Information for record number MWA5402:
Medieval ditch, Brownsover Lane, Brownsover

Summary A Medieval ditch was found during an excavation. Various finds were recovered from the ditch, including fragments of animal bone and pottery. The ditch was situated north of the church at Brownsover.
What Is It?  
Type: Ditch
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Rugby
District: Rugby, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 50 77
(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 Excavation in 1953 of an earthwork (see PRN 3391). Animal bones, late 13th century or early 14th century pottery, 14th century green glazed handled jug fragment and two sherds of St Neots Ware (identified by Bruce Mitford). No stratification - finds scattered throughout ditch. The ditch itself was shallow and flat-bottomed, without ramparts and probably not defensive.
2 1954: Shallow ditch outside that dug in 1953 was trenched. Similar results and more St Neots ware with finds of a generally earlier nature than those of the previous year. Sherds of 10th century and 11th century down to 13th century and 14th century.
3 The Rugby School reports are not to be relied on for the dating of finds, unless substantiated.
 
Sources
Source No: 1
Source Type: Excavation Report
Title: RSNHS
Author/originator: Fawcett T
Date: 1953
Page Number: 16
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Excavation Report
Title: RSNHS
Author/originator: Fawcett T
Date: 1954
Page Number: 12
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 29NE1
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1967
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 29NE1
   
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
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 SCHOOL * An establishment in which people, usually children, are taught. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument RAMPART * A protective earthen mound, often the main defence of a fortification. back
monument DITCH * A long and narrow hollow or trench dug in the ground, often used to carry water though it may be dry for much of the year. 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