Moated site at Bickerstaffe Hall.

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1011999
Date first listed:: 12-Nov-1991

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1011999
Date first listed:: 12-Nov-1991

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Lancashire
District:: West Lancashire (District Authority)
Parish:: Bickerstaffe
National Grid Reference:: SD 44341 03963

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 Bickerstaffe Hall is unencumbered by modern development and will retain considerable archaeological evidence of the original hall which occupied the site. Additionally the waterlogged part of the moat will preserve organic material

Details

The monument is the moated site of the original Bickerstaffe Hall. The site lies some 70m SW of the present Bickerstaffe Hall and includes a slightly raised trapezoidal grassy island with maximum dimensions c.68m x 68m. Surrounding the island is a moat possessing dry N and S arms c.3m wide x 0.4m maximum depth, a dry E arm partly overlain by the driveway to Bickerstaffe Hall, and a substantial partly waterlogged W arm c.6m wide x 1.3m deep lying within Little Wood. An outlet channel issues from the SW corner of the moat. The monument remains unploughed and substantial pieces of dressed stone litter the field to the N. All fences and hedges are excluded from the scheduling, however, the ground beneath them 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:: 13476
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
Darvill, T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Moats, (1988)
To Robinson, K D MPPFW, Rimmer, (tenant farmer), (1990)
West Lancs Arch Soc Rep on Moat Sites, Coney, A, Bickerstaffe, near Bickerstaffe hall, (1987)

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.