Information for record number MWA9000:
Knightcote Medieval Settlement

Summary The probable extent of the Medieval settlement at Knightcote, based on documentary evidence, settlement earthworks and the remains of ridge and furrow cultivation.
What Is It?  
Type: Settlement
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Burton Dassett
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 39 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 The possible extent of Medieval settlement, other than the known shrunken settlement (659), based on the first edition 6" map of 1885, 46NW.
2 The hamlet certainly existed in the fourteenth century, according to the Victoria County History.
3 The ridge and furrow plotting from aerial photographs shows survival that abuts the settlement on all sides.
4 The 1885 map shows a clearly defined village with a continuous boundary hedge on the northern side, bounded by lanes on the eastern side, and by the edge of orchards on the southern side. Small gaps between the ridge and furrow (see
3) and the settlement may represent gardens. The majority of the plots contain buildings.
5Area of village increased to include earthworks visible on lidar imagery. New well preserved earthworks noted in north-west corner and some house plots visible beneath later ridge and furrow at south-east corner.
 
Sources
Source No: 3
Source Type: Aerial Photograph Transcript
Title: Burton Dassett parish
Author/originator: ARI
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 1, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Doubleday H A & Page W (eds)
Date: 1904
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 1
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Desk Top Study
Title: Comments on villages and towns in the Medieval Settlement study.
Author/originator: Hester Hawkes.
Date: 2002/3
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: LIDAR
Title: Geomatics Group online LiDAR data search
Author/originator: Geomatics Group
Date: 2011
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Map
Title: 1st edition 6" maps. Medieval settlement evaluation.
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1880s
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Map
Title: 46NW 1:10560 1885
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1885
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 46NW
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
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.
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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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monument HOUSE * A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known. 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 SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. back
monument HAMLET * Small settlement with no ecclesiastical or lay administrative function. 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 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 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 WELL * A shaft or pit dug in the ground over a supply of spring-water. back
monument GARDEN * An enclosed piece of ground devoted to the cultivation of flowers, fruit or vegetables and/or recreational purposes. Use more specific type where known. 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 ORCHARD * An enclosure used for the cultivation of fruit trees. 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

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record