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Domesday Book
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The Domesday Book was commissioned in December 1085 by William the Conqueror, who invaded England in 1066. It contains records for about 13,000 medieval settlements in the English counties south of the rivers Ribble and Tees (the border with Scotland at the time). The Domesday Book is a detailed record of the lands and their resources that belonged to the king. It also records the identity of the landholders and their tenants.
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Documentary Evidence
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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.
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Earthwork
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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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Aerial Photograph
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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.
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Medieval
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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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VILLAGE *
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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.
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SITE *
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Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible.
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SETTLEMENT *
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A small concentration of dwellings.
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HAMLET *
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Small settlement with no ecclesiastical or lay administrative function.
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RIDGE AND FURROW *
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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.
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MILL *
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A factory used for processing raw materials. Use more specific mill type where known. See also TEXTILE MILL, for more narrow terms.
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ROAD *
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A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles.
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WELL *
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A shaft or pit dug in the ground over a supply of spring-water.
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FIELD *
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An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock.
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PLOUGH HEADLAND *
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A narrow strip of land where a plough and team could turn. This usually remains higher than the ploughed land.
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CHAPEL *
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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.
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HIDE *
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A shelter, sometimes camouflaged, for the observation of birds and animals at close quarters.
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FIELD BOUNDARY *
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The limit line of a field.
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MEADOW *
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A piece of grassland, often near a river, permanently covered with grass which is mown for use as hay.
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TOWN *
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An assemblage of public and private buildings, larger than a village and having more complete and independent local government.
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EARTHWORK *
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A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification.
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* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)
