Information for record number MWA9016:
Kineton Medieval Settlement

Summary The possible extent of the Medieval settlement of Kineton, as suggested by the Ordnance Survey map of 1886. Kineton is considered a 'typical' example of Medieval urban failure.
What Is It?  
Type: Settlement, Market, Fair, Burgage Plot, Burgh, Yard, Ditch
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Kineton
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 33 51
(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 first edition 6" maps of 1886, 45 SE and 51 NE.
2 Market (Letter close) mercatum Tuesdays granted 28th August, 1220 by King Henry III to Stephen de Seagrave. To be held at the Manor. Tuesday Market granted to Stephen de Seagrave on 10th Feb 1227 granted again on 26 December 1228 and 28 January 1230. Fair Charter vigil feast morrow of Peter and Paul (29 Jun) granted 26 December 1228 by King Henry III to Stephen de Seagrave. Mandate to sheriff of Warwickshire to proclaim the Fair and cause it to be established 30 November 1228. Fair granted to stephen de Seagrave on 28 Jan 1230.
3 Kineton is listed in Domesday. It is in Fexhole Hundred and the Phillimore edition has a grid reference of 35,51. Ref 1,2 (Land of the King) Kineton and Wellesbourne. King Edward held them. 3 hides. Land for In lordship 6 ploughs; 3 male and 2 female slaves; 100 villagers less 7 and 18 smallholders with 32 ploughs. Meadow, 130 acres; woodland 1/2 league and 2 furlongs long and 4 furlongs wide. This is the Manor and outlier together.
4 The 1886 map shows a large village with a number of empty plots and small fields, some of which contain orchards. There are lots of bendy back lanes. The settlement is bounded to the south by the River Dene; on the other sides there is no continuous boundary hedge, but a mixture of hedges, footpaths and stepped fields. The church was first mentioned in the 12th century. Ridge and furrow plotting has not yet been done for this parish.
5 An evaluation in 2004 revealed the remains of a stone building dating to the 12th/13th century with intermittent use through to the 18th century. Metalled road surfaces wre also found with similar dating. The earliest feature found was a 9th century ditch with two 11th to 12th century ditches nearby. It seems that there was an intensity of activity in the 12th to 16th centuries with an abandonment period sometime during the 16th/17th century. Later use seems to have continued up until the 18th/19th century when the site seems to revert to open ground or as an orchard.
7 Kineton is considered to be a typical example of a Medieval urban failure. It was a small planted borough of the 13th century, with burgage plots, a Market, a shop and a small artisan community. The nascent borough propsered in the 14th century, but by the end of the 15th century the situation had changed; the number of tenants had fallen dramatically, land was no longer held by burgage tenure, and those who remained no longer practised any crafts but now worked on the land. After little more than 200 years, the small town with its urban economy appears to have faded and been remoulded into a rural settlement with an agricultural economy. The article contains a depth of historical research for Kineton, including a map depicting burgage plots and Market infill (Map 1).
8 Archaeological monitoring at land off St Peter's road recorded substantial archaeological remains associated with the Medieval borough and the rest of the village of Kineton. A limestone rubble surface was recorded, likely laid down as hard standing, a yard associated with buildings along the former market place, now Southam Street, to the west. An east-west aligned ditch, containing 13th century pottery, most likely formed a burgage plot boundary dating to the establishment of the town by Stephen de Seagrave. This would attest with the historical evidence, summarised in source
7, that the borough consisted of ten and a half burgages, but that many of them were subdivided. A pottery assemblage consisting of over 250 sherds, attested to the trade links of 13th and 14th century Kineton, with pottery coming from (inter alia) Alcester, Banbury, Brill/Borastall, Chilvers Coton, Coventry, Deritend, Potterspury, Warwick and the Malvern area.
 
Sources
Source No: 6
Source Type: Aerial Photograph
Title: 58/RAF/1235
Author/originator: RAF
Date: 1953
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Article in serial
Title: Small Boroughs and the Manorial Economy: Enterprise Zones or Urban Failures?
Author/originator: Goddard, R.
Date: 2011
Page Number: pp.3-31
Volume/Sheet: 210
   
Source No: 3
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: 2
Source Type: Internet Data
Title: Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs to 1516 (Warwickshire)
Author/originator: Institute of Historical Research (CMH)
Date: 2005
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Warwickshire
   
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: 1
Source Type: Map
Title: 45SE 1:10560 1886
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1886
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 45SE
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Map
Title: 51NE 1:10560 1886
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1886
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 51NE
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Observation Report
Title: Land off St Peter's Road, Kineton, Warwickshire: Archaeological Watching Brief
Author/originator: Gethin, B
Date: 2012
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 1214
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: Draft - Excavations at Rose Cottage, Mill Lane, Kineton, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Cook, S
Date: 2005
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
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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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 YARD * A paved area, generally found at the back of a house. 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 SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. back
monument SHOP * A house or building where goods are made or prepared and displayed for sale and sold. Use more specific type where known. 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 BOUNDARY * The limit to an area as defined on a map or by a marker of some form, eg. BOUNDARY WALL. Use specific type where known. back
monument BURGH * A civil and administrative area incorporating a town of medieval origin. back
monument MILL * A factory used for processing raw materials. Use more specific mill type where known. See also TEXTILE MILL, for more narrow terms. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument MARKET * An open space or covered building in which cattle, goods, etc, are displayed for sale. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument FAIR * A site where a periodical gathering of buyers, sellers and entertainers, meet at a time ordained by charter or statute or by ancient custom. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. 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 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 HARD STANDING * A purpose-built area of hard material of indeterminate use. 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 BURGAGE PLOT * A plot of land longer than it is wide, can include any structures on it. Typical of medieval towns. back
monument ORCHARD * An enclosure used for the cultivation of fruit trees. back
monument MEADOW * A piece of grassland, often near a river, permanently covered with grass which is mown for use as hay. back
monument MARKET PLACE * An area, often consisting of widened streets or a town square, where booths and stalls may be erected for public sales. back
monument FOOTPATH * A path for pedestrians only. 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