Reasons for Designation
A warren is an area of land set aside for the breeding and management of
rabbits or hares in order to provide a constant supply of fresh meat and
skins. Although the hare is an indigenous species, the tradition of warren
construction and use dates from the 12th century, following the introduction
of rabbits into England from the continent. Warrens usually contain a number
of purpose-built breeding places known as pillow mounds or rabbit buries,
which were intended to centralise the colony and make catching the animals
easier, whether using nets, ferrets or dogs. The mounds vary in design
although rarely exceeding 0.7m in height. Earlier monuments such as burial
mounds, boundary features and mottes were sometimes reused as breeding places.
The mounds are usually surrounded by ditches and contain underlying channels
or are situated on sloping ground to facilitate drainage. The interior of the
mound may also contain nesting places constructed of stone slabs or cut into
the underlying subsoil or bedrock.
A typical warren may contain between one and forty pillow mounds or rabbit
buries and occupy an area up to c.600ha. Many warrens were enclosed by a bank,
hedge or wall intended to contain and protect the stock. Other features
associated with the warren include vermin traps (usually a dead-fall mechanism
within a small tunnel), and more rarely traps for the warren stock (known in
Yorkshire as `types') which could contain the animals unharmed and allow for
selective culling. Larger warrens might include living quarters for the
warrener who kept charge of the site, sometimes surrounded by an enclosed
garden and outbuildings.
Early warrens were mostly associated with the higher levels of society;
however, they gradually spread in popularity so that by the 16th and 17th
centuries they were a common feature on most manors and estates throughout the
country. Warrens continued in use until fairly recent times, finally declining
in the face of 19th and 20th century changes in agricultural practice, and the
onset of myxomatosis. Warrens are found in all parts of England, the earliest
examples lying in the southern part of the country. Approximately 1,000 -
2,000 examples are known nationally with concentrations in upland areas, on
heathland and in coastal zones. The profits from a successfully managed warren
could, however, be considerable and many areas in lowland England were set
aside for warrens at the expense of agricultural land. Although relatively
common, warrens are important for their associations with other classes of
monument, including various forms of settlement, deer parks, field systems and
fishponds. They may also provide evidence of the economy of both secular and
ecclesiastical estates. All well preserved medieval examples are considered
worthy of protection. A sample of well preserved sites of later date will also
merit protection.
The warren at Smardale Demesne survives well and is a good example of a small
unenclosed type of this class of monument. Environmental evidence will be
preserved upon the old landsurface beneath the pillow mounds and within the
fills of the ditches surrounding the mounds.
Details
The monument includes a small unenclosed medieval warren situated at Smardale
Demesne 1km south west of Smardale Hall. The warren includes three pillow
mounds, that is low oblong-shaped mounds of soil and stones in which hares or
rabbits lived and were bred and managed for their fresh meat and fur.
The southern pillow mound is located at NY73180711 on a north-facing hillslope
and measures 14.5m by 4.5m and up to 0.3m high. It is surrounded by a shallow
ditch 0.3m wide and has its long axis aligned north-south. The central pillow
mound is located at NY73430718 on a WNW-facing hillslope and measures 11m by
8m and up to 0.8m high on its downslope western side. It is surrounded on all
sides except the west by a shallow ditch 2.5m wide on the east side and 0.5m
wide elsewhere, and has its long axis aligned down the hillslope. The northern
pillow mound is located at NY73510730 on a south west-facing hillslope and
measures 15m by 6m and up to 0.25m high. It is surrounded on all sides by a
shallow ditch 0.5m wide and has its long axis aligned NNW-SSE.
Although no documentary sources relating to the warren are known its location
within an intake associated with the expansion of Smardale Demesne in the late
13th century is interpreted as indicating that the warren was associated with
the medieval village of Smardale 1km to the north.
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.
