Fountain Dale moat

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.

Fountain Dale moat is a well-preserved example of a small residential moat with documented historical associations. It has suffered little disturbance since it was abandoned, and so the buried remains of medieval buildings and structures will survive throughout.

Details

This monument is a moat which includes a roughly rectangular island measuring 48m x 35m surrounded by a 12m wide ditch which is in turn enclosed by substantial outer bank measuring 1m high and 2m wide. The ditch is steep sided and is 2m deep to the island or 3m deep to the bank. The north-east corner of the moat is crossed by a 14m wide causeway. In 1251, the moat was the site of a hunting lodge within Sherwood Forest from which the forester Raffe Clerc collected tolls. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it was also a residence for the forest underlords when visiting Mansfield.

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:

23215

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
The Victoria History of the County of Nottinghamshire: Volume I, (1906), 310
Groves, W H, History of Mansfield, (1894), 90
Knighton, J H, History of Mansfield, (1937), 13,23
Stapleton, A, Nottinghamshire Occasional Papers in Nottinghamshire Occasional Papers, (1911), 121

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