Information for record number MWA6318:
Medieval earthwork dam & mill pond

Summary The possible site of a Medieval dam which survives as an earthwork. It was probably associated with a mill pond marked on Beighton's map of 1722-5. The site lies on the south side of Vernon's Lane, Nuneaton.
What Is It?  
Type: Dam, Mill Pond
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Nuneaton and Bedworth
District: Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 35 92
(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 Between the Priory and the canal, just to the W of the modern Earls Road, there is an earthwork which must have been a dam across the Barpool Brook. The pond behind this dam, the Barpool, provided water to drive a mill. A survey of 1564 estimates the Barpool as 4.86 ha. Beighton's map of 1722-5 shows it as about 8.09 - 12.14 ha. The 1889 OS map does not show it as an earthwork apparently because it coincides with a track. It does, however, show two approximately E-W channels or leats and a pond W of the dam.
 
Sources

Source No: 1
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 91
Author/originator: E.A. Veasey
Date: 1981
Page Number: 58
Volume/Sheet: 91
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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 Modern The Modern Period, about 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
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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 modern About 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
more ->
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monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument CANAL * An artificial navigable waterway used for the transportation of goods. Nowadays also used for recreational purposes. back
monument MILL * A factory used for processing raw materials. Use more specific mill type where known. See also TEXTILE MILL, for more narrow terms. back
monument MILL POND * The area of water retained above a mill dam for driving a mill. back
monument POND * A body of still water often artificially formed for a specific purpose. Use specifc type where known. back
monument PRIORY * A monastery governed by a prior or prioress. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, FRIARY, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument DRIVE * A road/carriage way giving access from the main road to the house, stables. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument LEAT * Artificial water channel, usually leading to a mill. 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