Information for record number MWA8774:
Hanging Wood

Summary Hanging Wood, a managed woodland, possibly dating back to the Medieval period. A hollow way runs along the edge of it and there are earthworks of ridge and furrow. It is situated 400m north of Tattle Bank.
What Is It?  
Type: Managed Woodland, Ridge And Furrow, Hollow Way
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Claverdon
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 18 64
(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 whole of this wood of 8ha overlies large and possibly Medieval ridge and furrow so it is clearly a secondary wood. There is a large holloway within the wood along its south west edge. A woodbank divides the wood into two more or less equal portions, although the two portions have been united for at least a century (large-scale OS maps, WCRO). The two portions of the wood were formerly called Hadley Kings Coppice and Arinley Coppice but had been amalgamated (and included a small former garden) by 1885, when the entire wood was called Arinley Coppice. The presence of a large stool of small-leaved lime Tilia cordata on the north-eastern edge and two service trees Sorbus torminalis at other points on the periphery, both species largely confined to ancient woods or woodland relict hedges, suggests that the wood may have colonised inwards from relict hedges when the arable was abandoned at an unknown date. The wood has many ground vegetation species which suggest it is ancient; much of the wood is on clay, which also partly explains its relatively rich flora.
 
Sources
Source No: 1
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Research on the Ancient Woodlands of Warwickshire
Author/originator: Morfitt D Dr
Date: 1985-
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
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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 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 WOOD * A tract of land with trees, sometimes acting as a boundary or barrier, usually smaller and less wild than a forest. 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 COPPICE * A managed small wood or thicket of underwood grown to be periodically cut to encourage new growth providing smaller timber. back
monument MANAGED WOODLAND * An area of cultivated, managed woodland producing wood which is used for a variety of purposes. 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