Information for record number MWA7257:
Rifle Range and Butts

Summary The site of a rifle butts, used by the Stratford Volunteer Rifle Corps for target practice during the Imperial period. The rifle butts are marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1886. The site was located to the south of Shottery.
What Is It?  
Type: Rifle Butts
Period: Unknown
Where Is It?  
Parish: Stratford upon Avon
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 18 54
(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 In 1859 the Stratford Volunteer Rifle Corps was formed, by 1860 a target range was constructed 'against the side of Borden Hill'. The range is shown on the OS map of 1886 and appears to follow the line of a track from Shottery to Hansell Farm. In 1886 it is shown as 1000 yds long with the butts or target area at the south west end of a strip, partly embanked, on which firing positions were marked every hundred yards.
2Lidar imagery shows the butts at the west end of the range, where the tagets were, still exist as an earthwork.
 
Sources
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: South West Stratford Development Plan
Author/originator: Jones G C
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: LIDAR
Title: Environment Agency LIDAR (2008)
Author/originator: Environment Agency
Date: 2008
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
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 Imperial 1751 AD to 1914 AD (end of the 18th century AD to the beginning of the 20th century AD)

This period comes after the Post Medieval period and before the modern period and starts with beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1750. It includes the second part of the Hannoverian period (1714 – 1836) and the Victorian period (1837 – 1901). The Imperial period ends with the start of the First World War in 1914.
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monument YARD * A paved area, generally found at the back of a house. back
monument TARGET RANGE * An area of ground used for the testing of, and practicing with, weapons against fixed and moveable targets. back
monument RIFLE BUTTS * A target range used for rifle and small arms practice and recreational purposes. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument BUTTS * A mound or structure on which an archery, musketry or artillery target is erected. Use specific type where known. 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 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