Information for record number MWA686:
Undated earthwork field system, Gaydon.

Summary The site of a field system which survives as an earthwork. It is of unknown date. The site is located 400m south east of Thorn Hill.
What Is It?  
Type: Field System, Strip Lynchet
Period: Unknown
Where Is It?  
Parish: Gaydon
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 37 53
(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 Gaydon Hill has marked entrenchments on the steep slope of its SW side, 'possibly dating back to the British times'. A cannon ball bearing the 'broad arrow' was found a few years ago in one of the trenches, a possible memorial of a skirmish connected with the Battle of Edgehill.
2 The above description appears to apply to an area centred SP3753. Examination of the ground and air cover indicate the earthworks to be a combination of ridge and furrow headland and natural escarpment.
3 A possible Undated earthwork field system has been recorded on the Warwickshire HER, though it has later been reinterpreted as a combination or ridge and furrow and a natural escarpment. An examination of all the available aerial photographs that cover this area as part of the South East Warwickshire and Cotswolds HLS Target Areas National Mapping Programme has led to a similar conclusion; that the earthworks are the Medieval or Post Medieval ridge and furrow (NMR Monument record 1546827).
 
Sources

Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Shakespeare's Land
Author/originator: Ribton Turner C J
Date: 1893
Page Number: 274-275
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Desk Top Study
Title: SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds NMP Project
Author/originator: Russell Priest
Date: 2010-2012
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 14NE9
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 14NE9
   
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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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 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 SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument RIDGE AND FURROW * A series of long, raised ridges separated by ditches used to prepare the ground for arable cultivation. This was a technique, characteristic of the medieval period. back
monument CANNON * A large mounted gun, now disused and placed in a prominent position as a piece of street furniture or as a "feature". back
monument FIELD SYSTEM * A group or complex of fields which appear to form a coherent whole. Use more specific type where known. back
monument TRENCH * An excavation used as a means of concealment, protection or both. back
monument STRIP LYNCHET * A terraced field usually found on hillsides. Comprising a flat strip of land, called the tread, and a steep, scarped lynchet or edge, called the riser. back
monument TARGET * Any structure or object, used for the purpose of practice shooting by aerial, seaborne or land mounted weapons. 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