Moated site at Moat Park, New Windsor

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1013358
Date first listed:: 22-Aug-1990

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Location

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1013358
Date first listed:: 22-Aug-1990

Location

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

District:: Windsor and Maidenhead (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: SU 95736 75254, SU 95762 75286

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 in England, relatively few survive in Berkshire. This example is particularly important as it survives well as a small moated site and provides an interesting contrast to the larger and more complex moated sites which survive in the Great Park. The site also has a good level of historical documentation, appearing as a moated lodge on Norden's map of 1607.

Details

The monument includes a small sub-rectangular moated site situated in a low- lying area at the northern end of Windsor Great Park and bisected from north- west to south-east by the Bourne Ditch. The site is orientated ENE-WSW with maximum external dimensions of c.60m and 45m respectively. The island survives as a platform standing c.0.5m above the level of surrounding ground with an area c.50m by 35m in size. It is encircled by a dry moat surviving to a depth of up to 0.5m and a maximum width of 5m. The site appears on a map of 1607 as a moated lodge. The Bourne Ditch is excluded from the scheduling, thereby dividing the monument into two areas.

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:: 12051
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.