Medieval Rabbit Warren, Alcester Heath

Description of this historic site

The site of a Medieval rabbit warren used for breeding rabbits. It is known from documentary evidence and was located 500m south west of King's Coughton.

Notes about this historic site

1 An area c.25ha south east of Alcester Lodge was known as Conyngere in 1462/3, the name suggesting the presence of a rabbit warren.
2 In 1462/3 the Conyngere was described as former pasture forming part of Beauchamp’s Court Park. It may have been the warren created by Walter de Beauchamp after a royal grant of free warren in his demesne lands in Alcester in 1300. The area lies north west of the open fields of Alcester but the surrounding fields including the south part of the Conyngere contain traces of ridge and furrow visible on aerial photographs. This may relate to a licence also granted to Walter de Beauchamp in 1291 to bring 60 acres of wood in Alcester into cultivation. The area did not remain arable for long being included along with the ?disused warren in Beauchamp’s Court Park in the early/mid 15th century. By 1754 the Conyngere had been divided into three fields, Burrows Conygree, Further Conygree and Hither Conygree. The name Burrows might be thought to indicate the location of the warren structure, but it is the area with the ridge and furrow.

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