Winestead Manor 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 manor site at Winestead survives well and is historically well documented.

Details

The monument is the moated site of Winestead Manor. It includes a sub-rectangular platform enclosed by a single dry moat. The island is 80m long east-west and 60m wide north-south. The northern and eastern arms of the moat are 15m wide and 3m deep. The western arm is also 15m wide but has been heavily silted and is only 1m deep, although it deepens to 2m in depth toward the south-western corner. The southern arm of the moat is the same width as the other arms and is 1.5m to 2m deep. An earthen causeway crosses the western arm of the moat close to the north-western corner and may be an original access causeway onto the island. An early 19th-century brick bridge crosses the eastern arm of the moat at its northern end. The monument was the site of the manor of Winestead. The first house on this site is thought to have been built in the 12th century and was occupied until 1579. For much of that time the manor was owned by the Hildyard family. It was Christopher Hildyard who abandoned the site in 1579 after his son was drowned in the moat, moving the house to a site further to the north. By 1636, when a survey was taken, the platform was in use as a 'hop-yard'. Since that time the island has been a farmyard and, later, a kitchen garden. The medieval parish church of Winestead lies immediately adjacent to the moated site to the east. The brick bridge which crosses the moat is excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath its piers is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

21198

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Miller, N J, Winestead and its Lords, (1932), 42
Neave, D, Waterson, E, Lost Houses of East Yorkshire, (1988), 67
Poulson, G, History and Antiquities of Holderness, (1841), 473-474
Le Patourel, H E J, Moated site of Yorkshire, (1973), 117
Loughlin, N, Miller, K, Survey of Archaeological Sites in Humberside, (1979), 56

End of official list entry

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