Information for record number MWA6190:
Possible Site of Early Medieval Settlement at Burton Dassett

Summary The possible site of an Early Medieval settlement at Burton Dassett. The remains of a substantial enclosure suggest that a settlement may have existed here before the Norman Conquest.
What Is It?  
Type: Settlement, Enclosure
Period: Early medieval (801 AD - 1065 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Burton Dassett
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 39 51
(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 The name 'Burton' implies some kind of fortified centre, which is likely to have been on the high ground near the church. The Medieval earthworks around the church (PRN 656) are indeed enclosed on the S and E by a modest boundary dyke. The location of the church, on the uppermost margin of Medieval cultivation on such an inconveniently steep slope, strongly suggests a pre-conquest site (the Domesday account includes mention of a priest). It also lies very asymmetrically within the present parish and only 0.6km from the Avon Dassett boundary to the E. Its position may derive from a time when the whole Dassett estate still possessed some unity, being located midway between its two principal settlements.
2 Plan drawn in 1973.
 
Sources
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Field and Forest
Author/originator: Bond C J
Date: 1982
Page Number: 160
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Plan
Title: Field and Forest
Author/originator: Bond C J
Date: 1982
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Fig 7:2
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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 SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. back
monument BOUNDARY * The limit to an area as defined on a map or by a marker of some form, eg. BOUNDARY WALL. Use specific type where known. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. 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 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