Information for record number MWA556:
Wike Moat, Sambourne Lane, Coughton

Summary The medieval Wike moat would have originally surrounded a manor house. It is still visible as an earthwork and is partially water filled.
What Is It?  
Type: Moat
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Coughton
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 07 60
(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 A rectangular earthwork called Wike Moat. This, which is probably the site of the house of the de Coctuns and de Bruylys, stands on the south side of a lane about half a mile to the west of Coughton village and is crossed by a private lane to Coughton Lodge. The Moat is dry but deeply scarped, with a bank on the north side and a short bank on the south, to the east of the roadway. The west half of the south side is flattened out.
2 The Moat is unusual in that it is strongly banked outside the ditch. The east half is at present water-filled but this apparently is not normal.
4 The enclosure banks are up to 2m high and 3m wide. The Moated ditch is 7m wide and 2m deep.
5 Water filled on all 4 sides.
6 A Moat 2.6m deep with an external bank piled up a further 1.3 to 1.9m, but no internal bank whatsoever; the reason for this is difficult to see, unless the Moat was dug around a pre-existing enclosure which, being in use at the time, offered no dumping space for the upcast inside.
7 Photographed in 1978.
8 Wike Moat is of a typical square or rectangular form and surrounds the manor house.
 
Sources

Source No: 8
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: 1
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: 4
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Moated Sites Research Group
Author/originator: IRM
Date: 1984
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Card
   
Source No:
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Wike Moat, Coughton
Author/originator: WM
Date: 1987
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Plan
Title: OS Card, 35NE5
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 35NE5
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Plan
Title: Estate Map
Author/originator:
Date: 1746
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Z123
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: SMR card: photograph
Author/originator:
Date: 2005
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 25NE6
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: TBAS vol 86
Author/originator: Bond C J
Date: 1974
Page Number: 97
Volume/Sheet: 86
   
Images:  
Wike moat near Coughton
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Date: 1978
Click here for larger image  
 
Wike Moat on the 1886 Ordnance Survey map near Coughton
Copyright: Open
Date: 1886
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
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 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 ROADWAY * The central part of a road between the pavements or the verges. back
monument HOUSE * A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known. back
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 LODGE * A small building, often inhabited by a gatekeeper, gamekeeper or similar. Use specific type where known. back
monument MANOR HOUSE * The principal house of a manor or village. 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 ENCLOSURE * An area of land enclosed by a boundary ditch, bank, wall, palisade or other similar barrier. Use specific type where known. 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 SQUARE * An open space or area, usually square in plan, in a town or city, enclosed by residential and/or commercial buildings, frequently containing a garden or laid out with trees. 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