Monument record 0055400000 - SE OF CHURCH FARM

Summary

Earthworks once thought to be a Civil War battery, reinterpreted as sixteenth century rabbit warren following detailed field survey.

Protected Status/Designation

Ancient Monument 1013416: DESERTED VILLAGES AND CIVIL WAR EARTHWORK (DBC7105)
Planning Notification Area: Earthwork complex of Medieval deserted village, church and manor and Tudor mansion and gardens (DBC9396)
SHINE: Quarrendon deserted medieval village, manor, Tudor garden earthworks and Weedon Hill Roman settlement (DBC7583)

Map

Find a placename, postcode or grid reference

Map layers

Base layers

Info

Record list

Tools

Type and Period (7)

PILLOW MOUND (16th Century to 17th Century - 1500 AD to 1699 AD)
RABBIT WARREN (16th Century to 17th Century - 1500 AD to 1699 AD)
(Former Type) ARTILLERY FORT (Civil War - 1640 AD to 1649 AD)
(Former Type) GUN EMPLACEMENT (Civil War - 1640 AD to 1649 AD)
(Former Type) SCONCE (Civil War - 1640 AD to 1649 AD)
MOUND (Post-Medieval - 1540 AD to 1798 AD)
BOUNDARY DITCH (Post-Medieval - 1540 AD to 1798 AD)

Description

Dimensions - Width 8m, Height 1m.
Plan Form - Subrectangular.
3 lines of entrenchments with gun embrasures & 4 mounds probably thrown up during 1642 battle (B1-3,B12).
Situated on crest of low ridge facing N, E & S, so overlooking Aylesbury. Rampart is 1.2m high, 8m wide with 12 cannon embrasures; to rear minor earthworks are ammunition depots etc (B4-6).
Survey (B7).
Site visit 2000 photos (B8).
Reinterpretation following RCHME topographical survey, now believed to be rabbit warren (B9).

Twenty-one probable medieval and/or post medieval pillow mounds are visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and were mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located within the earthworks of the deserted medieval of Quarrendon I and centred at SP 80696 15619, the pillow mounds range in shape from circular, oval, pill or capsule-shaped to rectangular sand in size from 5 metres to 42 metres in length. Fourteen of the pillow mounds are aligned in a row, 10 along the settlement’s SE facing perimeter and 4 along the NE facing perimeter. A further three pillow mounds were mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1943 aligned end to end in a row in a field immediately SE of the settlement, but these have been plough levelled by 1976. Four further pillow mounds, three capsule-shaped and one circular, are sited individually within the settlement (13-19).

Sources (25)

---SBC17397 Aerial Photograph: 05/02/90. BCM A14/8/29. SP\805158. Yes.
---SBC17793 Aerial Photograph: 25/07/48. CUC BV 87. SP\806158. Yes.
---SBC17813 Aerial Photograph: 09/04/49. CUC CA 78-80. SP\805158. Yes.
---SBC17897 Aerial Photograph: 27/04/54. CUC NY 73. SP\806157. Yes.
---SBC18426 Aerial Photograph: 06/02/85. NMR SP8015/54-55. SP\805158. Yes.
---SBC21044 Aerial Photograph: Mike Farley (BCM). 1998. 1998 Mike Farley oblique AP. SP80561578. Yes.
<1>SBC20350 Bibliographic reference: A Hadrian Allcroft. 1908. Earthwork of England. p604.
<2>SBC20466 Bibliographic reference: Royal Commision on Historical Monuments. 1912. Historical Monuments in Buckinghamshire. Volume 1. p273.
<3>SBC20463 Bibliographic reference: William Page (ed). 1927. A History of Buckinghamshire (Victoria County History) Volume IV. Volume 4. p100.
<4>SBC13997 Scheduling record: English Heritage. 1990. SCHEDULING LISTS OF INSPECTORATE OF ANCIENT MONUMENTS.
<5>SBC5090 Bibliographic reference: FARLEY M E SEPT 1973.
<6>SBC10943 Bibliographic reference: OS RECORD CARD SP81 NW8,JULY 1968.
<7>SBC13169 Graphic material: Royal Commision on Historical Monuments of England. 1989-1990. COPY OF 1989-1990 EARTHWORK SURVEY (FILED).
<8>SBC19289 Photograph: Kidd S & Wise J. 2000. Quarrendon DMV SAM site visit 2000.
<9>SBC19329 Article in serial: Paul Everson. 2001. Peasants, Peers and Graziers: The Landscape of Quarrendon, Buckinghamshire, interpreted.
<10>SBC24011 Unpublished document: John Samuels Archaeological Consultants. 2001. An Analysis of the Setting of Quarrendon Scheduled Ancient Monument (No.12004) in Relation to the Proposed Development at Weedon Hill, Aylesbury.
<11>SBC25937 Unpublished document: Michael Farley Archaeology. 1999. Quarrendon: A Preliminary Study of its Archaeology and Management.
<12>SBC20467 Bibliographic reference: Royal Commision on Historical Monuments. 1913. Historical Monuments in Buckinghamshire. Volume 2. p27.
<13>SBC27115 Digital archive: Historic England. 2025. Deserted villages and Civil War earthwork – List Entry Number 1013416. Accessed online 04-NOV-2024..
<14>SBC27116 Digital archive: The Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust Research & Recording Project. 2024. Quarrendon House: Understanding Historic Parks and Gardens in Buckinghamshire.
<15>SBC19329 Article in serial: Paul Everson. 2001. Peasants, Peers and Graziers: The Landscape of Quarrendon, Buckinghamshire, interpreted. Accessed online 04-NOV-2024..
<16>SBC27108 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2025. RAF-AC275 V 5014 07-MAR-1943.
<17>SBC27112 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2025. OS-76043 V 018 29-APR-1976.
<18>SBC25062 Digital archive: Environment Agency. Environment Agency LiDAR data. LIDAR SP81NW Environment Agency National LIDAR Programme DTM 1 Metre dated 2021 SP8015.
<19>SBC25596 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2022. Next Perspectives APGB Imagery. 04-JUN-2023 SP8015.

Location

Grid reference	Centred SP 8063 1563 (220m by 160m)
Civil Parish	QUARRENDON, Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (2)

Related Events/Activities (4)

Event - Survey: (EBC14147)
Event - Survey: Aerial investigation and mapping project (Ref: 9179) (EBC18604)
Event - Survey: Detailed earthwork survey (EBC15854)
Event - Survey: Site visit 2000 (EBC15811)

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 11:12AM