for record number MWA5065:
Site of Medieval Cemetery at St John's

Summary Excavations have revealed a possible Medieval cemetery associated with the Medieval chapel and hospital of St Johns. The cemetery lies underneath flats at St Johns, Warwick.
What Is It?  
Type: Cemetery, Burial, Inhumation
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Warwick
District: Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 28 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 Human remains have been found on a number of occasions. Bodies were disturbed and reburied during the construction of prefab houses on the site in the Second World War. When, about twenty years ago, flats were built on the site, human skeletons were found. The remains of thirteen individuals are now in the Museum store. One individual appears to have suffered trepanation. In January 1987 the Museum was informed by the Police that skulls had been found by workmen digging a trench to repair a 19th century culvert. Three skulls came from the W end of the trench, and two grave pits to the E indicate a total of five burials. These eighteen bodies probably formed part of a Medieval cemetery associated with the chapel and Medieval Hospital of St John's (PRN 1928).
2 The skulls found in 1987 were from middle-aged to elderly Caucasians.
3 Remains of 2 individuals encountered during water mains renewal works on the east corner of St Johns and Coten End comprising parts of limb bones and a mandible.
4 Disarticulated Human remains were recorded from the northern area of an observation, potentially the mixed grave fills from the cemetery assoicated with the Medieval Hospital.
 
Sources
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Probable Medieval Cemetery Close to St Johns, Warwick
Author/originator: Hingley R C
Date: 1987
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Medieval cemetery, St John's, Warwick
Author/originator: Ashworth T G
Date: 1987
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Observation Report
Title: Archaeological observation of a cable trench at St John's House, Warwick
Author/originator: C Jones
Date: 2008
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Observation Report
Title: Further Observation of Warwick Town Centre STW Water Main Renewals
Author/originator: Jones C & Coutts C
Date: 2001
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Report 0118
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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 HOUSE * A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument CULVERT * A drainage structure that extends across and beneath roadways, canals or embankments. back
monument INHUMATION * An interment of unburnt, articulated human remains. Use specific type where known. back
monument FLATS * A purpose-built tenement. Use specific monument type where possible. back
monument GRAVE * A place of burial. Use more specific type where known. back
monument PIT * A hole or cavity in the ground, either natural or the result of excavation. Use more specific type where known. back
monument MUSEUM * A building, group of buildings or space within a building, where objects of value such as works of art, antiquities, scientific specimens, or other artefacts are housed and displayed. back
monument CEMETERY * An area of ground, set apart for the burial of the dead. back
monument HOSPITAL * An establishment providing medical or surgical treatment for the ill or wounded. Use narrower term where possible. back
monument TRENCH * An excavation used as a means of concealment, protection or both. back
monument CHAPEL * A freestanding building, or a room or recess serving as a place of Christian worship in a church or other building. Use more specific type where known. back
monument BURIAL * An interment of human or animal remains. Use specific type where known. If component use with wider site type. Use FUNERARY SITE for optimum retrieval in searches. back
monument HUMAN REMAINS * The unarticulated remains of the body of a human being. If articulated use inhumation. back
monument TOWN * An assemblage of public and private buildings, larger than a village and having more complete and independent local government. back
monument WORKS * Usually a complex of buildings for the processing of raw materials. Use specific type where known. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record