Information for record number MWA9200:
Possible Medieval Moated Site, Nebsworth, Lark Stoke

Summary The site of a possible Medieval moated site. The enclosure and ditch survive as an earthwork. The site is located 200m east of Nebsworth Coppice, Lark Stoke.
What Is It?  
Type: Double Ditched Enclosure, Moat
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Ilmington
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 19 42
(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: )
Scheduled Monument (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 A small earthwork with perfectly square-cut corners of uncertain date and function. The monument is about 34m square and covered in rough grass. The banks stand about 0.6m to 0.9m above the surrounding ground. The central area is hollowed out below ground level in some places and there is a hollowed area about 3m across in the NE side.
2 High up on the hill above Ilmington is a small double-moated enclosure called "The Camp". It is in a large open field known as Nebsworth. The works are square with slightly rounded corners, covering 0.3ha. The ditch enclosing the area is 'very perfect' and within its interior is another ditch. These small remains have been frequently described as Roman. This however is unlikely; it is more likely that the site is an early moated enclosure.
3 The earthwork has caused much argument. The sides are rather less than 61m long and have sharply cut ditches; within is another square ditch 18m or 21m square and in one corner a slight mound. That it is of Medieval origin would appear most probable and it could be a castle, although the elevated and isolated location is unusual.
4 OS Plan.
5 The condition of the interior is sound, but the outer bank is being encroached upon by ploughing.
6 Vertical RAF photos of 1946 revealed a small rectangular earthwork at Lark Stoke, surrouded by ridge and furrow. It was a platform, surrounded by a bank, about 80m x 80m., on rising ground below a high ridge. Though now cultivated, traces of this feature survive, but although the earthwork resembles a Medieval house platform or minor moated site, the finds consist only of Romano-British pottery, suggesting that this was a Romano-British earthwork site, most likely a farmstead. It is most unusual for such sites to have survived as visible earthworks until recent times. Reference details are not known for
6 - AS.
7 See MWA2704 and MWA9199 for alternative interpretations of this site.
8 Correspondence from English Heritage, following a field visit in 2013, notes that the site is no longer at risk from the surrounding arable cultivation of the ground. The site, however, is at risk from ground disturbance as the setts and burrows of badgers and rabbits respectively.
 
Sources
Source No: 3
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: TBAS vol 67
Author/originator: PBC
Date: 1947
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 67
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 1, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Doubleday H A & Page W (eds)
Date: 1904
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 1
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Correspondence
Title: Ilmington Site
Author/originator: I Sambrook
Date: 2013
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Plan
Title: Plan
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 14SE1
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: SAM List 1983
Author/originator: DoE
Date: 1983
Page Number: 3
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: TY
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 2775
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Pers. Comm. Anna Stocks
Author/originator: Anna Stocks
Date: 2007 onwards
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
none Scheduled Monument Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) are those archaeological sites which are legally recognised as being of national importance. They can range in date from prehistoric times to the Cold War period. They can take many different forms, including disused buildings or sites surviving as earthworks or cropmarks.

SAMs are protected by law from unlicensed disturbance and metal detecting. Written consent from the Secretary of State must be obtained before any sort of work can begin, including archaeological work such as geophysical survey or archaeological excavation. There are nearly 200 SAMs in Warwickshire.
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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 SAM List Scheduled Ancient Monument List. A list or schedule of archaelogical and historic monuments that are considered to be of national importance. The list contains a detailed description of each Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM) and a map showing their location and extent. By being placed on the schedule, SAMs are protected by law from any unauthorised distrubance. The list has been compiled and is maintained by English Heritage. It is updated periodically. back
source TBAS Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society is a journal produced by the society annually. It contains articles about archaeological field work that has taken place in Birmingham and Warwickshire in previous years. Copies of the journal are kept by 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.
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period Roman About 43 AD to 409 AD (the 1st century AD to the 5th century AD)

The Roman period comes after the Iron Age and before the Saxon period.

The Roman period in Britain began in 43 AD when a Roman commander called Aulus Plautius invaded the south coast, near Kent. There were a series of skirmishes with the native Britons, who were defeated. In the months that followed, more Roman troops arrived and slowly moved westwards and northwards.
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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 OPEN FIELD * An area of arable land with common rights after harvest or while fallow. Usually without internal divisions (hedges, walls or fences). back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument DOUBLE DITCHED ENCLOSURE * An area of land enclosed by two parallel ditches. Use with specific shaped enclosure 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 FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument MOAT * A wide ditch surrounding a building, usually filled with water. Use for moated sites, not defensive moats. Use with relevant site type where known, eg. MANOR HOUSE, GARDEN, etc. back
monument FARMSTEAD * The homestead of a farm consisting of a farmhouse and working farm buildings, with yards, other working areas and usually a garden to the house. back
monument CASTLE * A fortress and dwelling, usually medieval in origin, and often consisting of a keep, curtain wall and towers etc. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. 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 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 SQUARE * An open space or area, usually square in plan, in a town or city, enclosed by residential and/or commercial buildings, frequently containing a garden or laid out with trees. 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 COPPICE * A managed small wood or thicket of underwood grown to be periodically cut to encourage new growth providing smaller timber. back
monument STOCKS * An instrument of punishment, in which the offender was placed in a sitting position in a timber frame, with holes to confine the ankles and wrists between two planks. 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 EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back
monument WORKS * Usually a complex of buildings for the processing of raw materials. Use specific type where known. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record