Information for record number MWA9951:
Crackley Wood

Summary Woodland mentioned in Medieval documentary sources with possible wood banks and ditches surviving as earthworks.
What Is It?  
Type: Wood, Managed Woodland, Wood Bank?
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Stoneleigh
District: Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 29 74
(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 A map of 1766 shows an area of woodland far more extensive than the present wood. At that time it was divided into Great Munkes Hays, Little Munkes Hays, Little Matmakers and Great Matmakers and included an area called Marsh Vatt which is no longer woodland. The wood of Crattele might have included either or both of the areas called respectively Crackley Hill Closes and Crackley Heath Closes in 1766. Kenilworth Priory acquired part of the wood called Crattele in the first half of the 13th century.
2 Plan showing earthworks in field to the south east of the current wood. These are probably the remains of wood banks and drainage ditches from when the wood extended into this field.
3 Digital photographs of above.
 
Sources
Source No: 3
Source Type: Digital archive
Title: Digital Photographs of earthworks at Crackley Wood
Author/originator: D. Billson
Date: 2007
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Monograph
Title: Woods, Wolds and Groves
Author/originator: Wager, S
Date: 1998
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Plan
Title: Crackley Wood
Author/originator: D. Billson
Date: 2007
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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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 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 PRIORY * A monastery governed by a prior or prioress. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, FRIARY, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. 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 MARSH * A low lying area of land that is usually waterlogged at all times and is flooded in wet weather. back
monument DRAINAGE DITCH * A long, narrow ditch designed to carry water away from a waterlogged area. back
monument MANAGED WOODLAND * An area of cultivated, managed woodland producing wood which is used for a variety of purposes. back
monument WOOD BANK * An earthen bank indicating the limit of a wood or coppice 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