Information for record number MWA6095:
Fishponds S and W of Merevale Abbey

Summary A series of fishponds, used for breeding and storing fish, dating to the Medieval period. They lie 200m south of Abbey Farm.
What Is It?  
Type: Fishpond
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Merevale
District: North Warwickshire, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 29 97
(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 'Abbey Pool' and 'Black Pool' were mentioned in 1550 as among the seven Pools or ponds.
2 There are two fishponds in Double Pans Wood and three more to the NW of it. All are dry. There are also several associated water channels, some wet.
3 'Abbey Pool' and 'Black Pool' are two extensive ponds SE of Abbey Farm.
4 These two Pools date from the period of monastic occupation. They were created by damming the stream in the valley bottom. The water in 'Black Pool' is held behind a 14m wide dam to the west of the monastic church. It is connected via a sluice within this dam to 'Abbey Pool'. The dam forming this Pool has been modified greatly but does remain as an earthwork. Both Pools are thought to have been enlarged and landscaped since the Dissolution. Water was carried away from 'Abbey Pool' by a large drainage channel (see WA 3954).
 
Sources

Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 4, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1947
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 4
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 29NE1
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1967
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 29NE1
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: SAM description
Author/originator: EH
Date: 1996
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: Willams S E
Date: 1977
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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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 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 POOL * A small body of water, either natural or artificial. back
monument FISHPOND * A pond used for the rearing, breeding, sorting and storing of fish. back
monument POND * A body of still water often artificially formed for a specific purpose. Use specifc type where known. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument ABBEY * A religious house governed by an abbot or abbess. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument WOOD * A tract of land with trees, sometimes acting as a boundary or barrier, usually smaller and less wild than a forest. back
monument SLUICE * A dam which can be raised or lowered to regulate the flow of water. back
monument WATER CHANNEL * An artificial watercourse for the conveyance of water. back
monument STREAM * A natural flow or current of water issuing from a source. back
monument FARM * A tract of land, often including a farmhouse and ancillary buildings, used for the purpose of cultivation and the rearing of livestock, etc. Use more specific type where known. back
monument EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back
monument DAM * A barrier of concrete or earth, etc, built across a river to create a reservoir of water for domestic and/or industrial usage. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record