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Hell Moat

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1005381
Date first listed:: 15-Jun-1972

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1005381
Date first listed:: 15-Jun-1972

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: County of Herefordshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Sarnesfield
National Grid Reference:: SO 36601 51986

Summary

Moat called Hell Moat.

Reasons for Designation

Around 6,000 moated sites are known in England. They consist of wide ditches, often or seasonally water-filled, partly or completely enclosing one or more islands of dry ground on which stood domestic or religious buildings. In some cases the islands were used for horticulture. The majority of moated sites served as prestigious aristocratic and seigneurial residences with the provision of a moat intended as a status symbol rather than a practical military defence. The peak period during which moated sites were built was between about 1250 and 1350 and by far the greatest concentration lies in central and eastern parts of England. However, moated sites were built throughout the medieval period, are widely scattered throughout England and exhibit a high level of diversity in their forms and sizes. They form a significant class of medieval monument and are important for the understanding of the distribution of wealth and status in the countryside. Many examples provide conditions favourable to the survival of organic remains.

Despite some tree growth the moat called Hell Moat survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, development, maintenance, function, longevity, social, political and economic significance, domestic arrangements, abandonment and overall landscape context.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 26 May 2015. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes a moat situated on a south facing slope on the western bank of a tributary to the Newbridge Brook. The moat survives as a roughly rectangular platform measuring approximately 90m long by 70m wide and defined by a ditch measuring up to 6m wide and from 1m up to 3m deep on all except the eastern side where it is formed by the small stream and was originally controlled by a dam. A series of banks measuring from 6m up to 10m wide and from 1m up to 2m high survive in places along both sides of the ditch. To the north west is a modern causewayed entrance but the original entrance is not clear.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: HE 114
Legacy System:: RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape 106270, Herefordshire SMR 2382

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.