Moated site at St Lois Farm

Overview

Location

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 limited disturbance the monument survives reasonably well. Structural remains are known to survive on the enclosed islands and environmental remains will survive within the moat. It will retain significant information on the manner and duration of its usage.

Details

The monument is the moated site at St Lois Farm. It includes a large sub-rectangular moated site enclosed by a waterlogged moat. The island enclosed by the main moat is subdivided by a ditch, now dry, which runs north-south. The area of the island to the west of this ditch measures 30m north-south by 20m east-west; the area to the east, which is slightly larger and more irregularly shaped, measures 50m north-south by 35m east-west. The dividing ditch is 20m deep and 7m wide.

The moat which enclosed the island has been in-filled at the south-east corner of the monument, probably when the adjacent farm complex was constructed in this area. Elsewhere it remains visible as an earthwork and is between 7m and 10m wide and up to 20m deep. A pond has been cut into south-east corner of the monument just north of the farmyard. This feature is considered to be of medieval origin but has been expanded and has disturbed part of the island and moat here.

Earthen banks survive immediately outside the western and northern arms of the moat; they are between 0.3m and 0.5m high and 5m wide.

The monument was owned in the Middle Ages by the Percy family who were Earls of Northumberland. A licence to crenellate was granted for the site in 1293, allowing Percy to fortify it. Building debris has been found on the eastern island, indicating the presence of structural remains here.

A building at the south-east corner of the moat extends into the area of the scheduling. The part of the building concerned is excluded from the scheduling, though the ground beneath it 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:

21193

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Le Patourel, H E J, Moated site of Yorkshire, (1973), 116

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.