Information for record number MWA5400:
Fishponds 100m S of Manor Farm, Draycote

Summary A Medieval bank and fishponds, used for the breeding and storage of fish. They are visible as earthworks, and are situated on the west side of Draycote.
What Is It?  
Type: Fishpond, Bank (Earthwork)
Period: Medieval - Post-Medieval (1066 AD - 1750 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Bourton and Draycote
District: Rugby, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 44 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
Picture(s) attached

 
Description

 
Source Number  

1 Remains of a major fishpond complex associated with a moated site (PRN 3318).
3 Remains consist of three fishponds separated by a 0.6m bank. One of these is flooded and appears to have been flooded for several years. The second is being excavated prior to flooding.
4 The owner has re-excavated large portions of this earthwork in an attempt to restore it to something like its original form.
 
Sources

Source No: 2
Source Type: Plan
Title: OS Card, 35NE5
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 35NE5
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: IRM
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 1755
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 25NE6
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: Kilburn C D
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 3697
   
Images:  
Map indicating fishponds at Manor Farm, Draycote
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Date: 1984
Click here for larger image  
 
Fishponds at Draycote
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Date: 1993
Click here for larger image  
 
Medieval fishponds at Draycote
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Date: 1993
Click here for larger image  
 
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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 SMR Card Sites and Monuments Record Card. The Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record began to be developed during the 1970s. The details of individual archaeological sites and findspots were written on record cards. These record cards were used until the 1990s, when their details were entered on to a computerised system. The record cards are still kept at the office of the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. 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 SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument FISHPOND * A pond used for the rearing, breeding, sorting and storing of fish. 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