Knightley Dale 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.

Knightley Dale moated site is a well preserved example. The moat island is unexcavated and remains unencumbered by modern development. Evidence of the building that originally occupied the island will exist beneath the ground surface.

Details

The monument includes a polygonal moated site situated at the north end of the village of Knightley Dale. The moat is within a field known from tithe maps as Moat Meadow and is considered to represent the site of the Knightley manor house. The moated island measures 70m north west-south east and 60m north east-south west and is slightly raised. The south western and north eastern edges of the island have internal banks which measure up to 6m wide and 0.5m high. There are no standing buildings on the island but irregularities in the ground surface indicate the position of buried features. The moat is flat-bottomed and measures up to 15m wide and 1m deep. It is dry, except at the south eastern arm of the moat where a small pond has formed. The moat is largely infilled through natural silting but remains clearly visible. The outer edge of the north eastern arm has been obscured by the construction of a road to the east of the site which has damaged the edge of the moat. This area is not included in the scheduling. There is a causeway across the north western edge of the moat. The south western arm of the moat appears to extend southwards slightly beyond the projected outer line of the moat.

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:

21517

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Burne, SAH, Transactions of the Old Staffordshire Society in Vanished Chantry Chapels, (1949), 12
Hammer, M E, Staffordshire Archaeology in The Moated Sites of Staffordshire, Vol. 3, (1974), 34

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