Hlaew and settlement remains at Croxall

Reasons for Designation

A hlaew is a burial monument of Anglo-Saxon or Viking date and comprising a hemispherical mound of earth and redeposited bedrock constructed over a primary burial or burials. These were usually inhumations, buried in a grave cut into the subsoil beneath the mound, but cremations placed on the old ground surface beneath the mound have also been found. Hlaews may occur in pairs or in small groups; a few have accompanying flat graves. Constructed during the pagan Saxon and Viking periods for individuals of high rank, they served as visible and ostentatious markers of their social position. Some were associated with territorial claims and appear to have been specifically located to mark boundaries. They often contain objects which give information on the range of technological skill and trading contacts of the period. Only between 50 and 60 hlaews have been positively identified in England. As a rare monument class all positively identified examples are considered worthy of preservation.

The monument at Croxall survives well and contains a range of important archaeological features. The hlaew at Croxall is a rare example of this class of monument in Staffordshire and the way in which it dominates the site suggests that the relationship between the hlaew, the later parish church and settlement remains will be of particular interest. The settlement remains themselves will contain evidence for dwellings and agricultural buildings which will allow an understanding of the date and character of settlement here.

Details

The monument includes the hlaew or Anglo-Saxon burial mound, its encircling ditch and the remains of medieval settlement. It is situated approximately 30m east of St John The Baptist's Church, Croxall. The burial mound has been built in a prominent location, on the edge of the east bank of the River Mease. It measures 32m in diameter and stands to a height of approximately 5m on its northern side. The surrounding ditch has been infilled and is no longer visible on the ground surface. The mound has been partly overlaid, on its north-eastern edge, by the adjacent churchyard, confirming that the burial mound pre-dates the layout of the churchyard. The churchyard itself is not included within the scheduling. There is a trackway at the western edge of the mound which overlies the eastern part of the infilled ditch. A large depression in the north-east quadrant of the mound is thought to represent an earlier investigation of the mound which occurred in the early 19th century and located human skeletal material, indicating that the site is a burial mound, probably of Anglo-Saxon date. The mound has since been incorporated into a garden and re-used as an ornamental feature. A spiral path which cuts slightly into the sides of the mound provides a walkway around the edge of the monument. Immediately to the north of the burial mound are earthwork remains of the medieval and later settlement of Croxall. The medieval settlement originally extended eastwards along the hill top for several hundred metres although much of the site has been modified by modern ploughing and by the creation of a garden for White Knights House. The surviving earthwork remains include a deep hollow way which runs across the site from north-east to south-west, heading from the centre of the village towards the church and forking around the burial mound, with the southern fork heading down the hill slope, towards the river. To either side of the hollow way, leading up to the fork, stand pronounced building platforms, two to the north and one to the south. These platforms may represent the sites of dwellings or of major agricultural buildings. The close physical and archaeological relationship of the burial mound to the settlement which has grown up around it is of particular interest. The fence posts, surfaces of paths and the timber-edged steps on the burial mound are excluded from the scheduling, but the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

21536

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Usher, R, An Historical Sketch of the Parish of Croxall, (1881), 19

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