Information for record number MWA8881:
Site of Anglo-Saxon timber buildings, Wootton Wawen churchyard

Summary The site of early medieval timber buildings immediately to the north of the west end of the church. They predate an early medieval graveyard.
What Is It?  
Type: Building
Period: Early medieval (700 AD - 1050 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Wootton Wawen
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 15 63
(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: )
Scheduled Monument (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 Notes from the excavation.
2 Letter informing the Museum that a grave digger had encountered foundations and two ancient burials.
3 Rough plan of Wootton Wawen dating from c.1570.
4 This phase marks the earliest activity on the site during the excavations between 1974-5. The bases of a number of large postholes for timber buildings. The burials cutting the building features have been dated by radiocarbon dating to no earlier than AD 1050. However, a much earlier date is suggested as being most appropriate, either ancilliary to an early wooden church or already on the site when the land was granted away by Aethelbald in the eighth century.
 
Sources
Source No: 3
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwickshire History, crude plan of Wootton Wawen
Author/originator: Unknown
Date: 1570
Page Number: 25-31
Volume/Sheet: 2:5
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Wootton Wawen
Author/originator: Taylor G S et al.
Date: 1963
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Excavation Report
Title: Excavations in Wootton Wawen Churchyard
Author/originator: Barnie H, Hirst S and Rahtz P
Date: 1974
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Excavation Report
Title: TBAS vol 90
Author/originator: James H
Date: 1980
Page Number: 37-48
Volume/Sheet: 90
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
none Scheduled Monument Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) are those archaeological sites which are legally recognised as being of national importance. They can range in date from prehistoric times to the Cold War period. They can take many different forms, including disused buildings or sites surviving as earthworks or cropmarks.

SAMs are protected by law from unlicensed disturbance and metal detecting. Written consent from the Secretary of State must be obtained before any sort of work can begin, including archaeological work such as geophysical survey or archaeological excavation. There are nearly 200 SAMs in Warwickshire.
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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 excavation Archaeologists excavate sites so that they can find information and recover archaeological materials before they are destroyed by erosion, construction or changes in land-use.

Depending on how complicated and widespread the archaeological deposits are, excavation can be done by hand or with heavy machinery. Archaeologists may excavate a site in a number of ways; either by open area excavation, by digging a test pit or a trial trench.
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technique Radiocarbon Dating Another name for radiocarbon dating is C14 dating. It is used to find out how old some archaeological remains are. Archaeologists do this by measuring the amount of radioactive carbon left in samples of organic material (from the remains of plants or animals).

All organic materials contain radioactive and non-radioactive carbon in fixed amounts while they are part of living plants or animals. When the plant or animal dies the radioactive carbon starts to decay. By comparing the amount of radioactive carbon left in the organic material with the amount of stable carbon, archaeologists can find out how old it is.
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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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monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. 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 FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument GRAVE * A place of burial. Use more specific type where known. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument MUSEUM * A building, group of buildings or space within a building, where objects of value such as works of art, antiquities, scientific specimens, or other artefacts are housed and displayed. back
monument CHURCHYARD * An area of ground belonging to a church, often used as a burial ground. back
monument BURIAL * An interment of human or animal remains. Use specific type where known. If component use with wider site type. Use FUNERARY SITE for optimum retrieval in searches. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record