Information for record number MWA5273:
Possible Site of Rykmersbury Deserted Medieval Settlement

Summary Documentary evidence suggests that this was once the site of Rykmersbury, which became a deserted settlement during the Medieval period. The site lies in farmland approximately 3km north west of Warwick.
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Beausale
District: Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 25 69
(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 Rous lists this destruction. Victoria County History Vol 3 p119 correctly places the village in a field in Beausale parish now associated with the name of the chapel of this village (PRN 2654). It lies NE of Bulloak Farm. A field called Rykenylesbury was part of the 13th century endowment of Beausale chapel. In 1545 John Coppe leased a close called Ruytonsbury or Roundtable in Beausale being called Cuckow Church land.
2 The earthwork at Camp Hill is still known as the Round Table and could be the site of Rykenylesbury (PRN 2669).
3 The Victoria County History suggests that the site was at Camp Hill and does not mention Bulloak Farm.
4 Location unknown (U), period of desertion known, but documentary evidence inferior in quantity (1).
5 1951: The field NE of Bulloak Farm is the one associated with the name and memory of Cuckow Church. In the N corner of the field, at the top of the hill, large stones are occasionally brought to the surface by the plough. 1961: The Farmer recorded that foundations lay at a depth of 0.2m in the N corner of the field and also in the adjoining corner of the field to the W. These stones were dressed yellow sandstone blocks. No definite trace of depopulation.
 
Sources
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 3, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1945
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 3
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 26NE2
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1961
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 26NE2
   
Source No: 1
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: Serial
Title: DMVRG vol 6 1958
Author/originator:
Date: 1958
Page Number: Appendix B
Volume/Sheet: 6
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: R.C. Hingley personal comments
Author/originator: R C Hingley
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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
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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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 STONE * Use only where stone is natural or where there is no indication of function. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. 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 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 ROUND * A small, Iron Age/Romano-British enclosed settlement found in South West England. back
monument FARM * A tract of land, often including a farmhouse and ancillary buildings, used for the purpose of cultivation and the rearing of livestock, etc. Use more specific type where known. back
monument EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record