Data from an Archaeological Mitigation at Coleshill Moat and Gardens, Coleshill, Warwickshire, 2020-2022 (HS2 Phase One)
Wessex Archaeology, High Speed Two Ltd., 2023. https://doi.org/10.5284/1122726. How to cite using this DOI
- HS2 Phase One: London to West Midlands Historic Environment Digital Archive
- Curated Collection: Primary Schools
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This work is licensed under a The Open Government Licence (OGL).
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- ADS Collection: 5942
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1122726
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
This collection comprises digital data (images, text, spreadsheets, GIS, vector graphics, photogrammetry and laser scanning models, and videos) from a programme of archaeological investigations at Coleshill Moat and Gardens, Coleshill, Warwickshire, between July 2020 and December 2022.
The project forms part of Phase One of the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project, which will involve the construction of a new railway approximately 230km (143 miles) in length between London and the West Midlands. Powers for the construction, operation and maintenance of Phase One are conferred by the High-Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017.
Wessex Archaeology undertook an archaeological excavation, metal detector survey and topographic survey between July 2020 and May 2021 which exposed and recorded archaeological remains of Iron Age, medieval and post-medieval date.
The Iron Age evidence comprised a pit alignment, upon which the medieval moated site had been superimposed. This comprised the partial footprint of a post-built hall, with surviving hearth, floor surface and outbuildings. These remains were enclosed within a square moat, which had been augmented later in the hall’s history with a fine masonry gatehouse and formal gardens. Prior to the archaeological mitigation, this suite of remains was unknown, and they are presumed to represent the manorial hall from which the medieval manor of Coleshill was administered.
Post-medieval remains relate to the redevelopment of the site, which commenced around the late 16th century. A new hall was built, also largely in timber, and accompanied by service buildings located in the same position as their medieval predecessors. The hall was set within an unusual half-octagonal moat, which partially followed the course of its smaller, square medieval precursor. The enclosed area contained formal gardens, the principal element of which was a quartered lawn, defined by gravel paths, with a pavilion at its two far corners. Formal external gardens were also exposed; these lay to the north-west of the moated enclosure. The hall was demolished in around 1810; later features are minor and relate to drainage and farming practices on the site.A relatively large artefactual assemblage was recovered, with the pottery, tobacco pipe and animal bone in particular offering significant potential for further analysis and research. The archaeological mitigation included a programme of environmental sampling of different types that have delivered insights on the economy and landscape setting of the site, and which represent a dataset with the potential to address a diversity of research objectives.
Wessex Archaeology completed a programme of archaeological mitigation across a 0.27 ha area of land, a further element (Phase 2.1) of ongoing investigations on a site formerly occupied by Coleshill Hall, a medieval and post-medieval moated manor in Warwickshire. The mitigation works exposed and recorded a suite of archaeological remains that are consistent with the anticipated character of the site. Whilst there was a limited group of features that may represent land use pre-dating the manorial complex, most activity, as expected, related to the original medieval phase and subsequent post-medieval redevelopment of the manor.
Earlier elements included a section of enclosing moat (probably a re-cut of the original version), a masonry gatehouse, a bridge footing, some possible garden features, and a small group of postholes forming part of the post-built hall; later components consisted of a gravel courtyard, the foundations of courtyard and boundary walls, a tree-lined avenue, a pathway, and two entrance gate structures. In addition, a series of relatively minor modern features were identified that can be associated with the 19th and 20th century buildings attached to the adjacent farm, a property which had originally developed from the extant stable block of the post-medieval manor.
Wessex Archaeology completed a programme of archaeological mitigation across a 0.38 ha area of land, another stage (Phase 2.2/3) of various investigations that have been undertaken on a site formerly occupied by Coleshill Hall, a medieval and post-medieval moated manor in Warwickshire. The mitigation work exposed and recorded a suite of archaeological remains that are consistent with the known character of the site. The earliest activity comprised several large pits, forming another segment of an Iron Age pit alignment that had previously been traced elsewhere beneath the manorial complex.
Later land use, as anticipated, related to the original medieval phase and subsequent post-medieval redevelopment of the manor. Of the earlier phase, elements included a section of enclosing moat, a timber and stone bridge footing and several possible garden features; later components consisted of a moat recut, a possible mill building, revetment walls, boundary wall footings, drains, and surviving sections of the former stable block. Furthermore, there was a considerable array of modern features associated with the 19th- and 20th-century use of this building as a farmhouse and barn, alongside numerous ancillary structures, drainage, and yard areas.
