Information for record number MWA9573:
Polesworth Medieval Settlement

Summary The possible extent of the medieval settlement based on the Ordnance Survey map of 1885.
What Is It?  
Type: Settlement
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Polesworth
District: North Warwickshire, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SK 26 02
(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 the medieval settlement based on the OS map of 1885, 6NW.
2 Polesworth is not listed in Domesday.
3 Greenwood's map of 1822 shows settlement both north and south of the river.
4 The 1885 map shows two centres, one along the roads to the north and the west of the Abbey, and another south of the river, with the apparent survival of strip fields to its south. The Abbey [WA203] dates from the early medieval period, and there was a medieval chapel [WA225] a kilometre to the southeast. The bridge [WA212} dates from the medieval period, as does the watermill [WA209].
5 The extent to which Polesworth developed urban characteristics during the medieval period is difficult to ascertain as no documentary sources appear to have survived showing the presence of burgage tenure in the town. The major landowner and the lord of the manor was the Abbey; practically none of its records have survived. However, the lay subsidy of 1332 records 47 tax payers suggesting about 94 households (possibly 470 tennants). Archaeological evidence from the town suggests Polesworth may have been a centre for patterned tile production.
 
Sources
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Domesday Book Warwickshire incl Birmingham
Author/originator: Phillimore and Co Ltd
Date: 1976
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
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: 1
Source Type: Map
Title: 1st edition 6" maps. Medieval settlement evaluation.
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1880s
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Map
Title: Greenwood's Map of the County of Warwick 1822
Author/originator: Greenwood C & J
Date: 1822
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Map
Title: 06NW 1:10560 2nd edition 1887
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1887
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 6NW
   
Source No:
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Warwickshire Extensive Urban Survey Coleshill Assessment
Author/originator: B Morton
Date: 2011
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Warwickshire Extensive Urban Survey Polesworth Assessment
Author/originator: B Morton
Date: 2011
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source Domesday Book 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. 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 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 ABBEY * A religious house governed by an abbot or abbess. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument BRIDGE * A structure of wood, stone, iron, brick or concrete, etc, with one or more intervals under it to span a river or other space. Use specific type where known. back
monument MANOR * An area of land consisting of the lord's demesne and of lands from whose holders he may exact certain fees, etc. 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 STRIP FIELD * An area of agriculturally used land, which is divided into small, elongated, rectangular fields running parallel to each other. back
monument WATERMILL * A mill whose machinery is driven by water. back
monument TOWN * An assemblage of public and private buildings, larger than a village and having more complete and independent local government. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record