Information for record number MWA534:
Site of the Benedictine Abbey to the north of School Road, Alcester

Summary The site of Alcester Abbey, a Medieval monastery and moat. Some of the Abbey buildings, including the Chapter House, have been excavated. Other parts of the Abbey, including the claustral buildings, are visible as earthworks.
What Is It?  
Type: Monastery, Moat, Abbey
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Alcester
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 08 57
(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 1140 Ralph le Boteler of Oversley founded a Benedictine abbey. The site was encompassed by the River Arrow to N and E and by a connecting moat to S and W. In 1467 the abbey was absorbed into Evesham, owing to mismanagement and neglect. The priory was dissolved in 1536.
2 Two fields on the right of priory Road, behind the cemetery, are named abbey Meadow and priory Close and mark the site of the ancient abbey of Alcester. Nothing remains above ground, but excavations begun in 1938 partially revealed the plan of the abbey.
4 Excavated by R I Threlfall in 1938. Three domestic buildings at the corner of the N and E ranges excavated. In 1939 two buildings of the N range were excavated. One may have been the chapter house, and three graves were found. Pottery and large quantities of stained glass were found. Also moulded stone, painted wall plaster, part of a stone bowl and bronze objects.
5 In addition to the chapter house the refectory was uncovered. This was an unaisled hall 5.3m wide.
6 Scheduled as Warwickshire Monument No 165.
7 J Bond undertook a plane table survey in 1973. The site is now marked only by earthworks. These earthworks have been disturbed since the demolition of the buildings, but a tentative interpretation can be attempted. An island is enclosed by a moat and the river, and earthworks, probably of claustral buildings, survive in low relief. The site of the church, cloister-garth and ranges S of the cloister may be tentatively identified. Outside the moat to the SE are traces of a further building. All the notes from the 1938 excavations and most of the finds were lost during the war.
8 Permission to remove earthworks to create playing fields was refused by the DoE.
10 The site was surveyed and researched in 1992 by RCHME in connection with a fresh proposal to create a school playing field.
11 A BA dissertation illustrated some of Threlfall's finds.
12 Text of a short paper given by I.Threlfall in August 1938 to the Birmingham Archaeological Society, with illustrations of finds and some correspondence
13 Rescheduled as SAM 21562. The precinct boundaries are thought to be defined by the River Arrow along its north and east edge and on its north-west by the mill and mill-race of Ragley mill. The scheduled area has been extended to the south east to include further earthwork remains believed to be associated with the monastery.
14 No evidence of medieval occupation was recovered from any of the trenches. This would also suggest that significant activities associated with Alcester abbey did not extend beyond the river. It is likely that the area around the site was under cultivation from the medieval period until the 1970s.
20 medieval post settings, a post pad and two pebble surfaces were found during an evaluation.
21 medieval structural remains found during an observation following the evalaution
20 at the grammar school may have been outer court structures from the abbey. Demolition material probably relating to the dissolution of the abbey was also found
22 The moat is one of only a few in the county assocaited with an ecclesiastical site and the abbey was founded circa 1140.
 
Sources
Source No: 10
Source Type: Archaeological Report
Title: Alcester Abbey, Archaeological Field Survey, 1992
Author/originator: RCHME
Date: 1992
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 21
Source Type: Article in serial
Title: Symbols of Status in Medieval Warwickshire (1000-1500)
Author/originator: Hook D
Date: 2014
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 117
   
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: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 2, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Page W (ed)
Date: 1908
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 2
   
Source No: 19
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Alcester Notes
Author/originator: W A Seaby
Date: 1954
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 12
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Alcester Abbey
Author/originator: Threlfall R I
Date: 1938-72
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Alcester Grammar School - extensions to playing fields
Author/originator: WCC, University of Birmingham, DoE
Date: 1973-4
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 15
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Site of Alcester Abbey
Author/originator: WM
Date: 1979
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 16
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Land at Ragley Mill Lane, Alcester
Author/originator: WM
Date: 1989
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 17
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Alcester Abbey Survey
Author/originator: WM, RCHME, EH
Date: 1992
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 16
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Site of Alcester Abbey
Author/originator: Audsley Spence
Date: 1996
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 11
Source Type: Descriptive Text
Title: Alcester Abbey
Author/originator: Pitt D
Date: 197?
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 14
Source Type: Evaluation Report
Title: Archaeological Evaluation at St. Faith's Primary School, St. Faith's Road, Alcester, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Jones, C & Thompson, P
Date: 2004
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Report No 0442
   
Source No: 20
Source Type: Evaluation Report
Title: Archaeological Evaluation at Alcester Grammar School, Birmingham Road, Alcester
Author/originator: Coutts C & Jones C
Date: 2004
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Report 0407
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Newspaper/Magazine Article
Title: Alcester Abbey; Second Season's Excavations
Author/originator:
Date: 1939
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Newspaper/Magazine Article
Title: Excavations at Alcester Abbey
Author/originator:
Date: 1940
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: From Birmingham Post
   
Source No: 21
Source Type: Observation Report
Title: Further Archaeological Observation at Alcester Grammar School, Birmingham Road, Alcester
Author/originator: Gethin, B
Date: 2005
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 0520
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 64
Author/originator: Styles D
Date: 1941
Page Number: 20-38
Volume/Sheet: 64
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Serial
Title: Alcester Abbey
Author/originator: Bond, C J
Date: 1973
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: Alcester Abbey
Author/originator: DoE
Date: 1972
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: SAM list 1985
Author/originator: DoE
Date: 1985
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 13
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: Alcester Abbey
Author/originator: EH
Date: 1994
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
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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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source SAM List Scheduled Ancient Monument List. A list or schedule of archaelogical and historic monuments that are considered to be of national importance. The list contains a detailed description of each Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM) and a map showing their location and extent. By being placed on the schedule, SAMs are protected by law from any unauthorised distrubance. The list has been compiled and is maintained by English Heritage. It is updated periodically. 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 Field Survey The term ‘field survey’ is used to describe all work that does not disturb archaeological deposits below the ground through an excavation. Field survey techniques involve recording measurements that help archaeologists draw plans or diagrams of archaeological features. There are a variety of different field survey techniques, including geophysical survey, building recording survey, field walking survey, landscape survey and earthwork 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 PRECINCT * The ground immediately surrounding a place, particularly a religious building. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument CHAPTER HOUSE * The building attached to a cathedral or collegiate church where the dean, prebendaries or monks and canons met for the transaction of business. back
monument SCHOOL * An establishment in which people, usually children, are taught. back
monument BUILDING * A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known. back
monument REFECTORY * A communal dining room, especially in schools, colleges and monasteries. back
monument STONE * Use only where stone is natural or where there is no indication of function. back
monument GRAMMAR SCHOOL * A school founded in or before the 16th century, for teaching Latin, later becoming a secondary school teaching languages, history, science, etc. 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 GRAVE * A place of burial. Use more specific type where known. back
monument PRIORY * A monastery governed by a prior or prioress. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, FRIARY, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. 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 ABBEY * A religious house governed by an abbot or abbess. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument CLOISTER * A covered walk, walled on one side and usually arcaded on the other, surrounding or partly surrounding an open area in a monastery or similar complex of Christian buildings. back
monument PLAYING FIELD * A field or piece of ground used for the playing of games and other activities. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. back
monument CEMETERY * An area of ground, set apart for the burial of the dead. back
monument TRENCH * An excavation used as a means of concealment, protection or both. back
monument STRUCTURE * A construction of unknown function, either extant or implied by archaeological evidence. If known, use more specific type. back
monument MEADOW * A piece of grassland, often near a river, permanently covered with grass which is mown for use as hay. back
monument MONASTERY * Houses specifically of monks, canons or religious men but not friars. back
monument ISLAND * A piece of land, sometimes man-made, completely surrounded by water. back
monument WALL * An enclosing structure composed of bricks, stones or similar materials, laid in courses. Use specific type where known. back
monument PRIMARY SCHOOL * A school which combines the functions of both Infant and Junior Schools, teaching children up to the age of eleven. Use specific type where known. back
monument DOMESTIC * This is the top term for the class. See DOMESTIC Class List for narrow terms. 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