Information for record number MWA8768:
Ryton Wood

Summary Ryton Wood, a Medieval (and probably earlier) managed woodland. The Woodland comprises: complex Woodbanks of various dates; probably late to Post Medieval assarts; and evidence of ancient coppicing. The Wood is situated 1km east of Bubbenhall.
What Is It?  
Type: Managed Woodland
Period: Medieval - Modern (1066 AD - 2050 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Ryton on Dunsmore
District: Rugby, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 38 72
(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,
2 Ryton Wood is a large Wood of 86ha. Within the Wood are two enclosures surounded by large Woodbanks, with those around the enclosure to the west (henceforth referred to as A) more suinuous than those round the enclosure to the east (henceforth referred to as B). The Woodbanks are typically around 7 to 10 metres, across both bank and external ditch. Smaller banks and ditches surround much of the rest of the Wood. Shrubs and Forest Woods, in different parishes from Ryton, have large Woodbanks on their side of the parish boundary where they abut on Ryton Wood. A particularly small and acute bank marks the Wood-edge and parish boundary betwen the southern edge of enclosure B and Forest Wood. The two assarts or formerly cleared areas are surrounded by small, relatively straight banks; the northern assart has stubs or short pollarded trees on its northern boundary, perhaps from a former hedge planted to demarcate the assart. As is frequently the case, accurate dating of these banks is currently impossible. Their size does suggest that the largest are likely to be Medieval. (For details of evidence for the dating of Woodbanks in Warwickshire, see the SMR entry on Birchley and New Close Woods.) This and their interconnection do suggest a sequence of construction, with either A (of about c.24-28ha) followed by B (of about 16ha), or A and B together coming first, and the smaller, less sinuous banks in the rest of the Wood coming later, although some may have been inherited from an earlier land-use. The assarts represent efforts to create fields out of parts of the Wood at unknown dates. Their relatively small size and straightness suggests that they are late, perhaps Post Medieval. The very small acute bank between the edge of b and Forest Wood is almost certainly 18th or early 19th century; a map of 1763 (WCRO Lord John Scott estate 1763 Z8 22/1-3) shows a large Wood in Stretton parish extending south from this edge of Ryton Wood, which is the parish boundary. 19th century Ordnance Survey maps from c.1830 show Forest Wood and the dge of Ryton Wood as they are today. The reasoning is complicated by the evidence of the vegetation. Areas of ancient small-leaved lime Tilia cordata coppice are not, as might be expected from its usual behaviour as a relict species in British ancient Woodland, restricted to the areas of the Wood demarcated by the largest and therefore probably oldest banks and ditches. More fieldwork is needed to map apparent faint earthworks associated with the area of lime in the south-west corner of the Wood.
3 Presence of extensive old small-leaved lime coppice supports a Medieval date for the Wood and may indicate a direct link with Prehistoric wildwood. Discussion of earthworks too.
4 Lovie comments on the clear geometrical layout with rides radiating from a central rond-point.
 
Sources
Source No: 4
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwickshire Register Review Data Tables (North Warwickshire, Nuneaton & Bedworth, Rugby)
Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Research on the Ancient Woodlands of Warwickshire
Author/originator: Morfitt D Dr
Date: 1985-
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: A short summary of evidence for the 'ancient' status of Ryton Wood...
Author/originator: David Morfitt
Date: 1988
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Researching Warwickshire's Woodland History
Author/originator: Morfitt, David
Date: 1998
Page Number: 1-9
Volume/Sheet: 269
   
Images:  
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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 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 Prehistoric About 500,000 BC to 42 AD

The Prehistoric period covers all the periods from the Palaeolithic to the end of the Iron Age.
This is a time when people did not write anything down so there is no documentary evidence for archaeologists to look at. Instead, the archaeologists look at the material culture belonging to the people and the places where they lived for clues about their way of life.

The Prehistoric period is divided into the Early Prehistoric and Later Prehistoric.
The Early Prehistoric period covers the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods.
The Later Prehistoric period covers Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age times.
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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 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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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.
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monument FIELDWORK * A usually temporary earthwork or fortification, the latter constructed by military forces operating in the field. Use more specific type where known. back
monument BOUNDARY * The limit to an area as defined on a map or by a marker of some form, eg. BOUNDARY WALL. Use specific type where known. back
monument PARISH BOUNDARY * The limit line of a parish. 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 WOOD * A tract of land with trees, sometimes acting as a boundary or barrier, usually smaller and less wild than a forest. back
monument DITCH * A long and narrow hollow or trench dug in the ground, often used to carry water though it may be dry for much of the year. back
monument ASSART * A piece of forest land converted into arable. back
monument HEDGE * Usually a row of bushes or small trees planted closely together to form a boundary between pieces of land or at the sides of a road. back
monument RIDE * A road or way for riding on horseback within a park or estate. back
monument ROUND * A small, Iron Age/Romano-British enclosed settlement found in South West England. back
monument COPPICE * A managed small wood or thicket of underwood grown to be periodically cut to encourage new growth providing smaller timber. back
monument MANAGED WOODLAND * An area of cultivated, managed woodland producing wood which is used for a variety of purposes. back
monument FOREST * A large tract of land covered with trees and interspersed with open areas of land. Traditionally forests were owned by the monarchy and had their own laws. 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