Bostock Hall moated site.

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012357
Date first listed:: 24-Sep-1992

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012357
Date first listed:: 24-Sep-1992

Location

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

District:: Cheshire West and Chester (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Winsford
National Grid Reference:: SJ 67787 67340

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.

Despite the monument's woodland location the site survives well. Its earthworks are well preserved and the site remains a good example of a small medieval moated site. Evidence of the medieval Bostock Hall will be preserved on the island and organic material will be preserved in the waterlogged moat.

Details

The monument is the medieval moated site of Bostock Hall. The site lies in woodland and includes a raised rectangular island measuring c.40m x 37m. Surrounding the island is a waterlogged moat 9.3m wide x 1.8m deep that has a dry outlet channel 6m wide x 1.5m deep issuing from its southwestern corner. Access to the island is by a low causeway c.5m wide on the eastern arm close to the northeastern corner. Bostock Hall was a medieval timber building demolished in 1803 and superseded by a nearby farmhouse. All field boundaries are excluded from the scheduling but 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:: 13495
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Lyson, , 'Magna Britannia' in Magna Britannia (Volume 2), , Vol. 2, (1810), 536
Other
Archer, A & Wilson, D, CAB (re: Bostock Hall), CAB, (1974)
Darvill, T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Moats, (1988)

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.