Moated site at Metham Hall 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 cleaning of the moat and limited disturbance from archaeological investigations, the moated site at Metham Hall Farm survives reasonably well and will retain evidence of the buildings originally located on the island.

Details

The monument includes a medieval moated site situated on a slight rise near the north bank of the Humber, one of a group of broadly similar monuments in this area. The sub-rectangular island defined by the moat is 80m long, east-west, and 40m wide, north-south. The northern, southern and western arms of the moat are between 8m and 10m wide and up to 2.5m deep. The eastern arm was later altered and broadened to form a decoy pond for game; it is up to 16m wide and up to 2m deep. At its eastern edge this arm is extremely shallow and slopes gently, deepening to the west. The moated site was the seat of the Metham family, a family of some importance in the county. A previous owner of the monument carried out limited archaeological work on the island in the 1950's, cutting trenches across it.

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:

23813

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
2815, Humberside SMR,

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.