Moated site at Metham Hall Farm

List Entry Summary

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.

Location

The monument may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

Legacy System Information

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

Asset Groupings

This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.

List entry Description

Summary of Monument

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

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.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

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.

Selected Sources

Other
2815, Humberside SMR,

National Grid Reference: SE 80813 24799

Map

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This copy shows the entry on 26-Apr-2018 at 10:50:49.