Brocket Hall moated site

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.

The moated site at Brocket Hall is well preserved and has been identified as the best surviving moated site in North Yorkshire. As there are no modern buildings on the interior the below-ground remains of medieval buildings on the eastern island will be well-preserved while the accuumulated silts of the moat ditch and associated fishponds also favour the survival of evidence which would assist the study of the medieval environment and the economy of the site.

Details

The monument includes a moated site known as Brocket Hall which lies to the south-east of Appleton Roebuck village. It is a double moated site in that it comprises two adjacent moated islands. The eastern island is interpreted as the site of the hall, since fragments of stone, tile and medieval pottery have been found there; the island is rectangular, measuring 85m long and 55m wide and is surrounded by a ditch 3m wide and up to 2m deep. The edge of the island has an earthen bank up to 1.5m high on the north side and, although it has been altered by encroaching cultivation, a bank 1.5m high and 10m wide is visible on the outer edge of the moat ditch. An oval fishpond 12m long and 6m wide is located in the north-west corner of the island. A causeway across the south-east corner of the moat is a modern alteration. The western island measures 85m long and up to 65m wide; it has a moat on three sides only (a V- shaped ditch across the southern end of the island is thought to be a later field boundary) and is narrower at the north end. There is a 1m high bank along the northern edge and part of the eastern edge of the island and the outer bank which surrounds the eastern half of the site peters out alongside the northern arm of the western half. The interior of the western island is subdivided by a slight east-west bank and the northern half contains two oblong fishponds while the southern half has an irregularly shaped 2m deep depression which is linked to the western arm of the moat by a narrow leat and empties into the central moat. Although previously observed to hold water, the moat is now dry with the exception of its western arm and this runs parallel to a canalised stream which probably once supplied the moat. All fences are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them 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:

20522

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
YAS Inventory Record No. 2214,
Conversation with Ms L Dyson, (1992)

End of official list entry

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