Moated site and plunge bath at The Manor House

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 monument at The Manor House is a rare example of a medieval moated site which was converted to a fish farm in the early 18th century. The plunge bath is of interest both in its own right and as an unusual feature associated with The Manor House. The moated island and the moat ditches will retain important artefactual and structural evidence for the medieval and post-medieval occupation of the site, whilst the infilled parts of the moat ditches will retain buried deposits of value in the understanding of the economy and environment of the site's occupants. There is detailed documention for the moated site's conversion to a fish farm.

Details

The monument at The Manor House in Streethay includes a moated site, later converted into a fish farm, and a 17th century plunge bath. The Manor House which now occupies part of the site, dating from the early 17th century with 18th and 20th century alterations, is a Grade II Listed Building and excluded from the scheduling. Descriptions until the 18th century confirm that the site was originally surrounded by a water-filled moat. The exact location of the infilled eastern moat arm is unknown but the western arm and the western section of the southern arm of the moat are still visible. The later pond to the south of the moated site is thought to have destroyed the south east section of the moat. A section of the northern arm has been redug in recent times along its original line. The moat on the western and southern sides measures up to 20m wide and more than 2m deep and is water-filled. There is a deeper, narrower channel cut into the base of the moat. At the south eastern end of the western end of the moat are the remains of an 18th century sluice. It is not certain where the original access to the moated island lay but a bridge or causeway over the infilled eastern arm of the moat is most likely. Documentary records indicate that the 'Great Moat' was cleaned out and converted into a fish farm in 1704, at which time it is thought that the northern and eastern moat arms were filled in and the site achieved its present configuration. There are slight earthworks on the moated island to the south of the present manor house which indicate the former location of earlier buildings. The cold plunge bath is situated to the south west of The Manor House and is a Grade II Listed Building. It is built of ashlar on a square plan with an opening in the east side. It has a corbelled stone roof surmounted by a foliated finial and is thought to have been built as part of work undertaken in about 1704. The Manor House, its associated outbuildings, the surfaces of all paths and driveways and the fence posts are excluded from the scheduling, but the ground beneath these features 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:

21528

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
References in the William Salt Library, Stafford,

End of official list entry

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