Moated grange at Moor Grange

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 cleaning and limited redigging of the moat, the moated site at Moor Grange survives reasonably well and will retain evidence of the buildings originally located on the island. The site has also been identified as a monastic grange. Such sites were fairly numerous in the medieval period but only a small number can now be positively identified on the ground. This example will contribute to the study of the economy of its parent house, Meaux Abbey.

Details

The monument is a medieval moated grange. It includes a sub-rectangular island surrounded by a waterlogged moat and bisected by a waterlogged channel. The northern section of the island is 60m long north-south and 30m wide east-west. Its southern section is 20m long north-south and 30m wide east-west; a channel 9m wide and 1.5m deep runs east-west between them. The moat which defines the island is between 6m and 9m wide and is up to 1.5m deep. The northern arm has been affected by later disturbance; a 50m section toward its eastern end has been in-filled and the western end has been enlarged to form a duckpond. Drains run from the north-western and south-eastern corners of the moat. While these may be medieval in origin post-medieval drainage works have so altered them as to make any secure dating difficult. Aerial photographs show remains to the north and south of the monument which are thought to be enclosures and drainage works associated with the moated site although they do not survive well enough to be positively identified and are not included in the scheduling. An earthen bank survives immediately outside the southern arm of the moat. It is 100m long, 0.3m high and 5m wide. The monument is known to have been a grange of Meaux Abbey before 1172.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

23803

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Bulmer, T, History and Directory of East Yorkshire, (1892), 106
Allison, KJ, The East Riding of Yorkshire Landscape, (1976), 75
Platt, C, The Moated Grange in Medieval England, (1969), 59
Le Patourel, H E J, Moated site of Yorkshire, (1973), 114

Other
RAF CPE/UK 1834/3264-5, (1946)

End of official list entry

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