Bossall Hall medieval moated site

Summary

Medieval moated site surviving as substantial extant earthworks and associated buried deposits, the current Bossall Hall being the result of rebuilding from the late sixteenth century onwards.

Reasons for Designation

Bossall Hall moated site is included on the Schedule for the following principal reasons:

* Period: as a good example of a relatively complex medieval moated site including two outer moat ditches in addition to those outlining the inner moated island;
* Survival: the moat ditches and associated banks mainly survive as substantial earthwork features;
* Potential: as only a small portion of the moated site is built over, there is good potential for the in-situ survival of medieval deposits both within the moat ditches and across the islands between the moats;
* Group value: with Grade II listed Bossall Hall, a later rebuilding of the medieval manor house marking a continuity of use of the moated site as a high-status domestic residence.

History

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, and 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.

The village of Bossall is thought to derive its name from Bosa, a monk from Whitby Abbey who is reputed to have founded a church here: Bossa was Bishop of York until his death in about AD 705. The Doomsday Book records 19 villagers and a priest for the village, although the current stone church dates to the late C12. The moated site was probably constructed to surround the house of the Bossall family who held the manor between the early C12 and the early C15. It may perhaps have been constructed by William de Bossall who was Sherriff of Yorkshire in the 1260s. The earliest part of the current house, Bossall Hall, appears to date to the late C16, but there was a major rebuilding in the early to mid-C17 for Robert Belt who acquired the manor in 1613. The owner in the C19, WJ Belt was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquities who claimed that the moated site was a castle that once had a barbican and curtain walling including towers, describing what would now be usually categorised as a quadrangular castle, the interpretation of the site when it was previously added to the Schedule. This interpretation is now seen as unlikely: evidence for expected extensive masonry remains being lacking. Instead, the site is interpreted as being a moated manor house site rather than a castle. The area on the eastern side of the monument, postulated as a second moat and outer court, is not included in the scheduling because of the current lack of evidence of archaeological remains.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: Medieval moated manor house site with a quadrilateral inner island outlined by moat ditches and banks surviving as substantial earthworks, with outer moat ditches to the north and west, the latter mainly being infilled, surviving as buried archaeological deposits.

DESCRIPTION: the moated site lies on the crest of an area of higher ground on the western side of the River Derwent. The medieval church, dedicated to St Botolph, is just to the east of the monument. The current Bossall Hall is sited within the area of scheduling on the northern half of the inner moated island with its principal elevation looking across the southern half of the moated island.

The inner moated island is approximately 80m-100m north to south (broader on the west side) and 50m-70m east to west (broader on the south side) defined by usually dry moat ditches up to 10m wide and 2.5m deep. Around the edge of the southern half of the island is a bank typically around 4m wide generally 0.5m-1.5m high. To the north and west there are outer moat ditches which run approximately parallel and around 30m away from the corresponding inner moat ditches, the western one being largely infilled except at its far northern end. The rest of its line can be seen in places as a very slight linear depression leading to the western end of the southern moat ditch which extends some 50m west of the western inner moat ditch. The outer moat ditch on the north side is approximately 8m wide by up to 2m deep with an outer bank on its north side which is generally around 0.5m high and up to 8m wide. C19 Ordnance Survey mapping suggests that this moat may have extended around 30m beyond the eastern boundary of the monument, it also suggests that this outer moat may have been connected, via a now infilled depression, with the moat defining the eastern side of the island, the link infilled by a causeway to the north-east corner of the island. The eastern moat, which has a low outer bank running alongside which is up to 0.5m wide and 4m wide, is crossed by a brick-built bridge aligned between the hall and the church, the brickwork thought to date to 1808 built on stone footings considered to be the remains of medieval bridge abutments.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: this includes the moated island, the moat ditches with their outer banks, including the outer moats and banks to the north and west. The southern and northern boundaries follow fence lines. The eastern boundary is drawn to include the outer bank with an additional 2m margin for the support and protection of the monument, the boundary following a fence to the south and a projected line to the north. The western boundary follows fence lines around the southern corner and then is projected northwards as a straight line to include the largely infilled outer moat ditch with a 10m margin, this expanded from 2m to include the footprint of an 8m wide outer bank as well as the 2m margin for the support and protection of the monument.

EXCLUSIONS: the standing structures of Bossall Hall, stables and other outbuildings; garden walls, fences, posts and water pumps; the made surfaces of paths, yards, tennis courts and driveways; footbridges and the 19th century structure of the brick bridge are all excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features, including the earlier stone-built bridge abutments are included.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

20525

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Belt, JW, The story of Bossall Hall and Manor with supplement from early chronicles, (1885)

Other
Bossall Hall Heritage Statement, Irving Patrick Consulting (2022)

End of official list entry

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