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Malting Spinney Medieval moat, associated outer enclosure and cultivation earthworks, Ridgmont

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012698
Date first listed:: 16-Jan-1991

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012698
Date first listed:: 16-Jan-1991

Location

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

District:: Central Bedfordshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Ridgmont
National Grid Reference:: SP 98587 35814

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 site in Malting Spinney includes a fine example of a small moated enclosure associated with an outer court and surviving cultivation traces. Its importance is enhanced by being part of a well articulated Medieval complex which also includes the nearby Segenhoe Manor, deserted settlement and Church.

Details

The monument includes the remains of a Medieval moated enclosure and its associated outer enclosure and cultivation earthworks. The moated enclosure is rhomboidal in shape measuring some 40m across including the 12m wide surrounding moat. The island is raised 1m higher than the adjacent area. The moat is currently dry with no evidence for the location of an entrance causeway or bridge. Adjoining the moated enclosure is a rectangular outer court or enclosure. The outer enclosure measures some 75m by 110m and is defined by a 8m wide ditch along its northern and western sides, connected to the moat at its north angle. The southern and eastern boundaries of the outer enclosure are defined by a low outer bank and ditch which join the moated enclosure at its south angle. The interior of the outer enclosure is level with no visible remains of buildings or features recorded as existing at the site. Immediately to the south-east of the moat and outer enclosure are the well-preserved remains of cultivation earthworks. The ridges and furrows of this relict field system stop short of the outer enclosure, and are therefore considered to be later or contemporary with the outer court.

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:: 11551
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
The Victoria History of the County of Malting Spinney
Other
Ordnance Survey record, P.A.S. (Re Malting Spinney), (1973)
SMR record, CRO 100/16 LR 2/208, 40 Eliz 1 1598 & LR 2/195 Reg. Eliz 1,
SMR Record, CRO: WG 362, 1772 lease,

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.