Information for record number MWA4987:
Site of Deserted Medieval Settlement at Chadshunt

Summary The site of a deserted settlement at Chadshunt which dates to the Medieval period. Earthworks of house platforms, enclosures and hollow ways were once visible. However, some of the Earthworks represent houses and roads that were still in existence in 1839.
What Is It?  
Type: Deserted Settlement
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Chadshunt
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 34 53
(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 Deserted Medieval village site recognised and planned by C Dyer.
2 Plan.
3 Extensive earthworks of the Medieval village around the existing hamlet and Chadshunt House itself. These extend into to the field to the NE of Chadshunt House. A trial excavation was organised with the objective of establishing when or not buildings had existed here and if so what date they were. Two trenches were excavated. The archaeological evidence from the trenches consisted entirely of dumps of stone, clay and brick. There was no trace of structures as such. An 18th century date is likely for this activity. The dumping was presumably connected with strcutural alterations to the House and with the excavation of the large fishpong adjacent to the SE. The cropmarks remain unexplained but may possibly have resulted from drainage activity connected with the post medieval dumpimg.
4 Noted.
5 The earthworks consist of a series of rectangular enclosures and platforms, divided by ditches and holloways. Originally the village must have extended to the E, but the earthworks have been removed by ploughing. The earthworks immediatedly to the NE of the Hall are probably modern garden features. There is much ridge and furrow to the N and W. In its heyday there were 22 or 23 Households. It was a typical champion village of the Warwickshire Feldon, with a two-field system. Chadshunt was paired with Gaydon both belonging to the bishop of Coventry and Lichfield and lying in the same parish. These twin or double villages are found in the region notably in the neighbouring parish of Burton Dassett.
6 Noted.
7 Some of the Deserted Medieval village earthworks can be accounted for by structures and roads still present in 1839. In particular a road stretching from the crossroads, north-eastwards. Its final part is still represented by the narrow field between WA 754 and the church. The two 'small' mounds N of the B4451 immediately N of Corner Farm, were buildings in 1839.
8 Plan.
9 Archaeological recording at Corner Farm carried out in advance of conversion and construction work. The complete absence of any archaeological finds are significant. Deposits suggest that the development site lay outside the main area of the Medieval village. However it is possible that the construction of the former barn buildings may have truncated any surviving Medieval deposits.
10 Domesday survey. In Tremlow Hundred, [grid ref 3452 in Phillimore text]. (Land of Coventry church) 5 hides. Land for 16 ploughs. In lordship 2; 6 slaves; 18 villagers and 12 smallholders with 8 ploughs. Meadow, 12 acres. Value before 1066 £6; later £3; now £7.
11 ridge and furrow plotting of the parish
12 Polygon reduced 19/06/2006 as no visible remains of village in triangular field to the east of village.
13 The earthwork and cropmark remains of Medieval and/or post-Medieval deserted settlement at Chadshunt are visible on aerial photographs of 1947 to 2007. These features were mapped from aerial photographs as part of the SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds HLS NMP project.
14 The HER polygon was altered to include NMP mapping date and information from lidar imagery, particularly in the SE area where slight earhtworks are visible.
 
Sources
Source No: 4
Source Type: Article in serial
Title: Medieval Archaeology: Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1986
Author/originator: S M Youngs, J Clark and T B Barry
Date: 1987
Page Number: 110-191
Volume/Sheet: 31
   
Source No: 11
Source Type: Aerial Photograph Transcript
Title: Chadshunt parish
Author/originator: ARI
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Archaeological Recording at Corner Farm, Chadshunt
Author/originator: Coutts C & Jones R
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 10
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Domesday Book Warwickshire incl Birmingham
Author/originator: Phillimore and Co Ltd
Date: 1976
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 13
Source Type: Desk Top Study
Title: SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds NMP Project
Author/originator: Josephine Janik
Date: 2010-2012
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Evaluation Report
Title: Archaeological Recording at Corner Farm, Chadshunt
Author/originator: Coutts C and Jones R
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Plan
Title: Chadshunt
Author/originator: Couts Dr C
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Plan
Title: Chadshunt
Author/originator: Coutts C
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Plan
Title: Chadshunt
Author/originator: Dyer C
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: Hingley R C
Date: 1986
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 700
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Serial
Title: WMA vol 29 1986
Author/originator: Booth P M
Date: 1986
Page Number: 52
Volume/Sheet: 29
   
Source No: 9
Source Type: Serial
Title: WMA vol 39 (1996)
Author/originator: Mould, C & White, R (eds)
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 39
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Moated Ssites Research Group
Author/originator: Dyer C
Date: 1986
Page Number: 27
Volume/Sheet: Report 1
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Unpublished document
Author/originator: Couts Dr C
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Unpublished document
Author/originator: Coutts C
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Moated Sites Research Group
Author/originator: Dyer C
Date: 1989
Page Number: 34-5
Volume/Sheet: Report 4
   
Source No: 12
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Alsion Hatcher, Pers. Comm.
Author/originator: Alison Hatcher
Date: 2006
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 14
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Pers. Comm.
Author/originator: B Gethin
Date: 2013 onwards
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
source SMR Card Sites and Monuments Record Card. The Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record began to be developed during the 1970s. The details of individual archaeological sites and findspots were written on record cards. These record cards were used until the 1990s, when their details were entered on to a computerised system. The record cards are still kept at the office of the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
source WMA West Midlands Archaeology. This publication contains a short description for each of the sites where archaeological work has taken place in the previous year. It covers Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. Some of these descriptions include photographs, plans and drawings of the sites and/or the finds that have been discovered. The publication is produced by the Council For British Archaeology (CBA) West Midlands and is published annually. Copies are held at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. 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.
 		back
technique Cropmark Cropmarks appear as light and dark marks in growing and ripening crops. These marks relate to differences in the soil below. For example, parched lines of grass may indicate stone walls. Crops that grow over stone features often ripen more quickly and are shorter than the surrounding crop. This is because there is less moisture in the soil where the wall lies.

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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 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 Modern The Modern Period, about 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
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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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period Post Medieval About 1540 AD to 1750 AD (the 16th century AD to the 18th century AD)

The Post Medieval period comes after the medieval period and before the Imperial period.

This period covers the second half of the reign of the Tudors (1485 – 1603), the reign of the Stuarts (1603 – 1702) and the beginning of the reign of the Hannoverians (1714 – 1836).
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period modern About 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
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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 SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. 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 STONE * Use only where stone is natural or where there is no indication of function. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument GARDEN FEATURE * Unspecified landscape feature. Use more specific type where known. back
monument RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE * A rectangular shaped area of land enclosed by a boundary ditch, bank, wall, palisade or similar barrier. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument CROSSROADS * A road junction where two (or occasionally more) roads cross each other. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument DESERTED SETTLEMENT * An abandoned settlement, usually of the Medieval period, often visible only as earthworks or on aerial photographs. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. back
monument FIELD SYSTEM * A group or complex of fields which appear to form a coherent whole. Use more specific type where known. back
monument PLATFORM * Unspecified. Use specific type where known. back
monument ENCLOSURE * An area of land enclosed by a boundary ditch, bank, wall, palisade or other similar barrier. Use specific type where known. back
monument TRENCH * An excavation used as a means of concealment, protection or both. 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 HIDE * A shelter, sometimes camouflaged, for the observation of birds and animals at close quarters. back
monument HOUSE PLATFORM * An area of ground on which a house is built. A platform is often the sole surviving evidence for a house. back
monument STRUCTURE * A construction of unknown function, either extant or implied by archaeological evidence. If known, use more specific type. back
monument BARN * A building for the storage and processing of grain crops and for housing straw, farm equipment and occasionally livestock and their fodder. Use more specific type where known. back
monument MEADOW * A piece of grassland, often near a river, permanently covered with grass which is mown for use as hay. back
monument MOUND * A natural or artificial elevation of earth or stones, such as the earth heaped upon a grave. Use more specific type where known. back
monument FARM * A tract of land, often including a farmhouse and ancillary buildings, used for the purpose of cultivation and the rearing of livestock, etc. Use more specific type where known. back
monument EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back
monument HOLLOW WAY * A way, path or road through a cutting. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record