Moated site at Elm Hall

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 Elm Hall survives well, three arms of the moat being well preserved, and the fourth, western arm remaining intact as a buried feature. Most of the island is unencumbered by modern building. The monument will retain important archaeological information concerning the construction and subsequent occupation of the site, and is of additional interest as one of a group of moated sites which survive in and immediately around the parish of Dennington.

Details

The monument includes a moated site located south east of Dennington Village on level ground above the valley of the River Alde, which lies 750m to the north. The moat encloses three sides of a sub-rectangular island with maximum dimensions of 39m east - west by 31m north - south, and is between 5m and 9m wide and between 2.5m and 3m deep. It is water-filled, fed by surface drainage, with a broad outlet at the south eastern angle which takes the overflow into a field ditch. The fourth arm of the moat, which formerly bounded the western side of the island, was crossed by a central causeway and, south of the causeway was enlarged to 14m in width, with a rectangular horse pond on the west side and a short southward projection approximately 6m wide at the south western angle. It was filled-in in 1948 but survives as a buried feature. North of the site of the causeway, the ground is noticeably damp, and the angle between the outer edge of the former western end of the south arm of the moat and the southward projection is marked by a terrace between 0.5m and 1m high. The island is now unoccupied; the original Elm Hall, which stood in the middle of the southern side, was burnt down and the ruins subsequently demolished at some time prior to World War II.

Farm buildings standing on the south western part of the site are excluded from the scheduling, as are clothes-line posts, service poles, fences and gates, but the ground beneath these buildings and 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:

21308

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500, Old Series Source Date: Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Mann, M, (1992)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.