Information for record number MWA9548:
Nuneaton Medieval Settlement

Summary The possible extent of the medieval settlement at Nuneaton based on the Ordnance Survey map of 1888 and known archaeological features.
What Is It?  
Type: Settlement, Gully, Pit, Post Hole, Boundary Ditch, Yard, Gully, Ditch, Post Hole, Post Hole, Market, Fair
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Nuneaton and Bedworth
District: Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 36 91
(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 of Nuneaton based on the OS map of 1888, 11SW.
2 Domesday has two entries for Nuneaton in Coleshill Hundred. The Phillimore edition gives a grid ref of SP3691. Ref 14,1 Earl Aubrey held Nuneaton from the King. Harding held it before 1066. Land for 26 ploughs. In lordship 3; 3 slaves; 44 villagers,6 freedmen and 10 smallholders with 16 ploughs. A mill at 32d; meadow 20 acres; woodland 2 leagues long and 1 1/2 wide. Value before 1066 £4; later £3; now 100s. Ref 17,70 Robert d'Oilly holds 3 hides in Nuneaton. Land for 5 ploughs. In lordship 3 ploughs; 5 slaves; 9 villagers and 8 smallholders with 8 ploughs. meadow,5 acres; woodland 1 league in length and width. The value was 40s; now £4.
3 The 1888 map shows dense settlement round the Market Place and radiating out along Abbey Street, Bond Street, Bridge Street, Church Street, and some to the south of Queen's Road. The central area shows evidence of early town planning with rectangular areas and the suggestion of a grid.The Church of St Nicholas dates from the 14th century.
4 The first stage of evaluation of land off Chapel Street (centred SP36159170, EWA 7356) recovered evidence for limited medieval activity including pits and boundary gullies. One pit contained a significant quantity of fish bones. The gullies may have marked a 14th/15th century development of properties fronting Queen’s Road. The development was apparently short-lived, the properties abandoned to cultivation in the late medieval period and most of the boundaries disappearing. One property to survive was that containing the 19th century rope walk.
5 A second stage of evaluation of land off Chapel Street, Nuneaton (centred on SPSP36049172, EWA7438) recorded two pebble surfaces and an associated boundary gully dating from the late medieval/early post-medieval period close behind the Queen's Road frontage. Further to the rear, a medieval post hole may have belonged to a structure within a tenement running back from Queen's Road, while the remains of a ditch may have marked the rear boundary of the tenement, or a division within it.
6 Borough 1227. 1334 Subsidy £98.37. Benedictine nunnery moved here from Kintbury, Berkshire c.1155. Market town c.1600. Market (Letter Close) Tues; mercatum, gr 17 Jun 1226, by K Hen III to Ps and N of Eton. To be held at the manor until the king came of age. On 2 Jun 1233, K Hen III granted the ch of St Mary, Ethon (Nuneaton), the Ps and N a Sat Market. Mandate to the shire of Warwickshire to proclaim throughout his bailiwick that the Tues Market which the Ps and N were accustomed to hold, would henceforth be held on Sat, 2 Jun 1233. Market continued into the twentieth century. Fair (Prescriptive) f+4, Invention of Holy Cross (3 May); recorded 1154x89, held by ch of St Mary Ethon and the Ps and N of the order of Fontevrault. On 23 Apr 1239, K Hen III granted that the Fair be extended by beginning two days earlier. This charter refers back to the Fair as it was held in the time of K Hen II. Fair continued into the eighteenth century, and following the date change, into the nineteenth century.
7 Portable Antiquities Scheme find provenance information: Date found: 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z Methods of discovery: Metal detector
8 Archaeological evaluation at 3 Stratford Street, Nuneaton recorded a medieval building of timber construction, together with a sizeable ceramic assemblage.
 
Sources
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Domesday Book Warwickshire incl Birmingham
Author/originator: Phillimore and Co Ltd
Date: 1976
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
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: 4
Source Type: Evaluation Report
Title: Archaeological Evaluation at the Ropewalk, Chapel Street, Nuneaton, Warwickshire - Stage 1a
Author/originator: Palmer S & Jones C
Date: 2003
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Report No 0343
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Evaluation Report
Title: Archaeological Evaluation at the Ropewalk, Chapel Street, Nuneaton- Stage 1b
Author/originator: Jones C & Palmer S
Date: 2004
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Report No 0426
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Evaluation Report
Title: Archaeological Evaluation at 3 Stratford St, Nuneaton, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Scott K
Date: 1996
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
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: 7
Source Type: Internet Data
Title: Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) Database
Author/originator: British Museum
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
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: 11SW 1:10560 1888
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1888
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 11SW
   
Images:  
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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
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.
more -> 		back
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 ARCHAEOLOGICAL FEATURE * Use only for features assumed to be archaeological but which cannot be identified more precisely without further investigation .Use more specific term where known back
monument SETTLEMENT * A small concentration of dwellings. 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 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 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 BENEDICTINE NUNNERY * An abbey or priory for nuns ofthe Benedictine order. back
monument MARKET * An open space or covered building in which cattle, goods, etc, are displayed for sale. back
monument GULLY * A deep gutter, drain or sink. 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 ABBEY * A religious house governed by an abbot or abbess. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument BOUNDARY DITCH * A ditch that indicates the limit of an area or a piece of land. back
monument WALK * A place or path for walking in a park or garden. Use more specific type where possible. back
monument PIT * A hole or cavity in the ground, either natural or the result of excavation. Use more specific type where known. back
monument TENEMENT * A parcel of land. back
monument BRIDGE * A structure of wood, stone, iron, brick or concrete, etc, with one or more intervals under it to span a river or other space. Use specific type where known. 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 CHAPEL * A freestanding building, or a room or recess serving as a place of Christian worship in a church or other building. Use more specific type where known. back
monument HIDE * A shelter, sometimes camouflaged, for the observation of birds and animals at close quarters. back
monument STRUCTURE * A construction of unknown function, either extant or implied by archaeological evidence. If known, use more specific type. back
monument ROPEWALK * A very long, narrow, roofed building, often two-storeyed, used for the manufacture of rope. Often attached to warehousing, an engine house or offices. Can be included within the complex of a textile mill. back
monument MEADOW * A piece of grassland, often near a river, permanently covered with grass which is mown for use as hay. back
monument ROUND * A small, Iron Age/Romano-British enclosed settlement found in South West England. back
monument CROSS * A free-standing structure, in the form of a cross (+), symbolizing the structure on which Jesus Christ was crucified and sacred to the Christian faith. Use specific type where known. 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 TOWN * An assemblage of public and private buildings, larger than a village and having more complete and independent local government. back
monument POST HOLE * A hole dug to provide a firm base for an upright post, often with stone packing. Use broader monument type where known. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record