Information for record number MWA507:
Possible Site of Smercote Parva Deserted Settlement

Summary The possible site of Smercote Parva deserted Medieval settlement. It is thought to have been situated 500m west of Goodyers End.
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Nuneaton and Bedworth
District: Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 32 85
(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 'The Smercotes are now known by certain grounds so called, part in Exhall, near Newlands, and part in Bedworth parish [see PRN 517 for Smercote Magna], near which are now standing four or five farmhouses. This hath been of a long time a depopulated place.'
2 The PNMS (schools) survey has 'Town Field' just above the stream. Mr G Price Jones confirmed the site for me by inspection.
3 The situation of the depopulated place of 'Smercote pva' as shown on Dugdale's map of Knightlow Hundred agrees with Beresford's siting. No surface indications of the deserted village of Smercote Parva are now to be seen.
4 Extensive work has been carried out during the year by Mr S C Clarke in an attempt to locate this elusive site. Further attempts will be made to locate the exact site of the village.
5 Letter from A F Cook.
6 Map.
7 Domesday Book entry : "in Smercote and in 'Sole' 1 hide. Godric holds from him. Land for 2 ploughs. 2 villagers. Woodland 1 league long and half league wide; when exploited, 10s. The value was 15s; now 5s. Saxi held it freely before 1066." Photocopy of entry in FI file 294.
8 VCH entry. Photocopy of entry in FI file 294.
 
Sources
Source No: 7
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Domesday Book Warwickshire incl Birmingham
Author/originator: Phillimore and Co Ltd
Date: 1976
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 6, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1951
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: VI
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Antiquities of Warwickshire
Author/originator: Dugdale W
Date: 1730
Page Number: 1056
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Archaeological sites in the Nuneaton area
Author/originator: Cook A F
Date: 1995
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Map
Title: Map 1995
Author/originator: Cook A F
Date: 1995
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 57NW18
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1956
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 57NW18
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 66
Author/originator: Beresford M W
Date: 1945
Page Number: 99
Volume/Sheet: 66
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: MVRG
Author/originator:
Date: 1961
Page Number: 7
Volume/Sheet: 9
   
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 MVRG Reports of the Medieval Village Research Group, (now known as the Medieval Settlement Research Group) comprising reports about research and field work carried out throughout Britain. The report is published once each year. Copies are held at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. 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 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
source VCH The Victoria County History of the Counties of England. This publication covers the history of each county in England. For Warwickshire, seven volumes were published between 1904 and 1964. They comprise a comprehensive account of the history of each town and village in the county, and important families connected to local history. Each volume is organised by 'hundred', an Anglo-Saxon unit of land division. The Victoria County History also contains general chapters about Warwickshire's prehistory, ecclesiastical and economic history. A copy of each volume is held at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. 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.
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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 FARMHOUSE * The main dwelling-house of a farm, it can be either detached from or attached to the working buildings. 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 HIDE * A shelter, sometimes camouflaged, for the observation of birds and animals at close quarters. back
monument STREAM * A natural flow or current of water issuing from a source. back
monument TOWN * An assemblage of public and private buildings, larger than a village and having more complete and independent local government. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record