Moated site at Grange Farm

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 Grange Farm survives well and will contain archaeological information concerning the construction and use of the two enclosures. The form of the site, including linked moats of very different size and character, is unusual and exemplifies the diversity of this class of monument.

Details

The monument includes a moated site comprising two conjoined moated enclosures of unequal size, situated on level ground at the northern end of the parish of Dennington. The small enclosure, which is to the south east of Grange Farm House and is almost certainly the earlier in date, survives as an unoccupied island of irregular plan with maximum dimensions of 25m north - south by 20m east - west, largely surrounded by a water-filled moat approximately 2m deep and measuring between 7m and 11m in width. Access is provided by a wide causeway on the western side. The south eastern corner of the moat extends outward into an irregular pond, and the western arm north of the causeway has been enlarged externally to make another. The eastern arm of the moat extends northward into a ditch approximately 47m long, ranging from 5m to 7m in width, and up to 2m deep, and this extension forms the eastern arm of a second and much larger moat which surrounds three sides of a sub-rectangular enclosure to the north of Grange Farm House and the smaller enclosure. The larger enclosure has internal dimensions of up to 102m east - west by 93m north - south, and the moat ditch around its west, north sides, and north east sides is generally narrower and more regular in form than that of the smaller moat, measuring from 4m to 7m in width and having an average depth of approximately 2m. The ditch is silted but still wet, with a seasonally variable depth of water, and the eastern arm is divided by a central causeway. Within the south eastern corner of the large enclosure, in the angle defined by the north arm of the smaller moat, is a flat-topped earthen mound or broad bank approximately 0.7m high, terraced steeply on the western side, and sloping gently towards the edges of the moats to the south and east. This earthwork has the appearance of a prospect mound, providing a vantage point from which to view a 16th or 17th century formal garden occupying the large enclosure to the north and north west. It is bordered on the northern side by a dry east - west ditch measuring up to 4m in width.

Grange Farm House and its outbuildings are excluded from the scheduling, as are the driveway and paths and all garden walls, posts, fences and gates, including those around the lawn tennis court, also excluded is a modern footbridge across the north arm of the smaller moat, but the ground beneath all 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:

21310

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map, Old Series Source Date: Author: Publisher: Surveyor:

End of official list entry

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