Moated site at Brick Kiln Copse

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012673
Date first listed:: 09-Feb-1955

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012673
Date first listed:: 09-Feb-1955
Date of most recent amendment:: 01-Aug-1995

Location

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

District:: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Sedgehill and Semley
National Grid Reference:: ST 89338 27604

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.

Although a large number of moated sites are known, relatively few survive in Wiltshire. This example is particularly important as it survives well and displays potential for the preservation of organic remains and palaeoenvironmental evidence.

Details

The monument includes a moated site in a copse some 75m west of Brick Kiln Cottage. The D-shaped moat is complete on all but the north west side which has been filled in. The site is orientated NNE-SSW and has overall dimensions of around 70m square and a level platform of c.38m x 40m. The ditch is silted and seasonally damp and survives to a width of between 8m and 11m. The inner edge of the north west side remains discernible as a scarp up to 0.2m high and 3m to 4m wide. There is no apparent causewayed entrance to the interior. It would appear that the moat was originally filled by natural water seepage.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 12042
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
Dennison, E and Darvill, T, HBMC 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.