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A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of European Rabbit, rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman concept of free warren, which had been, essentially, the equivalent of a hunting license for a given woodland.
The most characteristic structure of the "cony-garth" ("rabbit-yard") is the pillow mound. These were "pillow-like", oblong mounds with flat tops, frequently described as being "cigar-shaped", and sometimes arranged like the letter ⟨E⟩ or into more extensive, interconnected rows. Often these were provided with pre-built, stone-lined tunnels. The preferred orientation was on a gentle slope, with the arms extending downhill, to facilitate drainage. The soil needed to be soft, to accommodate further burrowing.
This type of architecture and animal husbandry has become obsolete, but numerous pillow mounds are still to be found in United Kingdom, Britain, some of them maintained by English Heritage, with the greatest density being found on Dartmoor.
Architecture of the domestic warren
The Cunicularium, cunicularia of the monasteries may have more closely resembled Hutch (animal cage), hutches or pens, than the open enclosures with specialized structures which the domestic warren eventually became. Such an enclosure or ''close'' was called a ''cony-garth'', or sometimes ''conegar'', ''coneygree'' or "bury" (from "burrow").Moat and pale
To keep the rabbits from escaping, domestic warrens were usually provided with a fairly substantive moat, or ditch filled with water. Rabbits generally do not swim and avoid water. A ''wikt:pale, pale'', or fence, was provided to exclude predators.Pillow mounds
The most characteristic structure of the "cony-garth" ("rabbit-yard") is the pillow mound. These were "pillow-like", oblong mounds with flat tops, frequently described as being "cigar-shaped", and sometimes arranged like the letter ⟨E⟩ or into more extensive, interconnected rows. Often these were provided with pre-built, stone-lined tunnels. The preferred orientation was on a gentle slope, with the arms extending downhill, to facilitate drainage. The soil needed to be soft, to accommodate further burrowing.
This type of architecture and animal husbandry has become obsolete, but numerous pillow mounds are still to be found in United Kingdom, Britain, some of them maintained by English Heritage, with the greatest density being found on Dartmoor.
Further evolution of the term
Ultimately, the term "warren" was generalized to include wild burrows. According to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'':The word thus became used of a piece of ground preserved for these beasts of warren. It is now applied loosely to any piece of ground, whether preserved or not, where rabbits breed. see alsoThe use is further extended to any system of burrows, e.g., "prairie dog warren". By 1649, the term was applied to inferior, crowded human accommodations and meant "cluster of densely populated living spaces" (''OED''). Contemporarily, the leading use seems to be in the stock phrase "warren of cubicles" in the workplace.
References
{{Subterranea Livestock Agricultural buildings Buildings and structures used to confine animals Animals and humans Shelters built or used by animals Leporidae