Moated site and associated earthworks on Pound Hill, 700m east of Gatwick Stream.

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 moated site on Pound Hill survives well and exhibits a diversity of contemporary component features including the fishponds and earthworks. The waterlogging of the moat provides ideal conditions for the survival of organic remains and environmental evidence relating both to the economy of the site and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a rectangular moated site roughly 100m by 96m with two associated fishponds and other earthworks situated 700m to the east of Gatwick Stream. It is composed of two separate areas. The moat is aligned north-west to south-east with the island measuring 66m by 57m. On the south-west side of the island are the remains of an internal bank 5m wide and 0.2m high running along the western edge. Surrounding the island is a moat, all four arms of which are water-filled and surviving to between 7m and 24m wide. The original causeway was still visible until the late 1970's on the south-west side, set approximately 5m from the south corner. To the east of the moat are two rectangular depressions, the northern measuring 24m by 12m and c.1.5m deep; the other c.18m by 18m and 1.5m deep. These are the visible remains of a series of at least three fishponds fed by the stream which still fills the moat through a leat running into the west corner. The moat outflow is in its north corner where the ditch is at its widest point. To the north and east of the moat, a linear earthwork is the surviving portion of two large rectangular enclosures, which documentary evidence suggests is associated with clay extraction during the medieval period. The bank running northwest from the north corner of the moat is c.2.5m high and 17m wide. On the south west side of the bank is a ditch 0.3m deep and 2m wide. The grille, fence and associated equipment at the moat outlet at the north corner of the moat, the park bench and fences are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath them is included.

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:

20003

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Austin, L, Medieval/ post-medieval tile fragments, (1991)

Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 6" (Re Pound Hill moat) Source Date: 1909 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Darvill, T, Monument Class Description - Moats (1988), 1988,
West Sussex SMR, (1971)
HBMC Entry in the Schedule, (1949)

End of official list entry

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