Baddesley Clinton Hall moated site and fishponds

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.

Baddesley Clinton Hall moated site is a rare example of this class of monument as the site survives in a near-complete condition, with the house intact within the moat. The survival of buried remains of documented early agricultural buildings outside the moat, to the north, is also unusual and will permit a study of the agricultural economy associated with the moated site. Environmental deposits will survive within the waterfilled moat and, despite dredging activities, within the associated fishponds. The importance of the site is enhanced by the survival of written records detailing the history of the site from the 15th century onwards, and the associated fishponds are the most fully documented examples in the county.

Details

The monument is situated approximately 350m north west of St James's Church and includes Baddesley Clinton Hall moated site and its associated fishponds. The moated site has external dimensions of 45m north west-south east and 60m north east-south west. The waterfilled moat arms are revetted in stone and measure up to 12m wide. Access to the moated island is by means of an early 18th century bridge across the north eastern arm of the moat. It has been constructed in red brick and has two circular arches with a plain brick parapet. The bridge is Listed Grade I and is included in the scheduling. The moated island is occupied by Baddesley Clinton Hall, a fortified manor house, which dates mostly from the mid- to late 15th century. The Hall consists of three building ranges which occupy the north eastern, south eastern and south western sides of the island. It is Listed Grade I and is not included in the scheduling but the ground beneath the standing ranges is included. The building range along the north western side of the moated island was demolished in the 18th century. This range will survive as a buried feature and its remains are included in the scheduling. The area to the north and north east of the moated site, known as The Forecourt, was occupied by several buildings during the medieval period. A rectangular building is shown, immediately to the north of the Baddesley Clinton Hall, on a 1699 estate map of the site. The buildings were dismantled during the early 18th century but linear depressions and undulations in the ground surface here, indicate that these buildings will survive as buried features and are included in the scheduling. Immediately to the north west of the moated site are two small waterfilled ponds which are inter-connected by a brick-lined leat. They were dredged in c.1980 when timber drain pipes were located in the bases of the ponds. The drain pipes survive in situ and are included in the scheduling along with the ponds themselves. Documents from the 15th century provide detailed evidence for the construction of these ponds, which are thought to have functioned as breeding tanks for fish. To the south west of the fishponds is a large triangular-shaped pond which extends northwards in the form of a canal. Although the pond is present on the 1699 estate map of the site, it has since been greatly enlarged. It forms part of the landscape setting of Baddesley Clinton Hall but is not included in the scheduling. The building history of Baddesley is complex. The moated site is believed to date from the 13th century, while most of the quadrangular house is no earlier than the 15th century when the site was owned by the Brome family. Their successors, the Ferrers, altered the building in the 16th century and alterations also occurred in the early 18th and the 19th century. Baddesley Clinton Hall, a Grade I Listed Building, is excluded from the scheduling. The fence posts, the surfaces of all paths and driveways and the bridge situated between the breeding tanks are also excluded, although the ground beneath all these features, including the Hall, is included in the scheduling.

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:

21578

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Dyer, C, Baddesley Clinton, (1983), 2
The Victoria History of the County of Warwickshire: Hartshill, (1947), 13
The National Trust, , Baddesley Clinton, (1983), 5
The National Trust, , Baddesley Clinton, (1983), 41-2

Other
Title: Baddesley Clinton Estate Map Source Date: 1699 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:

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