Callow Hall 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.

Callow Hall moated site is a very well preserved example of a large manorial moat retaining standing remains of medieval and post-medieval buildings. Despite continuous occupation to the present day, it has suffered very little disturbance and the buried remains of buildings and other features from all phases of occupation will survive throughout the monument.

Details

The monument is a moated site comprising a square platform, measuring c.60m along each side, surrounded on three sides by a 15m wide moat and, on the fourth side, by a 2m high scarp. On the east side the moat has largely been filled in but survives as a buried feature beneath the surface of the modern farmyard. On the north side it has become silted up and is visible to a depth of c.1m. On the west side, it survives to its original depth of 4m at the north-west corner of the monument then levels out gradually to the south. Incorporated into the 19th century farmhouse, which is a Grade II* Listed Building, is one wall of the earlier 17th century house and the undercroft of the 13th century hall. The remains of additional domestic and ancillary buildings will survive as buried features throughout the remainder of the moated platform and also outside the north-west corner of the moat where a rectangular mound is interpreted as the site of a tower. Excluded from the scheduling are all modern boundary walls and outbuildings, a pigeon loft, the surface of the drive and farmyard and the farmhouse itself which is considered to be adequately protected by its Listed status, 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:

23303

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Craven, M, Drage, C, Derbyshire Moated Homesteads, ()
The Victoria History of the County of Derby: Volume I, (1905)
Pevsner, N, Williamson, E, The Buildings of England: Derbyshire, (1978)

End of official list entry

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