Information for record number MWA822:
Ascote Deserted Medieval Settlement

Summary The site of the deserted settlement of Ascote which dated to the Medieval period. The earthworks of house platforms and hollow ways are visible and documentary evidence exists about its desertion. It is located 200m south of Ascote Hill.
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement, Hollow Way, House Platform
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Chapel Ascote
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 41 56
(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 There was arable land here in the 13th century and Rous records its depopulation. The chapel is closely connected with Hodnell, and probably located halfway between the two villages (PRN 817). In the 17th century the absence of a parish organisation brought Ascote into the Poor Law dispute at Quarter Session. The site stands at the N most point in the bend of the stream, some distance from the modern farm of the same name.
2 Medium preservation (B). Period of desertion known, but documentary evidence inferior in quantity (1).
3 The indicated site has been cultivated for many years and no remains of desertion are visible.
4 The land has now been put down to pasture and three main hollow ways and some house platforms can clearly be distinguished on a S facing hillslope overlooking the stream. The hollow way runs down the hillside from the Radbourn - Bishop's Itchington footpath to the stream. The W hollow way is very pronounced. house platforms can be distinguished, but form no set pattern.
6 On an estate map is the inscription 'In this place appears the Ruins of the foundation of some Ancient Town or other Large Buildings'. There are traces of house platforms, ploughed up now but producing plenty of Medieval pottery.
7 Estate map of 1768.
8 Plan of chapel Ascote showing possible Medieval features.
9 A Medieval settlement is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs taken in 1946, though the site appears to have been partly levelled on aerial photographs taken in 1970. Some elements of the site are still extant on aerial photographs taken in 1999. The site is centred on SP 4158 5645 and extends over a total area which measures 545m east-west and 445m north-south. The site comprises circa five crofts, four possible Buildings, two building platforms, four hollow ways and three spoil heaps. This site has been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the South East Warwickshire and Cotswolds HLS Target Areas National Mapping Programme. The main area of settlement is defined by a NE-SW oriented hollow way extending across the north (between SP 4137 5647 and SP 4172 5669), with three smaller NW-SE oriented hollow ways extending southwards from it almost as far as the stream. The crofts, defined by boundary banks, extend to the east and west of these smaller hollow ways, and typically measure 55m long by 30m wide. In places, the croft banks appear to extend over the hollow ways, suggesting that they might post date them. A fourth hollow way is located on the eastern side of the site, is oriented almost north-south and appears to cut the crofts. Two further building platforms are located to the south of the stream, at SP 4170 5635 and SP 4160 5635. Four possible Buildings are suggested by narrow L or U shaped linear banks on the northern edge of the settlement area. A probable building platform is defined by a scarp at the centre of the settlement (SP 4148 5646), while a possible building platform is defined by a U shaped scarp, located at SP 4155 5634. A group of circa three spoil heaps are located on the northern bank of the stream, around SP 4158 5641, and may suggest further Buildings. A further spoil heap is located at SP 4168 5639 and appears to be overlaid by the enclosing bank of the pond (NMR: 1532493), suggesting pre-pond settlement activity.
10 Note that the earthworks were once very well preserved and are shown on an air photo held by the Warwickshire HER (SP4156 A and B). They are now reduced to a slightly raised rectangular area (visible on lidar imagery).
 
Sources
Source No: 5
Source Type: Aerial Photograph
Title:
Author/originator: J Pickering
Date: 1962
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: SP4489 C/D/E/X
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: TBAS vol 86
Author/originator: Bond C J
Date: 1974
Page Number: 94
Volume/Sheet: 86
   
Source No: 9
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: 7
Source Type: Map
Title: Estate map of William Palmer
Author/originator: Salmon G
Date: 1768
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Plan
Title: Chapel Ascote
Author/originator: Usher, H.
Date: 1973
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 66
Author/originator: Beresford M W
Date: 1945
Page Number: 99
Volume/Sheet: 66
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: OS Card, 15SE2
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 15SE2
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: PJA
Date: 1979
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 1234
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Deserted Medieval Villages Research Group
Author/originator:
Date: 1958
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 6
   
Source No: 10
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  
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
source SMR Card Sites and Monuments Record Card. The Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record began to be developed during the 1970s. The details of individual archaeological sites and findspots were written on record cards. These record cards were used until the 1990s, when their details were entered on to a computerised system. The record cards are still kept at the office of the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
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 Documentary Evidence Documentary evidence is another name for written records. The first written records in Britain date back to the Roman period. Documentary evidence can take many different forms, including maps, charters, letters and written accounts. When archaeologists are researching a site, they often start by looking at documentary evidence to see if there are clues that will help them understand what they might find. Documentary evidence can help archaeologists understand sites that are discovered during an excavation, field survey or aerial survey. 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.
 		back
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 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.
more -> 		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.
more -> 		back
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 -> 		back
monument VILLAGE * A collection of dwelling-houses and other buildings, usually larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a simpler organisation and administration than the latter. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. back
monument BUILDING * A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known. back
monument BOUNDARY BANK * An earthen bank that indicates the limit of an area or a piece of land. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument POND * A body of still water often artificially formed for a specific purpose. Use specifc type where known. back
monument PASTURE * A field covered with herbage for the grazing of livestock. back
monument DESERTED SETTLEMENT * An abandoned settlement, usually of the Medieval period, often visible only as earthworks or on aerial photographs. back
monument WELL * A shaft or pit dug in the ground over a supply of spring-water. back
monument BUILDING PLATFORM * A site where a building once stood as identified by a level area of ground, often compacted or made from man-made materials. Use only where specific function is unknown, otherwise use more specific term. back
monument SPOIL HEAP * A conical or flat-topped tip of waste discarded from a mine or similar site. back
monument CHAPEL * A freestanding building, or a room or recess serving as a place of Christian worship in a church or other building. Use more specific type where known. back
monument CROFT * An enclosed piece of land adjoining a house. back
monument HOUSE PLATFORM * An area of ground on which a house is built. A platform is often the sole surviving evidence for a house. back
monument STREAM * A natural flow or current of water issuing from a source. back
monument FOOTPATH * A path for pedestrians only. 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 TOWN * An assemblage of public and private buildings, larger than a village and having more complete and independent local government. back
monument EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back
monument SCARP * A steep bank or slope. In fortifications, the bank or wall immediately in front of and below the rampart. back
monument HOLLOW WAY * A way, path or road through a cutting. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record