Reasons for Designation
A camera is a subsidiary farm of a preceptory (a medieval monastery of the
military orders of Knights Templar or Knights Hospitaller).
Camerae are very rare in England with less than 40 known examples. In view of
this rarity, and their importance in supporting the monastic communities of
the preceptories (examples of which are also rare), all camerae exhibiting
archaeological survival are identified as nationally important.
Details
The monument includes the site of a camera, a subsidiary farm of a religious
house of the Knights Templar or Knights Hospitaller, and a later moated site,
close to the northern bank of the Humber. The moated site is superficially
similar to others in the area.
The site was originally developed by the Knights Templar as one of their
camerae. These farms were used to raise revenue to fund the Crusades in the
12th and 13th centuries and the site at Faxfleet was valued at 290 pounds, 4
shillings and 10 pence in 1308, making it the wealthiest such site in
Yorkshire at that date. The full extent of the area occupied by the camera is
unknown and the scheduled area is defined by the later moated site.
The site passed into the hands of King Edward II in 1322 and the moat is not
thought to have been dug until after this date; it appears to have been
excavated as part of flood defence works recorded in State Papers known as the
Calendar of Close Rolls.
The moated site includes a sub-rectangular island enclosed within a dry moat.
The island is 90m long, north to south, and 40m wide, east to west. The
enclosing moat is between 0.3m and 1.3m deep and between 10m and 12m wide. The
northern arm of the moat has been almost completely in-filled. An earthen
bank encloses the moat; lying immediately external to it. It has a maximum
height of 0.3m and is 5m wide.
Possible remains of a fishpond or drainage channel lie to the south-east of
the moat. This feature appears to have been connected to the moat by an
almost completely in-filled sluice. Neither the pond nor the possible sluice
survive well enough for their relationship with the moat to be accurately
described; they cannot, on present evidence, be dated with certainty as
medieval remains and are not included in the scheduling.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
21239
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
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 Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
