Site of Shrunken Settlement at Upper Brailes

1 Linear earthworks marking out plots show on aerial photographs. This may mark out an area of shrunken Medieval settlement at Brailes.
2 Additional aerial photographs taken in January 1992 have added to both the detail and extent of these earthworks.
3 A transcription has been prepared at 1:2500.
4 The earthworks have been verified on the ground at several locations within Upper Brailes.
5 An archaeological evaluation carried out by the OAU on land adjacent Henbrook Lane, Upper Brailes revealed no archaeology and two sherds of Medieval pottery.
6 A watching brief carried out by Warwickshire Museum found no Medieval finds and no archaeological features
7 In the Domesday Book the woodland entered for the manor of Brailes in southern Warwickshire lay in Tanworth in the heart of the Arden.
8 Fair Charter granted for Mondays on August 16th 1248 by Henry III to John de Plessis, earl of Warwick and Margery his wife. To be held at manor. Fair recorded in 1275. Fair Charter granted for vigil feast morrow George (23rd April) on 16th August 1248 by HenryII to John de Plessis, earl of Warwick and Margery, his wife. To be held at manor. (location uncertain, see also 2315).
9 Find of a medieval harness pendant, an arrowhead and a buckle plate at SP30653930 in 1995. The method of recovery was not recorded.
10 11 A cultivation soil containing only 11th-century pottery was recorded during observation at land adjacent to Midcot, Upper Brailes, together with probable linear features, a pit and posthole with 11th- to 13th-century pottery. The pottery in the posthole is likely to be residual, and no definitely medieval structural evidence was found. An undated ditch, roughly following the present southern boundary may have been a medieval or early post-medieval predecessor. The absence of later medieval and early post-medieval pottery suggests abondonment of the site or perhaps conversion to pasture in the 14th century.
12 Portable Antiquities Scheme find provenance information:
Date found: 2003-10-18T23:00:00Z
Date found: 2005-09-17T23:00:00Z
Methods of discovery: Metal detector