Information for record number MWA6783:
Cropmark of Possible Quarry 600m S of Chadshunt

Summary A cropmark is visible on aerial photographs which may indicate the site of a former quarry. It is situated 700m south of All Saints Church at Chadshunt.
What Is It?  
Type: Quarry
Period: Unknown
Where Is It?  
Parish: Chadshunt
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 34 52
(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  

2 A possible quarry cropmark has been identified from an air photograph.
3 The possible quarry pit or Bronze Age ring ditch is centred at SP 3485 5225, to the south of Chadshunt, in a field approximately 460m to the NNW of New Farm. There is no quarry or other feature recorded at this location on any of the early edition Ordnance Survey maps. Vertical aerial photographs of 1945 show a couple of trees at this point in the field, which may have sprung up from an area of undergrowth avoided by the plough due to something like the presence of a former quarry pit. Vertical aerial photographs of 1959 show that the trees have gone, but in their place is a dark cropmark macula which has the appearance of a pit, possibly caused by quarrying activity. By the time of oblique aerial photographs of 1990, the site has the appearance of a curvilinear ditched enclosure visible as a cropmark. Due to the possible disturbance that may have been caused by the uprooting of the trees visible in 1945 however, it is impossible to say with any degree of certainty whether a genuine enclosure or ring ditch is represented. The cropmark is too poorly defined and faint to be mapped, and is only visible on aerial photographs which do not offer sufficient control points for rectification purposes; so in this case this record has been created instead of mapping as part of the SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds HLS NMP project. The Warwickshire HER notes that an aerial photograph of 1978 shows cropmarks at this site which may indicate the site of a former quarry. There is no quarry or other feature recorded at this location on any of the early edition Ordnance Survey maps. The 1978 photographs referred to in the HER record in fact relate to an area which lies slightly to the east, so it is possible that the wrong photographs have been referenced.
4 The HER polygon seems OK to me and, if not quite exactly in the right place, doesn't seem far out.
 
Sources
Source No: 1
Source Type: Aerial Photograph
Title: SP3552
Author/originator: Pickering J
Date: 1978
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: SP3552 B
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Desk Top Study
Title: SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds NMP Project
Author/originator: Josephine Janik
Date: 2010-2012
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Unpublished Document
Author/originator: Hodgson J C
Date: 1993
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Pers. Comm.
Author/originator: B Gethin
Date: 2013 onwards
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
technique Oblique aerial photograph Oblique aerial photographs are taken at angles of less than 90 degrees to the ground. They are usually taken by a photographer through the window of an aeroplane. Oblique aerial photographs are particularly useful for identifying archaeological sites that survive as earthworks, standing monuments and cropmarks. See also vertical aerial photographs. back
technique Vertical aerial photograph Vertical aerial photographs are taken from immediately overhead using a camera fixed to the underside of an aeroplane. The camera points directly downwards at 90 degrees to the ground. Vertical photographs are particularly useful for identifying sites that survive as cropmarks. See also oblique aerial photographs. back
technique Cropmark Cropmarks appear as light and dark marks in growing and ripening crops. These marks relate to differences in the soil below. For example, parched lines of grass may indicate stone walls. Crops that grow over stone features often ripen more quickly and are shorter than the surrounding crop. This is because there is less moisture in the soil where the wall lies.

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technique Aerial Photograph Aerial photographs are taken during an aerial survey, which involves looking at the ground from above. It is usually easier to see cropmarks and earthworks when they are viewed from above. Aerial photographs help archaeologists to record what they see and to identify new sites. There are two kinds of aerial photographs; oblique and vertical. back
period Bronze Age About 2500 BC to 700 BC

The Bronze Age comes after the Neolithic period and before the Iron Age.

The day to day life of people in the Bronze Age probably changed little from how their ancestors had lived during the Neolithic period. They still lived in farmsteads, growing crops and rearing animals.

During the Bronze Age people discovered how to use bronze, an alloy of tin and copper (hence the name that has given to this era). They used it to make their tools and other objects, although they continued to use flint and a range of organic materials as well. A range of bronze axes, palstaves and spears has been found in Warwickshire.
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monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument DITCHED ENCLOSURE * An area of land enclosed by one or several boundary ditches. Double index with a term to indicate the shape of the enclosure where known. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument PIT * A hole or cavity in the ground, either natural or the result of excavation. 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 RING DITCH * Circular or near circular ditches, usually seen as cropmarks. Use the term where the function is unknown. Ring ditches may be the remains of ploughed out round barrows, round houses, or of modern features such as searchlight emplacements. back
monument QUARRY * An excavation from which stone for building and other functions, is obtained by cutting, blasting, etc. back
monument MACULA * Area feature visible as an earthwork or cropmark with no known function. 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

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record