Information for record number MWA557:
Coughton Park

Summary Coughton Park, a deer park dating from the Medieval to the Post Medieval period. Much of the park pale is visible as an earthwork. It is located to the south of Sambourne. Recommended for inclusion on Local List by Lovie.
What Is It?  
Type: Deer Park, Park Pale
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Alcester
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 06 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
Description

 
Source Number  

1 Coughton, enclosed in 1487. Appears on maps of Saxton and Speed, but has been long disparked.
2 Coughton park is in the angle of the Ridgeway and Wike Lane, wherein a small patch of ancient woodland remains. A broad green ride through it may be an old forest road. Coughton Old park is marked approximately in this position by Beighton (1725). This park was enclosed by Robert Throckmorton in 1486 and Sambourne Heath and Spinney's Leys were added later. A park with pale and 2 lodges appears among the possessions of the manor c1625 and a 17th century letter mentions the enclosure of another 16 to 18 acres out of the common park. Great, Little and Hither park are field names in a map of 1746.
3 The whole of the perimeter of this park is either extant or traceable. The road to the NE is paled on both sides for about a mile. A low ridge in the plough indicates the pale originally continued to Wike Moat, while from SP0660 it is traceable as a ditch through the plough in direction of Coughton lodge and presumably Wike Moat. Appears on Saxton's and Speed's maps.
4 Recommended for inclusion Register.
5 Marked as disparked on Beighton's 1725 map.
6 Until 1301, this area was in the forest of Feckenham. The park enclosure is attributed to Robert Throckmorton 1486/7. It was enlarged in 1569, with the addition of a strip of land enclosed from Alcester Heath. The 1569 document also refers to the New park, which had evidently been added in the western part of the parish. This area contained three major fishponds and a warrener's lodge. By 1695 a good deal of the park was let out to tenants, but field names recorded on maps of that date show that the park area extended beyond the pale..
7 Map showing the areas referred to in
6.
8
9 Pre-emparkment in 1440 it was a mix of arable pasture and woodland.
10 Portable Antiquities Scheme find provenance information: Date found: 2006-04-28T23:00:00Z Date found: 2005-01-06T00:00:00Z Date found (2): 2006-02-06T00:00:00Z Methods of discovery: Metal detector
 
Sources

Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Some accounts of English deer parks
Author/originator: Shirley E
Date: 1867
Page Number: 153-161
Volume/Sheet:
   
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: 4
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwickshire Register Review Data Tables (Stratford on Avon)
Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwickshire Register Review Report & Recommendations
Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwickshire Register Review Report & Recommendations
Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Desk Top Study
Title: A435 Studley Bypass Archaeological Assessment (Stage 2)
Author/originator: Warwickshire Museum
Date: 1994
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No:
Source Type: Internet Data
Title: Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) Database
Author/originator: British Museum
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Map
Title: Historic Landscape Assessment Maps
Author/originator: Hooke D
Date: 1999
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
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: Historic Landscape Assessment
Author/originator: Hooke D
Date: 1999
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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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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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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period Post Medieval About 1540 AD to 1750 AD (the 16th century AD to the 18th century AD)

The Post Medieval period comes after the medieval period and before the Imperial period.

This period covers the second half of the reign of the Tudors (1485 – 1603), the reign of the Stuarts (1603 – 1702) and the beginning of the reign of the Hannoverians (1714 – 1836).
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monument FISHPOND * A pond used for the rearing, breeding, sorting and storing of fish. back
monument LODGE * A small building, often inhabited by a gatekeeper, gamekeeper or similar. Use specific type where known. back
monument DEER PARK * A large park for keeping deer. In medieval times the prime purpose was for hunting. back
monument PARK * An enclosed piece of land, generally large in area, used for hunting, the cultivation of trees, for grazing sheep and cattle or visual enjoyment. 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 ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument RIDGEWAY * A road or way along a ridge of downs or low range of hills. back
monument PASTURE * A field covered with herbage for the grazing of livestock. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. 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 MANOR * An area of land consisting of the lord's demesne and of lands from whose holders he may exact certain fees, etc. back
monument PARK PALE * A wooden stake fence, often associated with deer hunting. 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 RIDE * A road or way for riding on horseback within a park or estate. back
monument FOREST * A large tract of land covered with trees and interspersed with open areas of land. Traditionally forests were owned by the monarchy and had their own laws. 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